4. How do we support a child with additional needs?
(Please see flowchart in Appendix 4)
We will work together with pupils and their parents using the information from assessment to design appropriate differentiated programmes for pupils with identified AN, including:
- Providing starting points for an appropriate curriculum
- Identifying the need for support within the class
- Assessing learning difficulties
- Ensuring on-going observations/assessments provide regular feedback on achievements/ experiences, for planning next steps in learning
- Involving parents in a joint home-school learning approach
Procedure: The Graduated Approach
The SEN Code of Practice advocates a graduated response to meeting pupils’ needs, based on an Assess, Plan, Do and Review model. Where teachers, pupils and parents decide that a pupil has additional needs, the Assistant Head (Inclusion) is the first to be consulted. The Assistant Head (Inclusion), in conjunction with the class teacher, will make an assessment of any areas of concern and plan the approaches to be adopted in consultation with the pupil and parents. The Assistant SENCo will also be involved in discussions as to the appropriate provision to meet the child’s needs. The school will then implement the plan and the effectiveness of the support and interventions and their impact on the pupil’s progress will then be reviewed at least termly. As part of the school’s graduated approach, the support detailed in paragraph (i) below is provided as an integral part of high quality differentiated and personalised teaching, whilst the support in paragraphs (ii) to (v) represent more formal Special Educational Needs Support.
(i) Where a child requires some support beyond that normally provided within the class in order to boost his or her performance and help him or her ‘catch up’ with his or her peers, he or she will be given targeted support. The targeted support will usually involve working in a small group, both in and occasionally out of class (a withdrawal group). The level of support will be recorded on the school's Provision Map where we record (confidentially) any form of additional support that a child receives.
(ii) Where at any review the child’s needs are considered to be more significant and it is felt that more sustained support will be necessary, the child will receive additional or more intense targeted support and will be placed on the school’s SEN Support Register with the support again detailed on the school’s Provision Map. The support here will again usually involve differentiated small group work, both in class and in withdrawal groups, but may also include some 1:1 support.
(iii) If at any review the child’s needs are such that s/he is still not making expected progress despite the above support or it is felt that advice from external professionals (such as Educational Psychologists or Speech Therapists) is needed, the child will receive further targeted support with advice from external specialists as required. An Additional Needs Plan (“ANP”) will be drawn up for the child detailing the support provided which will include Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Limited (“SMART”) targets. The child will be placed/remain on the school’s SEN Support Register with the support again detailed on the school’s Provision Map. The support is again likely to involve differentiated small group work, both in class and in withdrawal groups, and some 1:1 support.
(iv) If, at the termly ANP review, the child’s needs are such that s/he is still not making expected progress despite the above provision and it is felt often as a result of on advice from external professionals (such as Educational Psychologists or Speech Therapists) that the child will need further targeted support, a My Support Plan will be drawn up with the child, their parent/carer(s) and any professionals involved with the family detailing the child’s (and his/her family) background, aspirations, strengths, needs and desired outcomes in the short and long term not just regarding education, but also (where necessary) in the areas of health and social care. All areas will include SMART targets setting out how progress towards those outcomes is to be realised. The child will remain on the school’s SEN Support Register with the support detailed on the school’s Provision Map. The support is again likely to involve highly differentiated small group work, both in class and in withdrawal groups, and is likely to necessitate greater 1:1 support.
(v) Education, Health and Care Plans (which have now replaced the Statements of SEN - see Appendix 5): Where a child’s needs are complex and the child is still not making expected progress despite the above sustained intervention detailed in the My Support Plan, the school will consider requesting an Education, Health and Care Plan (“EHCP”). The EHCP will replace the My Support Plan and will mirror all the relevant information in it, but has the added advantage of placing statutory obligations on education, health and social care to provide the support detailed therein.
It should be emphasised that the child and his/her family are placed at the centre at every stage of the above graduated approach and whilst the school will provide recommendations on the most appropriate provision, it will always assess, plan, do and review in collaboration with pupils and parents.