Jenny Bingham is a SENDco at Wybourn Community Primary School in Sheffield. Here she tells us about how she’s used Valuing SEND to support Akram, a boy in her school, and his mum, Hodan, to make key decisions about his future, through transition to secondary school.

Akram was born at 26 weeks and has a broad picture of need including diagnoses of autism, epilepsy and difficulties with his gross motor skills and speech and language. When he started school Jenny was concerned about how he would manage. He wore a helmet to protect him from seizures and had difficulties with social communication. His early education was impacted by the pandemic, meaning that by the time he reached Year 2, the gap to his peers was widening.

Ahead of Akram’s annual review, Jenny was concerned about his ability to be able to transition to secondary school, and felt that he would require a specialist secondary placement:

“I think his cognition and learning is becoming more apparent as a need now he is in Year 4. As the schoolwork is becoming more difficult, he is starting to struggle.”
Jenny, SENDCo

Using Valuing SEND within the annual review facilitated a meaningful conversation, leading to both Jenny and Hodan’s realisation that actually, Akram could thrive in mainstream.

“He is a bright boy and I think he is capable of learning alongside his peers. The key focus point now is to closely identify the route of his difficulties and put appropriate support in place that builds his independence.”
Jenny, SENDCo

“The tool helped us think in detail about Akram’s needs and where we sit within that. Seeing it visually gave us confidence that we can meet his needs in school and gave his mum confidence in that too. It helped us see where school could help mum, and where mum could help school.”

Jenny Bingham

Akram’s mum is an absolute inspiration, dedicating her life to her two boys. She works hard to provide a supportive home environment that accounts for Akram’s complex needs, and it was understandably terrifying for her to leave him in the care of his teachers at school. The consistency of support led by Jenny at Wybourn has shown her that Akram can be nurtured as well as challenged, and the annual review was an opportunity to really focus on how this has been possible:

“I like the Valuing SEND tool and the way it explains everything is really clear. Before I tried to understand, but I couldn’t, but the way everything has been explained today has been really clear. I like how the tool explains the different areas of need and the visual diagram was really helpful” Hodan, Akram’s mum

When Jenny first brought up the topic of Akram’s potential transition to a mainstream secondary placement, Hodan was worried. However, through the use of the tool and the approach to the review, she was able to really understand the potential benefits for Akram in the future. She now recognises the benefits of a mainstream education in ensuring he is supported to achieve his full potential, both academically and holistically.