IDENTIFICATION OF CHILDREN WITH SEN - A GRADUATED RESPONSE
The importance of early identification, assessment and provision for any child who may have
special educational needs cannot be over-emphasised. The earlier action is taken, the more
responsive the child is likely to be, and the more readily can intervention be made without
undue disruption to the organisation of the school, including the delivery of the curriculum for
that particular child. If a difficulty proves transient the child will subsequently be able to learn
and progress normally. If the child’s difficulties prove less responsive to the initial
arrangement made then an early start will have been made in considering the additional
provision that may be needed to support the child’s progress.
1.0
SCHOOL BASED RESPONSES
Effective management, disciplinary and pastoral arrangements and policies in schools
can help prevent some special educational needs arising, and minimise others.
Differentiation of class work within a common curriculum framework will help the school
to meet the learning needs of all children. Schools should not automatically assume
that the children’s learning difficulties always result solely or even mainly from
problems within the child. The school’s practice can make a difference - for good or
ill. The Governing Body, Headteacher and SENCO should be alert to any particular
pattern in the emergency of children’s special educational needs or parents’
expressions of concern, and should examine the school’s general practices and
policies in the light of any such patterns.
1.1
Central Principles
In order to help children with special educational needs, schools should adopt a
graduated response that encompasses an array of strategies. These are
underpinned by a number of central principles:

That all children can learn and make progress.

That all teachers are teachers of SEN.

That a differentiated curriculum is not SEN provision - differentiated
learning opportunities should be given to all pupils.

That provision for a child with SEN should match the nature of their
needs.

That there should be regular recording of a child’s SEN, of the action
that the school is taking, and of the outcomes.
This approach needs to recognise that good practice can take many different
forms, and that there is a continuum of special educational needs. Where
necessary, the school should bring increasing specialist expertise to bear on
the difficulties that a child may be experiencing. However, the school should other than in exceptional cases - make full use of all available classroom and
school resources before expecting to call upon outside resources. Where
necessary, a school’s policies, procedures and practices should be adapted,
particularly in order to ensure that the school is meeting the requirements of
Disability Discrimination-related legislation.
The Code of Practice does not assume that there are hard and fast categories
of special educational needs. It recognises that each child is unique, that there
is a wide spectrum of SEN that are frequently inter-related, but also that there
are some specific needs that usually relate directly to particular types of
impairment. Children commonly have needs and requirements which fall into at
least one of four areas:

Communication and interaction

Cognition and learning

Behaviour, emotional and social development

Sensory and/or physical needs
The impact of these combinations on the child’s ability to function, learn and
succeed should be taken into account. Schools should not, however,
emphasise categories of SEN. The provision made for children should be on
the basis of an assessment of their identified needs rather than to reflect the
existence of a particular condition or syndrome. It is perhaps helpful to
consider disabilities/SEN as ‘high’ or ‘low’, and incidences as ‘high’ or ‘low’,
whilst recognising that areas of need can be interrelated and that a mix of low
level needs may be as significant as a high level need.
High Disability/SEN
Low Disability/SEN


High Incidence

Low incidence
1.2
 Severe and profound
learning difficulties
 Severe sensory impairment
 Some physical or medical
problems
 Some specific learning
difficulties
 Some emotional/behavioural
problems
 Some specific language and
communication problems
 Some autistic problems
Moderate, generalised learning
difficulty
Most specific learning
difficulties/dyslexia
Mild to moderate emotional and
behaviour difficulties
 Mild to moderate sensory impairment
 Some physical or medical problems
 Some on the autistic spectrum
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
If interventions are to be successful then there are a number of critical
success factors:

The culture, practice, management and deployment of resources in the
school must be designed to ensure that all children’s needs are met in other words, that there is a whole school responsibility for SEN.

Children’s needs are identified early, with class teacher and/or subject
teachers being aware of their central role(s).

