SEND in Primary English Audit

SEND in Primary English Audit | Reading, Writing & Communication | SENCO & English Lead Toolkit

A specialist SEND in Primary English Audit for evaluating how effectively pupils with SEND access reading, writing and spoken language across the primary curriculum.

Designed for joint use by English Leads and SENCOs, this resource helps leaders identify the precise literacy barrier affecting a pupil rather than relying on broad labels such as “low ability” or “SEND”.

The audit explores:

• Curriculum ambition and entitlement
• Reading diagnosis
• Phonics and word reading
• Reading fluency
• Language and communication
• Reading comprehension
• Writing composition
• Spelling, handwriting and transcription
• Working memory and processing
• Attention and executive functioning
• Adult support and independence
• Assessment
• Intervention effectiveness
• Pupil voice
• Family partnership
• Leadership and impact

Identify the actual barrier

The resource encourages leaders to distinguish between difficulties with:

Decoding → Fluency → Vocabulary/Language → Comprehension → Composition → Spelling → Transcription → Communication

This matters because pupils experiencing different barriers require different responses.

A pupil struggling to write, for example, may have strong ideas and vocabulary but experience a transcription barrier. Another may write fluently but need support developing language and composition.

The audit helps leaders investigate these differences.

Also included:

• Barrier → Adaptation Matrix
• SEND English Pupil Voice Questions
• 90-Day Improvement Plan
• RAG-rated audit framework
• Evidence and action-planning sections

Ideal for:

• English Subject Leaders
• SENCOs
• Inclusion Leads
• Reading Leads
• Writing Leads
• Assistant/Deputy Headteachers
• SEND reviews
• English monitoring
• School improvement work
• Governor monitoring

A particularly useful tool for joint English Lead + SENCO monitoring.

Also available as part of the Complete Primary English Leadership Pack.

Practical Resources. Real Impact.

The Practical Primary Leader