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Additional Support Needs and Co-ordinated Support Plans

Children and young people have many different experiences and circumstances that may require additional support for their learning and progress. The support may be required because of social factors, for example, children and young people experiencing neglect or abuse may have additional support needs in relation to their learning as well as their care and welfare.

From autumn 2005, education authorities will have new duties under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 to make arrangements to identify and make adequate provision for additional support needs for each pupil for whose education they are responsible. Education authorities will have to work in partnership with other agencies supporting children and young people. Other agencies, such as Health Boards, will have a duty to help education authorities support children and young people. An education authority may be asked to make an assessment of children and young people who are not in authority schools but are educated at home or in private education. In these cases the authority has a power, rather than a duty to help.

When a child requires significant additional support from a number of agencies, education authorities and other agencies should seek to ensure that the educational objectives are shared across their plans. In particular, Individualised Education Programmes ( IEPs), and Co-ordinated Support Plans ( CSPs) should link with any health or social care plan. The Co-ordinated Support Plan will describe what schools and other agencies will do to support the child to achieve the learning goals identified as appropriate. Guidance on Planning is being developed by the Scottish Executive as part of the Code of Practice for the Additional Support for Learning Act.

It is anticipated that in the case of children and young people affected by abuse or neglect, a number of issues may be taken into account when planning additional support:

• The possibility of planned or unplanned transfer of the child to another establishment
• The possibility of planned or unplanned change of family circumstances or accommodation
• The child's need for information and support to understand action taken to protect them and any hearings or reviews in which they or their family may be involved
• The possible effect on the child's attendance at school and support to maintain progress
• The range of professionals with which the child may be involved during investigations or action, and the child's need for a consistent and trusted member of staff to be available
• The child's potential loss of trust in adults, sense of broken trust and loss of personal control and integrity in decision making about him or her; a fear that everyone knows deeply personal information about him or her
• The possible impact on the child's mental and physical health, friendships and family support networks
• The possibility that the child may regard school as a haven of normality and stability, and may not wish to be regarded as having any additional support needs because of their circumstances or experiences.

"Because the teacher I liked best stuck by me in meetings when they were talking about what should happen, I trusted someone would listen to what I thought."

(pupil)

Every child has individual coping mechanisms and support needs. Additional support for learning may involve:

• Home-School links to maintain parental involvement, when appropriate, or to liaise effectively with carers
• Counselling or mental health support
• Arrangements to follow up quickly on absence from school to ensure the safety and whereabouts of the child is known
• Arrangements to support the child to catch up if absence from school is necessary
• Arrangements to provide help, support and a place to complete homework
• Regular contact and open access to a named member of staff that the child trusts and gets on with.

Vulnerable Pupils

Children and young people with additional support needs, and particularly those with multiple disabilities may be more vulnerable to being abused. Staff therefore have a particular need to be alert to possible indicators of abuse in relation to children and young people with additional support needs. They may:

• have fewer contacts outside of school and home than other children and young people
• lack an awareness of what constitutes abuse, and perceive what is happening to them as normal, or even pleasurable
• have communication difficulties which make it difficult to tell others what is happening
• receive intimate personal care which can increase the risk of exposure to abusive behaviour
• be inhibited from complaining about adult or peer behaviour for fear of the consequences
• place themselves at risk through their own socially inappropriate behaviour.

Schools can help keep vulnerable children and young people safe and well by:

• Providing high quality and appropriate programmes of personal and social education (including sex education)
• Ensuring pupils' individualised educational programmes ( IEP) and/or Co-ordinated Support Plan ( CSP) provide targets for their personal and social development
• For children and young people with complex needs and communication difficulties, keeping logs of their daily activities and temperament
• Teaching children and young people about how, and with whom, they can raise concerns if they are worried or angry about something
• Ensuring children and young people have access to a means of being heard, particularly where they have a communication difficulty
• Ensuring privacy for children wishing to speak to an adult
• Developing relationships with parents and carers and providing opportunities for regular contact between them and staff
• When establishments provide intimate care to children and young people, ensuring that staff are fully aware of the guidance provided in the Scottish Office publication Helping Hands - Guidelines for Staff who provide Intimate Care for Children and Young People with Disabilities. www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc02/hhgs-02.htm
• Ensuring the school has a strategy for supporting children and young people with additional support needs if an investigation becomes necessary where there are child protection concerns. Interpreters who are independent of the school, for example, may be required
• In authorities, assessing their capacity to provide for translation and interpreting either individually or collectively, and where necessary, providing appropriate training to ensure independent staff will be available when required.

The Scottish Executive provides detailed guidance, The Administration of Medicines in Schools www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/education/amis-00.asp . This guidance also contains templates for recording, consent and emergency procedures.