Clear, thorough, on going and relevant recording systems which
document the interventions made by the school.
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1.3
1.4

Regular reviews of interventions - are they successful? Should the help
given to the child be increased, decreased or provided in a different
way? In other words, that there is a continuous cycle of planning,
teaching and assessing.

Are the wishes and views of the pupil being taken into account, in order
that he/she has clear, achievable targets to aim for?

Professionals and parents work in partnership.
The School’s Systems should:

Assess each child’s current level of attainment on entry in order to
ensure that they build upon the pattern of learning and experience
already established during pre-school/the previous phase of education.

Make full use of transitional information passed on at the time of
admission or transfer, as a starting point for developing an appropriate
curriculum for the pupil.

Focus attention on the child’s skills and highlight areas for early action
to support the child in class.

Build up knowledge and information over time for the pupil’s strengths
and weaknesses, and identify instances where the child is not learning
as effectively as possible.

Ensure that on-going observations and assessment provide regular
feedback to teachers and parents about the child’s achievements and
experience.

Use the outcome of such assessment to form the basis of planning the
next stage of the child’s learning.

Involve parents and the pupil in planning and agreeing targets to meet
his/her needs, and develop and implement a joint learning approach at
home and in school.
The key test for the need for action is evidence that current rates of
progress are inadequate:
There should not be an assumption that all children will progress at the same
rate. A judgement has to be made in each case as to what it is reasonable to
expect a particular child to achieve. Where progress is not adequate, it will be
necessary to take some additional or different action to enable the child to learn
more effectively. Whatever the level of pupils’ difficulties, the key test of how
far their learning needs are being met is whether they are making adequate
progress.
Adequate progress can be defined in a number of ways.
instance, be progress which:
It might, for

Closes the attainment gap between the child and their peers.

Prevents the attainment gap growing wider.
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1.5

Is similar to that of peers starting from the same attainment baseline, but
less than that of the majority of peers.

Matches or betters the child’s previous rate of progress.

Ensures access to the full curriculum.

Demonstrates an improvement in self-help, social or personal skills.

Demonstrates improvements in the child’s behaviour.

Is likely to lead to appropriate accreditation.

Is likely to lead to participation in further education, training and/or
employment.
School Action
When a class teacher or the SENCO identify the child with SEN the class
teacher should provide interventions that are additional to or different from
those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum and
strategies. (School Action).
The triggers for intervention through School Action could be the teacher’s or
others’ concern, underpinned by evidence, about a child who despite receiving
differentiated learning opportunities:

Makes little or no progress even when teaching approaches are
targeted particularly in a child’s identified area of weakness.

Shows signs of difficulty in developing literacy or mathematics skills
which result in poor attainment in some curriculum areas.

Presents persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties which are not
ameliorated by the behaviour management techniques usually
employed in the school.

Has sensory or physical problems, and continues to make little or no
progress despite the provision of specialist equipment.

Has communication and/or interaction difficulties, and continues to
make little or no progress despite the provision of a differentiated
curriculum.
To help inform the decision on the nature of the additional help that might be
needed by the child through School Action the class teacher together with the
SENCO should collect all the available information about the child and seek
additional information from the parents. In some cases outside professionals
from Health or Social Services may already be involved with the child.
The SENCO should take a lead in the further assessment of the child’s
particular strengths and weaknesses; planning future support for the child in
discussion with colleagues; and monitoring and subsequently reviewing the
action taken. The child’s class teacher should remain responsible for working
with the child on a daily basis and for planning and delivering an individualised
programme. Parents should always be consulted and kept informed of the
action taken to help the child, and the outcome of this action.
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The information collected about the child, and details of the extra help given to
them, can be incorporated in the child’s individual record.
There is sometimes an expectation that the extra help needed will take the form
of the deployment of extra staff to enable one to one tuition to be given to the
child. However, this may not be the most appropriate way of helping the child.
A more appropriate approach might be to provide different learning materials or
special equipment; to use grouping strategies of different types and sizes
within ordinary classrooms to help pupils make progress - for example,
facilitating additional attention from the teacher, working outside the ordinary
classroom for part of the time, pre-teaching a pupil about a subsequent lesson,
and arranging flexible access to a resource base. The National Curriculum
statement on inclusion explains how to enhance normal teaching strategies for
pupils with special educational needs.
This includes more focussed
differentiation, individualised teaching programmes which directly target pupils’
particular difficulties, the use of ICT, adapted teaching materials, augmentative
forms of communication, devoting additional time to activities which build on
pupils’ interests, using specific teaching methods and using small group
intervention programmes developed for the National Literacy and Numeracy
Strategies.
1.6
Individual Education Plan/Provision Map
Individual Education Plans or Provision Maps should be used to set out the
interventions for individual pupils made through School Action (and subsequent
stages). Both an IEP and a Provision Map should only record key short-term
targets and strategies that are different from or additional to those in place for
the rest of the group of class. Targets on the IEP and the Provision Map
intervention sheets will usually have a specified timescale that will be
dependent on the identified need.
IEPs/Intervention Sheets should focus on:

