Additional Support Needs - All Saints Secondary School

ALL SAINTS RC SECONDARY
Learning – Motivation – Success
Additional Support for Learning Policy
Every Child is Included
PREFACE
The Scottish Executive introduced the Additional Support for Learning Act in
2004.
Glasgow City Council puts The Education (Additional Support for Learning)
(Scotland)2004 at the heart of its commitment to equal opportunities, social
inclusion and early intervention.
The council’s policy, “Every Child Is Included” recognises that there may be a
broad range of factors and circumstances, over the short or long term which
give rise to a child or young person requiring additional support to promote
learning and all round development.
Each establishment is required to produce and keep under review a policy on
provision for children and young people with additional support needs. This
policy is derived from the council’s policy, “Every Child Is Included” and will
take account of the particular circumstances of this establishment.
Our school policy outlines how All Saints R.C. Secondary will meet our duties
under the new legislation. As with all our practice, it is dependent on a
successful relationship with parents, carers and our children and young people.
I hope you find the contents of the document helpful to you
Signed……………………………………………….. Head Teacher.
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PROVISION FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS
General Classroom Practice
All classroom teachers have a contractual and statutory duty to address the
learning needs of all the children and young people in their class.
For the majority of children and young people their additional support needs
will be met by effective teaching and learning and appropriate differentiation.
Identifying and Meeting Needs
The class teachers are the first line assessors of a child or young person’s
additional support needs and will differentiate the curriculum or teaching
strategies accordingly.
Examples of this include:
In the maths department, one teacher provides pupils who have difficulty with
their tables, a tables square to assist with multiplication and division.
In the science department, pupils with additional support needs are given a “
Fill in the blanks “ exercise to save them having to write at length.
In the English department, one pupil who is visually impaired, has her work
enlarged to enable her to see the text better.
In All Saints R.C. Secondary, the additional support needs coordinator B.
O’Shea has responsibility for the following staff
Staff with additional responsibility for pupil support
Number of staff
ASL / EAL 1
SUPPORT FOR LEARNING 1
PUPIL SUPPORT 5
We also operate a range of initiatives which allow the school to respond
effectively to specific support needs.
Support Base- offering programmes of work to address self esteem issues or
positive choices.
Mentoring Programme- offering support to pupils on an individual basis with
a specific member of staff and working on targets.
PSAs-providing support in classrooms or at exam times for pupils with
particular difficulties
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J.S.T- meeting of professionals to look at solution focussed outcomes for
specific children
In our school we also have 1 teacher who has a diploma in Support for
Learning, including additional support needs, 1 teacher with a certificate in
Guidance and 2 teachers with certificates in counselling skills.
Management of Additional Support Needs
Staff with additional responsibility for children and young people with
additional support needs will ensure the sharing of relevant information related
to a child / young person’s additional support needs, strategies or appropriate
resources to all staff. All teachers will take account of this information to
inform teaching and learning across the school (Stage 1 of the Intervention
Model)
If, however, the assessed additional support needs require prioritised input
from school managed resources – for example learning or behaviour supportfor
at least a school term, pupil support staff may need to identify short term
outcomes, which should be shared with the class teacher, in order to establish
progress. (Stage 2 of the Intervention Model)
Additional local authority intervention, outwith the direct management of the
school, would require an additional support plan (ASP) to be drawn up (Stage
3 of the Intervention Model) This could include direct input from external
specialist services e.g. Sensory Support Service or Psychological Services.
If a child’s additional support needs also require input from social work
services and or health an ASP would be drafted (Stage 4 of the Intervention
Model).Some children and young people may meet the criteria for a Coordinated
Support Plan. The decision
as to whether a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) is required will be taken by
the Area Manager based on the information provided by the school and other
agencies. Children and young people who have a CSP will also have an ASP.
The ASP will identify the child’s significant additional support needs and the
interventions which will address them.
The plans are overseen by a member of the senior management team and will
be brawn up in full consultation with parents / carers and the child. The
contribution of children / young people and parents / carers to achieving the
learning outcomes and the views of parents/ carers and children / young
people will be sought.
The school has the responsibility to monitor the implementation of the plans.
Progress against the short term learning outcomes within an additional support
plan or CSP will be reviewed as agreed at the initial planning meeting. An
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annual review of plans will be held, attended by the relevant school staff and
specialist services, parents and carers of the child or their advocate if
appropriate.
