How extra support in school works
Extra help in school
When a child is found to have a SEN but isn't making adequate progress, extra help is provided by the school. This may be in the form of a package of measures called School Action, or School Action Plus in more serious cases.
Actions to deal with SEN tends to fall with four broad bands:
- Assessment, planning & review of the child's progress
- Grouping of children with similar abilities for teaching purposes
- Additional staff at certain times
- Specialised curriculum and teaching methods
Decisions about what actions are appropriate for which pupils must be made on an individual basis by:
- careful assessment of the child's difficulties
- the child's need for different approaches to learning
- the school and classroom context
School Action and School Action Plus
Interventions under School Action (SA) or School Action Plus (SA+) would be considered when a child:
- still struggles even though teaching approaches are targeted at the problem area
- shows signs of difficulty in developing literacy or mathematics skills, because this has such an impact in other areas of learning
- presents persistent emotional or behavioural difficulties, which aren't reduced by the behaviour management techniques usually employed in schools
- has sensory or physical problems, and continues to struggle despite using specialist equipment
- has communication and/or interaction problems, and continues to struggle despite following a differentiated curriculum.
The school's Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and the class teacher will decide on the right actions to take. Parents will be consulted and kept informed on the actions taken and progress made.
This sort of help may include extra staff, different learning materials, special equipment or an individually planned teaching strategy. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be prepared that sets out the action to be taken, and this should be reviewed on a regular basis.
For children under school age, in early education settings, intervention will take the form of Early Years Action.
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