Up to 3 or 4 key individual targets/interventions set to help meet the
individual pupil’s needs and particular priorities.

Targets should relate to key areas in communication, literacy,
mathematics and aspects of behaviour or physical skills.

The pupil’s strengths and successes should underpin the targets set
and the strategies used.
The IEP/Intervention Sheet should include information about:

The short-term targets set for or by the pupil

The teaching strategies to be used

The provision to be put in place

When the Plan/Intervention is to be reviewed

Outcomes (to be recorded when the IEP/Intervention is reviewed)
Some schools may choose to add over-arching long-term aims so as to put the
IEP in context.
IEPs/Intervention Sheets should generally include SMART targets, although on
occasion less measurable but accessible targets that can record progress will
5
be more appropriate. Notwithstanding this, all IEP targets must be achievable
for both the pupil and the teacher, and be in small steps so that success is
clearly visible. IEPs should be reviewed at least twice a year. Ideally they
should be reviewed termly, or possibly more frequently for some children.
Provision Maps should also be reviewed termly.
1.7
School Action Plus
A request for help from external services may follow a decision taken by the
SENCO, in consultation with parents, at a meeting to review the child’s IEP.
Schools should always consult specialists when they take action on behalf of a
child through School Action Plus. The triggers for School Action Plus could be
that, despite receiving an individualised programme and/or concentrated
support under School Action, the child:

Continues to make little or no progress in specific areas over a long
period

Continues working at National Curriculum levels substantially below that
expected of children of a similar age

Continues to have difficulty in developing literacy and mathematic skills

Has emotional or behavioural difficulties which substantially and
regularly interfere with the child’s own learning or that of the class
group, despite having an individualised behaviour management
programme

Has sensory or physical needs, and requires additional specialist
equipment or regular advice or visits by a specialist service

Has on-going communication or inter-action difficulties that impede the
development of social relationships and cause substantial barriers to
learning
The SENCO and the class teacher, together with curriculum, literacy and
numeracy coordinators and external specialists, should consider a range of
different teaching approaches and appropriate equipment and teaching
materials, including the use of ICT. The resulting new IEP/Provision Map for
the child should set out fresh strategies for supporting the child’s progress. The
strategies specified in the IEP/Intervention Sheet should usually be
implemented in the normal classroom setting. The delivery of the interventions
recorded in the IEP/Provision Map continues to be the responsibility of the
class teacher.
1.8
Requests for Statutory Assessments from Schools and Early Years
Settings
For a very few pupils the help given by schools through School Action Plus may
not be sufficient to enable a pupil to make adequate progress. It will then be
necessary for a school, in consultation with the parents and any external
agencies already involved, to consider whether to ask the LA to initiate a
statutory assessment. By the time the Headteacher considers requesting a
statutory assessment of a pupil’s special educational needs, the school should
be in a position to provide written evidence of or information about:

The school’s action through School Action and School Action Plus
6

Individual Education Plans for the pupil or Provision Map and
appropriate intervention sheets

