| 1. This chapter of the code considers the
meaning of the terms "additional support needs"
and "additional support" and considers the
factors that may give rise to the need for
additional support. |
| Legal definition of additional
support needs and additional
support |
s1 | "(1) A child or young person has
additional support needs for the purposes
of this Act where, for whatever reason, the
child or young person is, or is likely to
be, unable without the provision of
additional support to benefit from school
education provided or to be provided for
the child or young person. (2) In subsection (1), the reference to
school education includes, in particular, such
education directed to the development of the
personality, talents and mental and physical
abilities of the child or young person to their
fullest potential. (3) In this Act, "additional support" means
- (a) in relation to a
prescribed pre-school child, a child of school
age or a young person receiving school
education, provision which is additional to, or
otherwise different from, the educational
provision made generally for children or, as
the case may be, young persons of the same age
in schools (other than special schools) under
the management of the education authority for
the area to which the child or young person
belongs, (b) in relation to a child
under school age other than a prescribed
pre-school child, such educational provision as
is appropriate in the circumstances." |
| Benefit from school
education |
s1(5) 1980 Act s1(2) 2000 Act | 2. The Act's reference to school education
links both the 1980 Act and the Standards in
Scotland's Schools etc. Act 2000 (referred to
as "the 2000 Act"). The 1980 Act states that
school education "means progressive education
appropriate to the requirements of pupils in
attendance at schools, regard being had to the
age, ability and aptitude of such pupils". It
also places a general duty on education
authorities to secure for their area adequate
and efficient provision of school education.
The 2000 Act requires the education authority
to secure that school education is directed to
the development of the personality, talents and
mental and physical abilities of the child or
young person to their fullest potential. School
education includes education provided by
education authorities in exercising their duty
to provide school education for eligible
pre-school children, such as may be provided,
for example, in nursery classes. |
| 3. The benefit from school education which
children and young people gain will vary
according to their individual needs and
circumstances. However, all children and young
people benefit from school education when they
can access a curriculum which supports their
learning and personal development; where
teaching and support from others meet their
needs; where they can learn with, and from,
their peers and when their learning is
supported by the parents in the home and their
wider community. A difficulty or particular
need in one, or more, of these areas may lead
to a requirement for additional support to be
put in place to enable a child or young person
to benefit from school education. |
| What is meant by additional
support? |
| 4. All children and young people need
support to help them learn. The main sources of
support in pre-school provision and schools are
the staff who, through their normal practice,
are able to meet a diverse range of needs. With
good quality teaching and learning and an
appropriate curriculum most children and young
people are able to benefit appropriately from
education without the need for additional
support. |
s1(3) | 5. Some children and young people require
support which is additional to, or otherwise
different from, the educational provision that
is generally provided to their peers in order
to help them benefit from school education.
Some pre-school children receiving school
education may also require additional support.
In addition, as described in Chapter 3,
education authorities have a duty to make
provision for the additional support needs of
disabled children under the age of 3 years in
certain circumstances. |
| 6. The definition of additional support
provided in the Act is a wide one and it is not
possible to provide an exhaustive list of all
possible forms of additional support. Examples
are provided below of forms of additional
support which are common in our schools, and
many more can be given. What is central to all
these forms of support is that they have been
identified as additional provision required to
help individual children and young people
benefit from school education, taking account
of their particular needs and circumstances.
The examples refer to particular situations but
should be understood more widely. They can be
used to suggest how the law might work in
analogous situations. However, the examples are
illustrative, not comprehensive, and they do
not constitute an authoritative or exhaustive
interpretation of the legislation. |
| 7. Additional support for children and young
people may include: - a particular approach to teaching: for
example, as used with children and young
people with autistic spectrum disorders,
dyslexia or sensory impairments
- the deployment of personnel from within
the school and education authority, as well
as from other agencies: teacher, support
for learning assistant or auxiliary;
health, social services or voluntary agency
staff
- provision of particular resources:
including information and communications
technology (
ICT), and particular
teaching materials.
|
| 8. Examples of additional support provided
from within education services to children and
young people are the following: - a learning assistant supporting a child
with an autistic spectrum disorder in a
nursery
- class teacher helping a child by
following a behaviour management programme
drawn up in consultation with a behaviour
support teacher
- tutorial support from a support for
learning teacher to help with a reading
difficulty
- designated support staff working with
Gypsy/Traveller children on their site to
help them improve their literacy and
numeracy skills
- in-class support provided by an English
as Additional Language (
EAL) teacher for a child
whose first language is not English
- a more able child at the later stages
of primary school receiving support to
access the secondary mathematics
curriculum
- use of voice recognition software by a
child with dyslexia.
|
Mary is in primary 6. She comes from a
highly mobile Gypsy/Traveller family. Distance
learning materials had previously been provided
but with limited effect and Mary had fallen
behind her peer group in a number of areas. She
is now settled in a school and is receiving
support from a teacher experienced in working
with Gypsy/Traveller children. The teacher
advises the support for learning and classroom
teachers in the school. Mary's level of
conceptual development has been assessed
independently of her literacy skills. She
receives age appropriate resources and is
included with children of her ability
level. |
Anna comes from a bilingual background and
is fluent in her first language. She attends a
mainstream primary school where she also
receives additional language support from a
visiting
EAL teacher once a week. The
EAL teacher works directly
with Anna in class and offers advice and
support to her class teacher and other teachers
and staff who support Anna. |
George is an able pupil in primary 6 who has
completed the mathematics curriculum for
primary school. His head teacher contacted the
mathematics department in his associated
secondary school who agreed to provide suitable
support from their department. The secondary
mathematics teacher liaised with the class and
learning support teachers to provide an
appropriate mathematics curriculum for
George. |
| 9. Some children and young people will
require additional support from agencies from
outwith education services if they are to make
progress. Some examples are: - social work support to help a young
person remain drug free
- communication programme drawn up by a
speech and language therapist and teacher,
for implementation in the classroom
- an anger management programme delivered
to a group of young people by staff from a
voluntary agency
- counselling provided by a voluntary
agency for a child coping with
bereavement
- psychiatric support for a child with
mental health difficulties
- specialist equipment support from
physiotherapy or occupational therapy
- group or individual career support to
engage choices for education, training or
employment in preparation for leaving
school.
