Introducing SENtrack: Recognising Progress Through the Sensory Curriculum and Beyond
Progress and "next steps" can look different for every learner, especially for our SEND pupils, these can be hard for supporting adults to navigate and track. They can be subtle changes, which many Mainstream assessment trackers do not account for. For example the government created "Development Matters" statements go from Birth to 3 years in just 90 statements, incomparable to SENtrack’s 2443 statements at this equivalent level. Many of our SEND learners will stay at this stage all of their lives. How can we truely show their progress with such a shallow pool of criteria? These small steps matter, and assessment should help us recognise the, and understand what is next.
That is why we have created SENtrack, our own assessment framework at Sensory Classroom Ltd. Designed to work alongside the Sensory Curriculum, SENtrack helps you observe, record and celebrate progress through statements specifically created to be suitable and achievable for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
What Is SENtrack?
SENtrack covers levels 1–9 across the subjects within The Sensory Curriculum. It brings learning and assessment together, helping you connect what a pupil does during a curriculum activity with the statements you are assessing.
The framework spans developmental stages broadly equivalent to birth to around five years old. This allows educators to cover the huge gap at this time, before learners reach The National Curriculum level (or equivalent in your country). Many of our pupils never reach this level of academic learning, it is important that they have a rich a broad opportunity to evidence their progress too.
These developmental references help identify appropriate learning opportunities and "next steps". By assessing in this way you can not only track what a learner can do, but also easily find the gaps in their understanding to better plan future lessons.
What Are the Levels Based On?
SENtrack draws on two foundations:
-Levels 1–6 are an enriched version of the Government created 2021 The Engagement Model & 2026 Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework with statements developed specifically for SEND learners working at an equivalent developmental stage to birth to 2 years.
-Levels 7–9 are an enriched version of the 2014 UK National Curriculum programmes of study & 2026 Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework to support suitable and achievable learning opportunities for SEND pupils. These statements are developed specifically for SEND learners working at an equivalent developmental stage to 2 to 5 years.
SENtrack is our own framework. We have developed the statements to connect these Government backed foundations with the smaller incremental steps, through sensory learning experiences, offered through The Sensory Curriculum.
The assessment frameworks are developed by Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) teachers to help track progress for learners which cannot be measured adequately or accurately by standard age-related tests alone, and where small step progress would be missed.
How Do You Assess Using SENtrack?
Assessment takes place through observations during lessons and activities.
The learning objectives within The Sensory Curriculum, are SENtrack statements. As learners explore, communicate and participate, you observe their responses and relate these to the relevant SENtrack statements. This helps assessment become part of the learning experience in a meaningful way, rather than an add on.
Learners may show their understanding through movement, vocalisations, facial expressions, gestures, AAC or other individual ways of communicating. Taking time to notice these responses helps us recognise achievements that could otherwise be overlooked.
These observations can be manually assessed using the SENtrack grid within The Sensory Curriculum, or using the assessment flowers or Excel spreadsheets also included within The Sensory Curriculum files.
They can also be digitally tracked using our Curriculum suite website and SENtrack app. Two tools that match up observation, evidence gathering and tracking achievement. *Find out more about when these tools will be available and include below.
Which Assessment Tools Are Available Now?
The Sensory Curriculum subscribers can already access manual SENtrack assessment tools, including:
-Spreadsheets for recording assessment against the statements. These can be printed or used via Excel to log "working towards" or "achieved" for all SENtrack statements.
-Assessment flowers for a visual record of achievement. Colour in each petal as a pupil achieved each statement. These work well for support staff to track as it looks less official and scary than the other options, yet still gives a good idea on progress.
-Assessment grids within the short-term planning for marking off statements alongside the activities being delivered. These can be printed to log "working towards" or "achieved" for all SENtrack statements.
These formats give you practical ways to record observations and keep assessment connected to your curriculum planning.
A Digital Curriculum Suite Is in Development
We are also developing a digital Curriculum suite, a place to edit the curriculum to suit your needs and share with colleagues, but also a place where SENtrack will form the assessment and tracking system.
The planned suite will allow you to digitally record and track progress against SENtrack statements for each pupil, organised by subject and level. Our aim is to bring curriculum planning and assessment together, making it easier to build a picture of each learner’s progress over time.
There will also be the function to add in your own statements into the tracking system, so even if you choose not to use SENtrack statements, you can benefit from using our software. This is particularly useful to track EHCP or IEP statements that may be individual to a learner, or if your school already use a different statement system, but you want to track this effectively using our software.
Alongside this, we are developing an app for Apple and Android devices. Planned features include the ability to:
-Capture photographs and videos.
-Record observation notes.
-Link evidence to relevant SENtrack statements, as well as your own added statements.
-Share observations and achievements with parents and carers.
We want to help capture meaningful learning moments and make the connection between an observation, the assessment statement and the pupil’s progress easier to see and understand for the whole team around the learner.
The digital suite and app are currently in development, and will be launched in 2027. In the meantime, subscribers can use the manual SENtrack resources available through the Curriculum Access area. Once released all The Sensory Curriculum subscribers will get automatic access to the Curriculum suite and the APPs at no extra cost.
How Can I Access SENtrack?
If you are already a Sensory Curriculum subscriber, you can find the manual SENtrack content in your Curriculum Access area.
If you would like to explore the Sensory Curriculum and subscribe, visit our Sensory Curriculum product page.
We created SENtrack to help make progress visible, connect assessment with meaningful sensory learning and celebrate the achievements of the pupils at the heart of our curriculum.
Here are some early images of what the Curriculum suite will include to give you an idea of what is to come:
