[senco-forum] access arrangements you can't meet ????

don't know what would happen if you applied for and received 
permission for access arrangements and then didn't put them into 
place; I would imagine that would open you up to all sorts of 
liabilities.

I think many secondary schools are now in this position.  We hold 
regular training sessions for readers and scribes.  Training materials 
are available from Communicate-Ed.  We use all support staff who are 
not invigilating exams and a pool of outside people who only work as 
readers and scribes as well as being prompts, doing transcripts and 
acting as invigilators in SEN groups; ie they are not employed in any 
other capacity at school - they are paid an hourly rate the same as 
invigilators.  We do not use teachers; teachers cannot be asked to 
carry out this role during eg., their yr11 gained time or non contact 
time.  some staff quite rightly, raised points about students with SEN 
needing to feel relaxed with people they knew doing the job of reading 
to them but this is just not possible when we have 35 in the current 
year 10 who are entitled to access arrangements; 32 of them to either 
a reader, scribe or both.  We therefore have to train the children 
that they might expect somebody who doesn't know them.  Of course, we 
match up the very neediest children with the known LSA and the 
strongest with outside staff and do our best to cater accordingly. 
Accommodation is also an issue.  We carried out the SATs across three 
rooms, which of course, requires three invigilators. It's a major job 
which is  not easy but it's do-able.  It has to be.

I'd be interested in what other secondary schools with large numbers 
are doing.  Most of my advice came from Caroline Read of Communicate 
Ed.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "WrayJanice Wray" <jwwray14 at hotmail.com>
To: "senco forum" <senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk>
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 4:37 PM
Subject: [senco-forum] access arrangements you can't meet ????

We've been fully stretched this year - very small department - with 
SATS - GCSEs will be tricky too to find someone to scribe/read etc.
Now, I wonder what is the position if the access arrangement has been 
granted by the Exam Board but the school doesn't meet the need and the 
paper isn't read/scribed etc ?
Next year will be o.k. (probably) but the year after that and 
subsequent years I think there will be more and more students needing 
help and my department is down to me and a part time support teacher 
and two full time T.A.s plus another for just 6 hrs. That's due to the 
new funding arrangements in Hertfordshire.
Anyway, what would happen - anyone know ?
Janice
Oh and thanks for all the replies re: computers and epilepsy - I;ve 
passed the information on
GreatJanice Wray Secondary SENCO, Herts
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