Assess
Assessment is the process by which pupils who have SEND can be identified. This involves clearly analysing the pupil’s needs using teacher assessment and data in line with National Curriculum expectations. More detailed assessments may be administered by the SENDCO and advice from external support services may be sought to help clearly identify barriers to learning and address additional needs.
Plan
Planning will involve consultation between the teacher, SENDCO, parents and where appropriate, the pupil. Outside agencies can also be consulted to help plan interventions and to offer strategies and support to overcome identified barriers to learning. Targets and strategies will be recorded on an individual learning plan for pupils on the SEND register. All those working with the pupil, including support staff, will be informed of the pupil’s individual needs and the support provided.
Do
Where pupils are underachieving and/or identified as having SEND, the school provides additional support in a variety of ways. Specific strategies and additional resources will be provided to support their learning. In collaboration with the teacher, the SENDCO may organise a targeted intervention which may be taught by a teacher or TA, which can include:
- Quality first teaching
- Small group work targeting phonics and reading comprehension
- One to one learning support
- One to one pastoral support
- Social skills group support
- Emotional Literacy groups – Play and Learning to Socialise (PaLs)
- One to one or small group Speech and Language support
- One to one or small group Occupational Therapy support
- Target focused writing and maths group
The SENDCO and teachers will work closely with TAs to plan and assess the impact of the support and interventions.
If a pupil who has SEND has a more complex need, the SENDCO may discuss with their parent about making a referral to an external support service. External support services make an important contribution in assisting to identify, assess, and provide for pupils who have SEND. The service will require access to pupils’ records in order to understand the strategies employed to date and the targets set and achieved. The specialist may be asked to provide further assessments and advice, and possibly work directly with the pupil. The school works closely with the following agencies:
- ASD Outreach Team (AoT)
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
- Education Psychology Service (EPS)
- Hearing Impairment (HI) Service
- Occupational Therapy (OT)
- Primary Behaviour Service (PBS) Team
- Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) Service
- Medical Officers
Occasionally, a pupil may require an Early Help Assessment and Plan (EHAP) where the needs of a child or young person are assessed and objectives and strategies are agreed with parents to meet those needs. The process aims to ensure that targeted support for the pupil from different agencies occur as early as possible. If a service can address the needs of the child successfully then an EHAP is not required.
Review
Pupils on the SEND register will have an individual learning plan that includes targets and strategies specific to their needs and records only what is ‘different from’ or ‘additional to’ the standard curriculum. The learning plan:
- Will be a planning, teaching and reviewing tool which focuses on particular areas of development for pupils who have SEND
- Will be accessible to all those involved in its implementation
- Monitor how well provision matches need
- Highlight repetitive or ineffective use of resources
- Will identify pupils receiving additional SEND Support from the school’s delegated budget or in receipt of ‘top up’ funding
- Informs and demonstrates how support is deployed
- Will provide short-term SMART (Specific Measureable Attainable Relevant and Timebound) targets
Parents will be offered at least two SEND review meetings each year and these may take place during parent consultation meetings or separately. At the SEND review meetings, parents’ views of their child’s progress will actively be sought.
Where possible, the school will involve pupils in this process. Once targets and strategies have been agreed, a copy of the learning plan is made available to the parent. The learning plan may also be reviewed, coinciding with Parents’ Consultation meetings by the class teacher.
Teachers can use the learning plan to inform internal (professional) pupil progress meetings where data is scrutinised and strategies are reviewed to determine next steps for underachieving pupils. For pupils receiving SEND support, it is expected that class teachers’ adjust their own planning and consider the learning needs of individual pupils when providing appropriately pitched challenge and support across the curriculum.