|
Darren is a young carer of his mother who
has mental health problems. He attends his
local secondary school but has had significant
absences because of caring for her. His
mother's social worker and guidance teacher
identified the extra burdens on Darren and the
effect on his attendance. Darren's guidance
teacher and his mother's social worker
discussed the reasons for Darren's absences
with Darren. The social worker arranged for a
carer to support Darren's mother during the
day, enabling Darren to attend school. |
Kyle, aged 11, was placed with foster carers
following several periods of serious offending
with a group of older boys. As part of his care
plan, social work staff began working with Kyle
and his mother, who is a lone carer, to address
his offending behaviour. Kyle also exhibited
behaviour difficulties at school requiring
close interagency collaboration to ensure an
effective programme of support. Kyle benefited
from three days in a behavioural support unit
and two days in a mainstream class, per week.
In mainstream he received additional support
through a child support worker employed on a
sessional basis within school. This support was
co-ordinated through his care plan which
incorporated his individualised educational
programme. |
s1(3)(b) | 10. Children under school age who are not
prescribed pre-school children will generally
be under the age of 3 years and, therefore,
unlikely to be receiving school education. In
their case, additional support will be
educational provision which is appropriate to
their circumstances. For example, support may
be provided by educational support services in
the form of teachers who visit children at home
every fortnight and advise the parents about
suitable activities they can carry out to
promote their child's development and
learning. |
| What gives rise to additional
support needs? |
| 11. There is a wide range of factors which
may lead to some children and young people
having a need for additional support. These
fall broadly into the four overlapping themes
described below: learning environment, family
circumstances, disability or health need, and
social and emotional factors. |
| 12. Schools are aware of their
responsibilities to provide an effective and
efficient education for all children and young
people on their roll, including those with
additional support needs. However, the
educational experiences of some children may
not take sufficient account of their individual
needs and circumstances to ensure that they
derive appropriate benefit from school
education. A need for additional support may
arise where the
learning environment is a factor. For
example "pupils may experience barriers to
their learning, achievement and full
participation in the life of the school. These
barriers may be created as the result of
factors such as the ethos and relationships in
the school, inflexible curricular arrangements,
and inappropriate approaches to learning and
teaching".
3 A child who is more able may need a more
challenging curriculum in order to make
appropriate progress. A child whose first
language is not English may need additional
support to access the curriculum. |
| 13.
Family circumstances may give
rise to additional support needs; for example,
where a child's or young person's home life is
disrupted by homelessness, parental alcohol or
drug misuse, or parental mental or physical
health problems. Needs may arise where the
pupil herself is a young mother, or is helping
to care for disabled parents or siblings. The
child or young person may be being looked after
by the local authority or have recently left
care or be in need of measures to secure their
care and protection. In these circumstances
support from social work services may be needed
to ensure that the child or young person is
able to benefit from education. |
| 14. Issues relating to a
disability or health need may
mean that additional support is required; for
example, where a child or young person has a
motor or sensory impairment, specific language
impairment, autistic spectrum disorder or has
learning difficulties. Mental health problems
such as attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder and depression can disrupt learning
and may lead to additional support being
required from child and adolescent mental
health services to ensure benefit from school
education. |
| 15.
Social and emotional factors
may also give rise to a need for additional
support. A child being bullied or bullying may
need additional support. A child experiencing
racial discrimination may need additional
support. A child with behavioural difficulties
may require additional support to develop
positive behaviour in school and to stop
offending in the community. |
| 16. Additional support needs may be of short
duration, perhaps a few weeks or months, or
could be long-term over a number of years. The
factors which may give rise to additional
support needs are wide and varied, because they
relate to the circumstances of individual
children. |
| 17. The same factor may have different
impacts on individual learning. For example,
one child or young person may find that
difficulties at home have an adverse impact
upon his or her learning. Another child in
apparently similar circumstances may experience
a minimal impact on his or her learning. |
| 18. A need for additional support does not
imply that a child or young person lacks
abilities or skills. For example, bi-lingual
children or young people, whose first language
is not English, may already have a fully
developed home language and a wide range of
achievements, skills and attributes. Any lack
of English should be addressed within a
learning and teaching programme which takes
full account of the individual's abilities and
learning needs. Similarly, deaf children may
have support needs which are only related to
language and communication issues. More able
children or young people may require a more
challenging educational provision than that of
their peers. A young person with social and
emotional difficulties may have talents in one
area of learning or be capable of attaining
highly across the curriculum. A child with
learning difficulties may have very good
interpersonal skills. |
| 19. The requirement for additional support
varies across a spectrum of needs and
circumstances. Generally, it is preferable to
ensure that support is provided in ways that
are well integrated within everyday practice
and do not single out the child requiring
additional support. Some children, young people
and families will find terms such as dyslexia
or autistic spectrum disorder useful in helping
them explain and understand any difficulties
being experienced. Others may experience such
terms as limiting and stigmatising. Children
and young people, generally, are keen to be
seen as being no different to their peers.
Throughout, the requirement should be to view
children and young people as individuals and to
tailor support to their individual needs. |
| 20. Chapter 3 describes in more detail the
functions and duties on education authorities
to identify, assess and make provision for
additional support needs. |