This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Education (Additional Support for Learning) Bill
28/05/2003
EDUCATION (ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR LEARNING)
(SCOTLAND) BILL
The Bill's key aim is to provide all pupils with a
positive, inclusive educational experience and the
necessary support to help them towards achieving their full
potential.
Complementing other disability legislation, the Bill
will modernise and streamline the current system for pupils
with Special Educational Needs by building on its strengths
and addressing its weaknesses.
Main Points
- Reforming terminology and increasing support: The
Bill will replace the term Special Educational Needs
(SEN) with Additional Support Needs (ASN). ASN will
extend beyond the traditional special educational needs
to encompass children and young people who, for
whatever reason, require support to access and benefit
from school education.
- New duties and joined-up services: the Bill creates
a duty on local authorities, health and social services
to work together to develop integrated support for
individual children. Parents will be provided with
named contacts who offer information and advice.
Parents will find it easier to liaise with the local
authority and their child's school.
- Greater flexibility: The Bill will replace the
Record of Needs (RON) document with a Co-ordinated
Support Plan (CSP) for pupils with multiple or complex
needs who need services from several agencies to
support their learning. The CSP will focus on
individual's educational outcomes and the support
required to achieve these. Unlike the RON, the CSP will
be reviewed annually, or if a pupil's circumstances
change.
- Strengthening rights, for parents and pupils: The
Bill seeks to promote and support parental involvement
in their child's education. Local authorities will have
a duty to provide new mediation services for parents of
all children with additional support needs and a new
user-friendlier, independent tribunal will be
established to hear appeals relating to any part of the
CSP, including the support it specifies. (There is no
right of appeal against provision in the RON.) Placing
requests will be extended to allow all parents of
children with additional support needs to request a
place at an independent special school. This is
currently limited to pupils with a RON.
- Planning for the future: Schools will devote
adequate time to preparing for a pupil's life beyond
the classroom, including liaison with other agencies to
ensure continued support when the pupil transfers
between schools and, most importantly, when they leave
school.
Background
The ASL Bill's proposals reflect and take forward the
good practice that is already being implemented by many
local authorities and partner agencies. It seeks to ensure
that schools provide a supportive environment, responsive
to the needs of every pupil. It promotes early intervention
and giving young people greater access to support.
The Bill will create a duty on local authorities to
identify and assess children with additional support needs
and to provide them with an education package tailored to
individual requirements. Local authorities will enjoy
flexibility in deciding when it is appropriate to approach
health and social work departments for their services.
The Bill has been developed following extensive
consultation with parents and educational professionals,
which initially began in May 2001. It showed there was a
need to address the failings of the current RON system
which is seen as bureaucratic, inflexible and difficult for
local authorities to implement fully. About 2% of children
have a Record of Needs.