| Our SEN Provision | How we identify, assess and review children with special educational needs

How we identify, assess and review children with special educational needs

Most children and young people in mainstream schools will have their special educational needs met through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching (QFT).

Early Identification of Need

We talk to parents if either they or their child’s class teacher has a concern about a particular area of development and we let them know what the school has done to date (QFT) in order to meet their needs. This information is captured on a document known as a ‘Short Note’.

With the permission of parents, we seek additional advice from outside specialists such as health professionals, specialist teachers or educational psychologists who would:

  • Further assess the needs of the child’s.
  • Provide advice to schools on how to best support the child.
  • Suggest resources that would help the child make progress.
  • Signpost to other agencies, if appropriate.

The advice given by these agencies is then used by the school and parents to inform collaborative planning.

If targeted Quality First Teaching does not bring about improvements (little or no progress), then provision additional to or different from what is normally on offer for pupils of that age would be planned for. In these cases, pupils are considered to have a SEND and would be recorded as such on the school’s SEND register.

If relevant and purposeful action as detailed on the ‘Support Plan’ is not sufficiently addressing the child’s special needs (little or no progress), either the parent or the school may request the Local Authority to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

This is a very detailed assessment of a child’s needs. Parents or carers, the school and a range of professionals are asked to provide written reports.

At the end of the assessment phase, the Local Authority consider these reports before deciding whether to issue an ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’ for the child.

Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. The school’s SENCO or the Parent Partnership Service are able to advise you about this.

We may involve specialists at any point to advise us on early identification of SEN and effective support and interventions.  Parents would always be involved in any decision to involve specialists.

SEN Support

Where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need, we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.

This means that we would:

  • Assess a child’s special educational needs
  • Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes
  • Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes
  • Review the support and progress

As part of this approach, every child with SEN has an individualised SEN Support Plan that describes the child’s needs, planned outcomes, and planned provision to achieve these.  Parents/carers and the child’s views (where appropriate) are integral to this process.

To fully support us in meeting the needs of our pupils, we regularly seek advice from a range of agencies. If a child needs some extra support and we feel that they should be referred to one of these agencies, we will talk with parents and make a referral, with their permission. The advice of specialists would also be used in the development of support plans.

A small percentage of children and young people with significant and/or complex needs may require an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan.

  • This is a very detailed assessment of a child’s needs. Parents or carers, the school, and a range of professionals are asked to provide written reports.
  • At the end of the assessment phase, the Local Authority consider these reports to help decide whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for the child.
  • Parents/carers also have the right to ask the Local Authority to carry out this assessment, although it is usually best done with the support of the school.
  • Education, Health and Care Assessment is only appropriate for a small number of children. Your school’s SENCO or the SENDIASS will be able to advise you about this.

For more detailed information see the Local Offer

Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEN

For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.