Allanton Primary School and Nursery Class complies with the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 as amended by the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009.
North Lanarkshire Council’s policy is contained within “Support for Learning Policy into Practice 2”, a copy of which is available in the School. The school has a Support for Learning Policy, available from the school on request, which is consistent with North Lanarkshire Council guidelines.
Children are taught in groups and all work provided for them is appropriate to their ability. At times pupils may show specific learning difficulties. It is important to remember that almost all pupils will experience some difficulty in the course of the school career. However, where pupils show specific difficulties it will be necessary to carry out some diagnostic testing to assist in planning future work for the pupil. Sometimes this will be done by the class teacher or, in some cases, the learning support teacher will be asked to make an assessment of a child’s difficulty to ensure the pupil is given a programme of work which meets the child’s individual needs.
The school may also seek advice and guidance from Psychological Services but parents are always advised if a referral is necessary.
‘Looked after Children’ i.e. children who are cared for directly or whose care is supervised by the local authority are deemed to have Additional Support Needs unless assessment determines otherwise.
In some cases, a child may need the support of several agencies to work together to plan and support his/her needs for more than one year e.g. Visual Impairment Unit, Social Work Department, the National Health Service.
Parents and pupils are an essential part of the assessment, planning and review processes and your views will be actively sought.
Parents and young people can request of the authority to establish whether a child has additional support needs. They can also request an assessment at any time.
Staged intervention is a process used in school to identify, assess and support learning needs.
The intervention is detailed below:
Level 1 – Internal support, where education staff identify that a child or young person needs support or planning which can be met within the existing classroom or playroom setting.
Level 2 – Internal support, where education staff identify that a child or young person needs support or planning from within the school or early years establishment.
Level 3 – External support where education staff identify that the child or young person requires support or planning from beyond the school or early years establishment but within education.
Level 4 – External support provided on a multiagency basis, where the child or young person’s needs are identified as requiring support or planning from other agencies outwith education such as health, social work and/or voluntary services and these support needs are likely to last for more than one year.
Support for children where English is an additional language is offered by way of a visiting specialist
PLANNING
Additional Support Plans (ASPs) enable staff to plan effectively for children and young people with Additional Support Needs.
Some children and young people may require significant support from education and at least one other agency, such as health, social work and/or voluntary agency to help them meet their learning targets. Where this support requires a high level of co-ordination, the opening of a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) may be considered.
A CSP may be initiated by the school or another agency.
Parents and young people can, if they wish, request that a CSP be considered and would be involved in the process. Parents will receive letters from the Education Authority throughout the CSP process. Parents and young people will be invited to take part in multi-agency meetings and their views will be recorded in the plan.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
North Lanarkshire Council is committed to resolving any differences of views through discussion, dialogue and building on common ground.
If the matter cannot be resolved with the Education Authority you have the right to request mediation. An independent mediation service is available to parents and young people through Resolve (see contact details at the back of this handbook). Mediation is free and independent of the Education Authority.
In the event that a disagreement can not be resolved through mediation, then an application for Independent Adjudication (see contact details at the back of this handbook) can be made by parents free of charge. The Independent Adjudicator will make recommendations to the Education Authority about how the dispute should be resolved.
The Additional Support Needs Tribunal has been set up to hear appeals made by parents or young people on the decisions made by the Education Authority relating to Co-ordinated Support Plans, placing requests and post school transition. If you disagree with any decision relating to your child’s Co-ordinated Support Plan, either the creation of a CSP, or the content of it, you may be entitled to refer to the Tribunal.
