Assessment and planning
Assessment and identification of learning needs starts with a whole school approach that can identify where a child/young person is not making expected progress. Schools should use regular progress meetings to identify this issue and consider whether further assessment may be needed to identify additional strategies and differentiated approaches that will support learning.
“Where a pupil is identified as having SEN, settings/schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place. This SEN support should take the form of a four-part cycle through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined, and revised with a growing understanding of the pupil’s needs and of what supports the pupil in making good progress and securing good outcomes. This is known as the graduated approach.” Section 6.44, Code of Practice
| Expectations of All Settings | Whole Setting Approaches | How well implemented? | When and how? | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Always | Sometimes | Not yet | |||
| Schools ensure that formative assessment and feedback are a feature of lessons |
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| School's review the quality of class and subject teaching for all Children and young people |
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| A regular cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review is used to ensure that pupils with SEND are making progress |
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| Ensure that all staff who work with the child/young person are aware of their needs and any teaching and support strategies that are required |
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| Ensure there is dialogue with parents/carers and the young person about their learning and involve them in planning to address any areas of concern |
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| Seek the views of the child or young person about their aspirations and life outcomes and incorporate those into planning from as early as possible |
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| Maintain up to date records of planning and progress towards meeting agreed targets |
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- There is a whole-school culture where teachers feel confident to make 'in the moment' adaptations to teaching based on their assessment for learning.
- Marking policies are adapted to take account of individual needs.
- Clear systems are in place to identify pupils who are making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances, for example termly pupil progress meetings.
- Pupils' strengths and barriers to learning are clearly identified and are observed and monitored in different settings and contexts to inform planning.
- Staff are aware of pupils' starting points so that expected progress can be measured.
- The impact of interventions is critically evaluated. Alternative approaches are explored to establish whether they may result in better outcomes.
- Consider asking the SENDCO what they know from individualised assessment about the child/young person's strengths and areas of learning need or any potential barriers to learning
- Staff are supported to use a range of strategies to evidence learning, for example, photo, video or audio evidence.
- Staff have a good understanding of developmental milestones and academic expectations in each year group.
- School takes steps to improve teachers' understanding of and confidence in implementing strategies to identify and support Children and young people with SEND
- Staff have a good understanding of developmental milestones and academic expectations in each year group.
- Teachers use a range of assessment strategies throughout each lesson to monitor learning and understanding, including observation, questioning or live marking.
- Parents are actively involved in the assessment process. They are given regular opportunities to contribute to the holistic picture for an individual child where appropriate or needed. Assessment information from school is clearly shared with parents.
- There is a whole school expectation that Children and young people are supported to reflect upon their own achievements and learning.
- Teachers gather feedback from the pupils on how well the learning has been understood using different techniques, for example, questioning, mini whiteboards, peer talk.
- CYP have regular opportunities to evaluate their own performance. Self-assessment is routinely used to set individual targets.
- There is a clear tracking system that enables the progress of all pupils to be tracked from their starting points, no matter what stage they are working at.
The cycle of assessment and planning to meet needs is known as the `assess, plan, do and review’ cycle or the graduated approach. If a child or young person is not making expected progress despite high quality, suitably differentiated teaching they may have special educational needs that require further individualised assessment and targeted support to be provided. The cyclical process enables increased understanding of the needs of the child/young person and the approaches needed to enhance their learning progress. The approaches used may require different, not necessarily more, resources to be put into place.
There will be some variation of practices across schools and within secondary schools. The school SEN information report and their self-evaluation should demonstrate clearly how they propose to address additional needs and how they know they are meeting them. Additional programmes and external services (educational psychologist, speech and language therapist etc.) are available within the school or setting’s SEN provision or child’s network to provide consultation, advice, support and training without the need for a statutory education health and care needs assessment or plan.
It is expected that there will be clear and ongoing communication with parents/carers about any areas of concern and they should be able to participate in the development of plans being put into place to support their child/young person. It should be clear from the start what goals are being set, how support will be put into place to achieve those goals and by whom and how often and when progress will be reviewed. It is good practice to arrange with parents/carers a system of communication, where possible, identifying a named person with whom they can be in regular contact. The Code of Practice is clear that plans being used in SEN support should be reviewed at least termly.
For more information on the application of the Graduated Approach, please see Section B of this Meeting Predictable Needs Toolkit.
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