Education authorities are responsible for health and safety for their employees and should consider the needs of all those using their premises. Schools and their authority should have a policy on meeting pupils' health care needs, ideally drawn up by working closely with the NHS Trusts in their area. A number of points should also be considered:

• Administration of medicine is a voluntary task which staff may wish to undertake. However, some staff work in settings where this role is more likely to be required. Teaching and non-teaching staff may administer medication but in all cases the authority, as employer, should ensure staff are trained and there is appropriate insurance
• It is the education authority that will be held liable for any negligence of an employee undertaking these tasks
• Training and support for staff administering medicines, and good record keeping, are essential
• All staff should be aware of appropriate emergency action to take for each child with health care needs

"Talking through with the staff and my daughter how they could help her made me confident the school would support her."
(parent)

• All parents should be aware of the school's policy on administering medicines
• The headteacher, parent and child with health care needs should agree the support the school can offer the child to ensure expectations are clear
• The school must plan to have sufficient capacity to cope with the health care needs of its pupils accounting for staff absence
• The school should consider a child's health care needs while participating in trips and sporting activities, and ensure supervisory staff are trained and willing to administer medicines that may be required
• Medicines should be carefully and securely stored. Medication must be labelled with the pupil's name and kept together with its written instructions for use, contra-indications, etc.

Health care plans

Health care plans should be developed with the parents, child and staff involved with the child, in conjunction with the School Health Service, GP or other health care professionals. The plan should outline the child's key contacts ( e.g.GP, Social Worker) and the staff in school who have agreed to administer medicines or are trained in emergency procedures.

The plan should reflect the pupil's individual needs and special requirements. It should also outline what arrangements will be made to meet the child's preferences regarding confidentiality, privacy and dignity (see Physical Intervention).

Arrangements for information sharing within the school, with external agencies and with parents should be discussed and agreed. Information for all staff, those with responsibility for emergency action and providing personal support for pupils, should be considered.

If a child refuses prescribed medication, the school should contact parents urgently, but should not force the child.

An awareness of the general nature of illness or condition affecting a pupil is helpful to staff providing close personal support. Some of the expected signs or symptoms of conditions or diseases may be similar to signs of abuse or neglect. Staff should be encouraged to note what they observe and to discuss this with other staff providing care or with the school's Child Protection Co-ordinator to ensure patterns or concerns can be considered.

Infectious diseases

The school and education authority should have named contacts among health professionals who can provide advice on infectious diseases and appropriate action to take within a school.

Headlice

The Scottish Executive provided guidance on the detection and treatment of headlice in http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/health/ngmh.pdf . While parents have a responsibility for detection and treatment, schools should support parents with information.

Treatments for headlice can be expensive and schools should be sensitive to the needs of families when there are frequent occurrences. It is possible in some circumstances to make arrangements for school nurses or health visitors to prescribe some over-the-counter medicines to enable those entitled to get treatments free of charge.

Headlice can infect any child or adult, but recurrent headlice in a child may be a sign, along with other signs ( e.g. poor hygiene, unkempt) that a family needs a higher level of support or has other difficulties. This should be raised with parents sensitively, with a focus on ensuring the child is happy at school. Children who experience difficulties with headlice or hygiene may also be vulnerable to bullying. The approach should focus on practical support rather than value judgements. Schools may be able to inform families about local support agencies that may help them.

"I'm always nervous when I approach parents about personal care issues. But I try to make it clear we both share the same goal - for their child to feel good at school. "
(teacher)

If any member of staff receives information or hears an allegation of abuse or inappropriate conduct against another member of staff, the Head and the school's Child Protection Co-ordinator must be informed immediately. It is important to recognise that rumours and gossip can be damaging to the school and to the staff involved unless treated seriously and dealt with properly. It is vital to both staff and children and young people that any action taken in response to information or allegations is conducted properly, but promptly, in order to support proper investigation if this is necessary.

The flow-chart below outlines the process that schools should follow, with full details available in the Child Protection Handbook for Child Protection Co-ordinators.

A child's involvement in any discussions or investigations must be very carefully handled. After receiving initial information or hearing an allegation and establishing these are of a serious nature, further interviewing of the child is not appropriate unless by trained police officers or social workers, or during the legal process of prosecution. However, staff should gain sufficient information from the child in order to judge the seriousness of the issue, in order to inform senior managers' decisions. During any subsequent disciplinary hearings the education authority should take legal advice before asking any child to repeat their testimony.

Where information or allegations concern either the headteacher or the school's CP Co-ordinator, these should be referred direct to the education authority's Child Protection in Education Manager.

In independent establishments, the Chair of the Governors or Board of Directors should be involved in discussions and action.

Minimising Risk of Allegations

All staff should consider the appropriateness of their own and their colleagues' behaviour. Staff and pupils alike should feel confident to openly discuss behaviour which they do not like; a positive school ethos helps build a climate of openness where this can happen.

Where a member of staff feels that his or her actions have been, or might have been misinterpreted, he or she should make a written report to their line manager without delay.

