GIRFEC (Education) is the single agency framework by which ERC education establishments assess wellbeing, plan strategies and supports to meet identified needs and systematically review and refine those plans to secure the best outcomes for learners.
GIRFEC (Education) is a multi-stage structure that reflects the level of support and coordination required to assess and meet the needs of learners at any given time. Although the framework rightly promotes a staged and proportionate approach to assessment and intervention it is acknowledged that the process by which children are identified as needing support is not always linear as some children may be identified as having more significant needs that require more immediate multi-agency support and coordination. Our aim should be for children and young people to get the help they need when they need it and be central to the process of finding solutions.
The framework has been designed to allow school staff, pupils, parents and, where appropriate, partners to be active participants in the plan, do and review process: GIRFEC (Education) Framework
Stages can be summarised as:
- Universal stage: Planning and support available for all children and young people within the classroom/playroom.
- Stage 1 – Child’s plan (education): Individualised and targeted planning and support from the educational establishment, coordinated by the named person.
- Stage 2 – Child’s plan (education): Individualised and targeted planning and support from the educational establishment and joint support team, coordinated by the named person.
- Stage 3 – Child’s multi-agency plan (CMAP): Individualised and targeted planning and support from education and partnership agencies, coordinated by the lead professional. This guidance should inform single agency assessment and planning within education (Stage 1 and 2) and therefore should be read alongside ‘East Renfrewshire’s Getting it right for every child framework for children and young people: practitioners guidance manual’, which provides guidance on multi agency assessment and planning (Stage 3).
In line with the principle that a child or young person should have one assessment and one plan, where a lead professional is coordinating multi-agency assessment and planning (Stage 3), school staff should fully contribute to this process. It is at the discretion of the school to determine whether to continue to utilise a Child’s plan (education), with key information from this plan being included within the CMAP or whether the school use the CMAP as the working plan.