Records of regular reviews and their outcomes

The pupil’s health including the pupil’s medical history where relevant

National Curriculum levels

Attainments in literacy and mathematics

Educational and other assessments, for example from an educational
psychologist or an advisory specialist support teacher

The views of the parent and of the pupil

Involvement of other professionals

Any involvement by the Social Services or Education Welfare Service
This information will form the basis on which the LA can consider whether a
statutory assessment is necessary.
Schools wishing to refer a pupil to the County Council for statutory assessment
should complete the appropriate referral form (two versions are in use,
depending on whether the child is in, or beyond, the Foundation Stage).
Specimen forms are included at the end of this section of the Handbook. If a
parent makes a request for statutory assessment direct to the County Council,
then the school will similarly be required to complete the referral form.
2.0
THE LA’S RESPONSE
2.1
2.2
The County Council will come to a view concerning whether or not to proceed
to statutory assessment having had an opportunity to consider all relevant
referral information which refers to:
(i)
the child’s academic attainments;
(ii)
the special educational provision already made by the school or setting
to help the child;
(iii)
progress, and whether sufficient improvement has been achieved so
that statutory assessment is inappropriate;
(iv)
the particular requirements of the individual child and whether these can
be met from the resources already available within the intervention,
monitoring and review arrangements of the child’s school/setting.
Where the child presents with a particular learning difficulty or disability, then
the County Council will, in conjunction with the above, will have regard for its
Special Education Policy in relation to principal areas of need:

severe and complex behaviour, emotional and social difficulties

physical disability and medical needs

cognition and learning
-
severe and complex general learning difficulties
7

severe and complex specific learning difficulties
communication and interaction
-
severe and complex speech and language difficulties
-
sensory development
-
hearing impairment
-
visual impairment
-
autistic spectrum disorder
whilst recognising that some youngsters will have special educational needs
which fall across a number of areas and that special educational needs are not
exclusive to the above categories.
In making these judgements, the Authority will need to have access to and
consider a wide range of evidence, including information from parents and that
supplied on the referral form and attachments by the child’s school/setting, or
provided separately, by relevant professionals.
N.B. It is very important that this section is read in conjunction with the
information in the companion volume to this guidance, ‘Statutory
Procedures’.
3.0
DISAPPLICATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS OF THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM
The County Council expects all schools to offer the full range of the National
Curriculum to which all pupils have entitlement. The Statutory Order for each subject
of the National Curriculum sets out that every pupil should have access to the National
Curriculum Programmes of Study and assessment arrangements. Material may be
selected from the Programmes of Study for earlier (or later) Key Stages where this is
necessary to enable pupils to progress and demonstrate achievement. Such material
should be presented in contexts suitable to the pupil’s age. Appropriate provision
should be made for pupils who need to use:

Means of communication other than speech, including ICT aids, signing,
symbols or lip reading

Non-sighted methods of reading, such as Braille, or non-visual or non-aural
ways of acquiring information

ICT aids or adapted equipment to allow access to written work and/or practical
activities.
Such arrangements should provide full access to the National Curriculum for the
overwhelming majority of pupils. However, Sections 364 and 365 of the Education Act
1996 set out the circumstances in which the requirements of the National Curriculum
may be disapplied – either one or more of the Programmes of Study and/or the
assessment and testing arrangements. The headteacher should inform the parents
and LA in writing of the elements that are being disapplied, the period of disapplication
and the steps that are being taken to resume work on the full National Curriculum at
the end of the period.
The LA would regard any circumstances that warranted a student’s disapplication from
their entitlement to the National Curriculum as being highly exceptional, given the
8
range of special educational needs which special schools demonstrate that it is
possible to incorporate within National Curriculum Programmes of Study. It is in the
case of students involved in Key Stage 4 Programmes of Study that the issue is most
likely to arise, and the school concerned must meet a number of criteria published by
the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (1998). The QCA also publishes guidance
on making special arrangements for the end of Key Stage assessments. Examination
Boards and Groups provide similar advice on concessions for public examinations.
9