A number of day-to-day activities in schools should be considered by staff in relation to approaches to helping and supporting pupils to meet their needs:

• Private meetings with pupils (see Meeting Pupils 1:1).
• Physical contact with children and young people - through personal care of disabled children and young people, or through reassurance or comfort when a child is distressed. Contact should be minimal and respectful of the child's comfort and preferences.
• Physical education - where staff support movement or in kinaesthetic teaching. The nature and purpose of contact should be fully explained to pupils beforehand.
• Restraint (see Restraint/Physical Intervention).
• Changing of clothes - appropriate privacy should be provided for older pupils and adult supervision kept to a minimum. Younger children should be encouraged to dress without assistance unless they approach staff for help.
• Relationships - if a staff member is concerned that a child or young person has feelings for him or her beyond the bounds of a professional relationship, then the advice of a senior colleague, headteacher or the school's CP Co-ordinator should be sought.
• Verbal banter - positive relationships between teachers and pupils often involve humour. However, careless comments can be misinterpreted, hurtful or embarrassing, for either the pupil or staff member. Staff members should take a consistent approach to their own use of language and should make a consistent response to a child or young person's inappropriate language. If a pattern of inappropriate language by one child or young person is observed, this may indicate the child or young person is troubled or at risk, and in need of support.
• Staff personal information - it is a matter of judgement and personal preference how much personal information individual staff disclose in their discussions with and support to pupils. Staff should be aware that any such information may be interpreted by pupils differently than was intended and may not be kept confidential by the pupil. However, in some cases young people may feel supported by hearing that adults have also experienced some of the difficulties they are facing.
• Teaching materials - materials used to help children and young people learn about sensitive issues (for example, sex education, race relations, holocaust studies) should be carefully selected and appropriate to their age and maturity. Staff should be aware there is no law preventing the use of materials that refer to homosexuality and their sensitive use can support some young people to explore their own feelings and attitudes positively. Parents should be made aware of the content of personal and social education and sex education programmes and teachers should be appropriately trained to deliver this.

"We work with pupils who can be quite troubled. It's great to feel this is a school where we are open and share feelings amongst the staff team."
(teacher)

Each service has its own welfare organisation, offering support to service families. Where an establishment has concerns in relation to the child of a service family, these should be shared with the relevant welfare organisation, to maximise support for the child and family. However, where there are child protection issues requiring further investigation, a formal referral must be made to the local authority social work services department, and the relevant service welfare organisation made aware of this.

Army

The Army Welfare Service ( AWS) provides a comprehensive and professional confidential welfare support service to all Army personnel and their families through their own Social Workers and Army Welfare Workers. There are three Welfare Support Officers ( WSO) who cover Scotland.

Contact:

• Army HQ Scotland (Edinburgh) East Scotland (Edinburgh) Army Welfare Service; tel: 0131 310 2107
• West Scotland and Hebrides (Glasgow) Highlands (Perth northwards), Orkney & Shetland (Inverness) Army Welfare Service tel: 0141 332 0396

Royal Navy

The Naval Personal and Family Service ( NPFS) is the Royal Navy's own social work service. This provides a confidential and professional social work service to all Naval personnel and their families liaising as appropriate with social work services, particularly as required by statute for child protection cases. Three civilian Area Officers negotiate service action on behalf of Naval families. All cases abroad are initially handled by the Eastern Area.

Contact:

• North Area Officer, Helensburgh; tel: 01436 672 798
• East Area Officer, Portsmouth; tel: 01705 820932/826774
• West Area Officer, Plymouth; tel: 01752 568611

Royal Marines

The Royal Marine Welfare Service is a non-statutory agency which will liaise with the local social work service and will negotiate service action on behalf of families. The Royal Marine Welfare Service should be informed in all cases of child protection involving a member of the Royal Marines.

Contact:

• Scotland Welfare Officer, Arbroath;
  tel: 01241 872201 ext. 2015/6
• Welfare Officer, Portsmouth;
  tel: 01705 547542

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force has an independent welfare organisation on each station in an area. Social work is co-ordinated by each Station's Personnel Officer. Every RAF unit has an officer appointed to be familiar with child protection procedures.

Contact:

Social Work Adviser, RAF Lossiemouth;
tel: 01343 812121 ext. 7399

Service families going or returning from overseas

It is essential that the local authority social work service exchanges information about agencies' involvement with a service family to ensure that no child named on a UK Child Protection Register can be taken abroad without this information being considered, and to make sure that support for parents and the child is not removed at a critical time.

The Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association ( SSAFA) provides, at the request of the Ministry of Defence, a qualified social work and health visiting service for families of all services on overseas stations.

The social work services in the armed forces, and the local authority social work department, should share all relevant information regarding child protection concerns and statutory supervision, etc. There is a British Forces Child Protection Register to ensure support and action for families wherever they are serving, and information is regularly reported to a local authority if a family spends time abroad.

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