In accordance with authority policy, all ASPs will be signed by the HT and will
be kept under regular review.
We have clear plans to support the transition of a child or young person with
additional support needs into or out of our establishment in line with
timescales set within council policy. A nominated member of staff will act as
the principal point of contact and coordinator of the transition of a named child
or young person and will collaborate with other relevant professionals to
ensure a successful transition process. The co-ordinators will ensure that
parents/ carers and the child or young person are fully involved and informed
at all stages of the process.
All Saints R.C. Secondary is committed to meeting the additional support
needs of all its children and young people. The Head Teacher or additional
support needs co-ordinator will endeavour to provide information related to a
child’s learning and teaching and will hopefully be able to answer any questions
or reassure parents about any concerns or issues they may have.
If we still cannot resolve the concerns of parents they will be advised to
contact the appropriate person, depending on the nature of the ongoing
concern.
Mediation and Dispute Resolution
All Saints R.C. Secondary will co-operate fully with the Mediation and Dispute
Resolution process. However we would always strive to minimise parental
concerns by ensuring that our approach to addressing additional support needs
is clearly stated and understood by all and underpinned by a robust
assessment and intervention process which reflects the partnership between
home and school.
Whole School Approaches to Support Learning
Roles and responsibilities within the staged intervention model
Stage 1
All classroom teachers have a duty to ensure that they are providing an
appropriate curriculum for the young people they teach. This will be done with
the support of a faculty head who will have determined the outcomes and
experiences of the curriculum and ensure that they are age and stage
appropriate. An effective teacher will be fully aware of the needs of the pupils
in his class and will use differentiation to meet those needs.
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Pupil support staff will provide advice and guidance with reference to children
who have specific difficulties. This information will be available to staff at the
start of the session and will also be subject to discussion at one of three
targeted meetings throughout the year.
Stage 2
If the support provided at stage 1 is not sufficient to meet the needs of
children with additional support needs, other strategies may be adopted such
as the use of a PSA to support learning in the classroom, the use of a mentor
to check on specific targets or the provision of a support card to monitor
behaviour or attendance etc.
Pupil support staff will then engage with staff in identifying short term
outcomes in order to establish progress.
Stage 3
If a child’s additional support need is such that he or she requires support from
outwith the school, but within education services, an ASP would have to be
drawn up.
This could include intervention from psychological services or sensory support.
Pupil support staff would be responsible for bringing the plan together and for
involving parents and carers and young people.
Classroom teachers might be invited to contribute to the short or long term
plans.
Stage 4
Where there is a requirement for social work involvement and or health, and
ASP at stage 4 would be required. For some children this might also be
grounds for the consideration of a CSP. This would be decided by the Area
Manager.
Pupil support staff would be responsible for bringing the plan together and for
involving parents and carers and young people.
Classroom teachers might be invited to contribute to the short or long term
plans.
Inclusive Staged Intervention Approaches
In order to better meet the needs of our pupils in All Saints R.C. Secondary we
have established a timetabled programme of meetings between D.H.Ts and
Pupil Support staff. This provides an opportunity to discuss the varying needs
of all pupils and especially those who have additional support needs.
Minutes are taken at these meetings and the action required is recorded.
From there pupils may be referred to our Joint Support Team meeting which
takes place every four weeks. This involves representatives from social work,
psychological services, the ELO, the school nurse and relevant school
personnel.
Minutes are taken at these meetings and the required action is recorded.
Review of all cases takes place twice yearly.
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Procedures for Liaising with Other Agencies and Services
Informally it is very possible to call either social work services, psychological
services, or indeed any of our partners directly for advice and support.
However the majority of meetings are planned and timetabled.
This is agreed at the start of each new session
Meetings between the school’s ELO and pupil support staff take place on a
weekly basis to discuss those pupils whose attendance is causing concern.
Procedures for Involving Parents and Carers and Young People and
Children
At very early stages of intervention direct contact is made with parents and
carers either through telephone contact, by letter, or an invitation to a
meeting.
Where more formal involvement is required due to the need to have the
parent’/carers’ and young people’s views this would be put in writing to all
involved.
Quality Assurance Procedures
We have agreed that September will be the focus for all planning activity in the
next session, with reviewing of plans taking place in May of the following year.
Sampling of plans will take place in October
B. O’Shea will be responsible for the implementation of all plans.
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