The Graduated Approach for Parents and Carers
What is the Graduated Approach?
The Graduated Approach is the way early years settings, schools and post-16 providers support children and young people who have Special Educational Needs.
The Graduated Approach begins with the expectation that all children receive high quality teaching. This is called Universal Support.
Some children will need support which is additional and different. It will be targeted to meet more specific needs and is called SEN Support.
A small number of children may continue to need additional and different support which is specialist and may require an assessment of their Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs. This may result in them having an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC plan).
Actions taken within the Graduated Approach- SEN Support
When a pupil is identified as having special educational needs the school must take immediate action. Staff must put effective special educational needs provision in place and ensure that all barriers to learning are removed.
As soon as a pupil is identified as having special educational needs their family must be informed. The school must then work in partnership with parents/carers, listening to their views and proactively involving them in decision making and planning.
What help is available at SEN support?
SEN support can be provided in many different ways and should be individual to each child or young person.
SEN support could include:
- individually designed interventions or programmes
- focused support with the class teacher, member of the Support Staff, specialist teacher or the SENCO
- small group intervention work
- helping the child or young person to actively participate in class activities
- helping the child or young person to play or socially interact with other children or young people
- additional materials and equipment
- supporting a child or young person’s personal or physical care
- advice and support from external professionals such as educational psychologists, therapists and specialist teachers/advisors
Special educational needs provision should be reviewed at least termly and all reviews must involve the pupil and their family.
It may be decided that advice from a specialist professional is required in order to meet the needs of a pupil. Information regarding the external support available is published on the SEND Local Offer site.
SEN support and provision should be informed a four part cycle known as the ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle.
The Graduated Approach Assess, Plan, Do, Review Cycle
Staff in early years’ settings, schools and colleges must use a graduated approach based on a four step process. These steps are:
- Assess – analyse the child or young person’s special educational needs
- Plan – identify the additional and different support needed
- Do – put the support in place
- Review – regularly check how well it is working so that they can change the amount or kind of support if needed.
If the child or young person continues to have special educational needs, the cycle starts again at assess with the updated needs of the child or young person being considered.
What if my child does not make progress at SEN Support?
A very small number of children and young people may not make progress despite the interventions and strategies put in place at SEN support. If your child does not make progress at SEN Support, an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment might be appropriate. This is a detailed assessment of a child or young person’s special educational needs and the support they may need in order to learn.
Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments
What is an EHC needs assessment?
An EHC needs assessment, sometimes called a statutory assessment, is a detailed assessment to find out exactly what a child or young person’s special educational needs are and the support they may need in order to learn, progress and achieve. At every stage, the child and their parents and or the young person in involved fully and their views and wishes taken into account.
The purpose of an EHC needs assessment is to see whether an Education Health and Care Plan is necessary to make the special educational provision that a child or young person needs. Local authorities are responsible for carrying out EHC needs assessments.
The education setting must always consider their Graduated Approach and show evidence of interventions over time, before they consider that it may be necessary for an EHC assessment to take place. For further information please see the Ordinarily Available Education Provision guidance.
SEN Support in Mainstream Schools
What is SEN Support?
Every child with special educational needs should have SEN support. This means help that is additional to or different from the support generally given to most of the other children of the same age.
The purpose of SEN support is to help children and young people achieve the outcomes or learning objectives set for them by the school in conjunction with parents and pupils themselves.
Every school must publish an SEN information report about the SEN provision the school makes. You can find this on the school’s website. You can also ask your child’s teacher or the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) for information on the SEN provision made by the school.
The Local Offer published by North Lincolnshire Council also sets out what support it expects early years settings, schools and colleges to make for all children and young people with SEN or disabilities.
SEN support can take many forms, including:
- a special learning programme for your child
- extra help from a teacher or a learning support assistant
- making or changing materials and equipment
- working with your child in a small group
- observing your child in class or at break and keeping records
- helping your child to take part in the class activities
- making sure your child has understood things by encouraging
- them to ask questions and to try something they find difficult
- helping other children work with your child, or play with them at break time
- supporting your child with physical or personal care, such as eating, getting around school safely, toileting or dressing
- advice and/or extra help from specialists such as specialist teachers, educational psychologists and therapists.
When schools want to call in specialists, they should discuss and agree this with parents.
Children under 5
SEN support for children under 5 includes:
- a written progress check when your child is 2 years old
- a child health visitor carrying out a health check for your child if they’re aged 2 to 3
- a written assessment in the summer term of your child’s first year of primary school
- making reasonable adjustments for disabled children, like providing aids like tactile signs.
Nurseries, playgroups and childminders registered with Ofsted follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. The framework makes sure that there’s support in place for children with SEND.
Talk to a doctor or health adviser if you think your child has SEND but they do not go to a nursery, playgroup or childminder. They’ll tell you what support options are available.
Children 5 - 15
Talk to the teacher or the SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) if you think your child needs:
- a special learning programme
- extra help from a teacher or assistant
- to work in a smaller group
- observation in class or at break
- help taking part in class activities
- extra encouragement in their learning, for example to ask questions or to try something they find difficult
- help communicating with other children
- support with physical or personal care difficulties, for example eating, getting around school safely or using the toilet.
Young people 16 and over in further education
Contact the college before your child starts further education to make sure that they can meet your child’s needs.
The college and your local authority will talk to your child about the support they need.