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Sharing practice: identifying and assessing additional support needs
The following practice examples demonstrate that a holistic approach, the meaningful involvement of children, young people and their parents in the identification and assessment process and good communication between professionals across education, social services and health can all lead to improvements in the identification and assessment of additional support needs.
Digital video camera used as an assessment tool
A pre-school education centre in Elgin used the Early Learning, Forward Thinking ICT Strategy for Early Years, produced by Learning Teaching Scotland, to overcome "paperwork" and "time" issues. As part of this initiative staff at the centre use a hand-held digital video camera as an assessment tool. The camera is used to observe children at play and the footage is played back at staff meetings, where it is reviewed and discussed by centre staff to inform next steps for putting in place an appropriate support strategy. It is primarily used with children about whom staff have concerns. However, staff at the centre are planning to extend its use to benefit all pre-school children as they prepare to make the transition to primary school. One member of staff said the technique was "more efficient" and produces a "truer picture of the child than written accounts". Further information on the ICT Strategy for Early Years can be obtained from the LTS website:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/earlyyears/about/currentissues/ictinpreschool/ictstrategy/background.asp
Multi-agency community assessment team to improve outcomes
The structure of the pre-school community assessment team (Prescat) has been changed in South Lanarkshire to improve agency co-ordination, ensure parental involvement and provide better outcomes for the child. A pre-school community assessment team meeting attended by the child's parents and all professionals involved enables the various occupational therapists, who are often based several miles apart, nursery staff and the child's parents to come together and discuss a way forward. Additional Support Needs Plans are drawn up with contributions made from all involved, including the parents.
Ensuring parents are meaningfully involved in observation and assessment
Staff at a nursery centre in Airdrie now request much more detailed information about individual children, from either the parents or the referrer, prior to their enrolment. A meeting is held with parents before the child starts nursery, ensuring they understand their child's needs, and where appropriate, to allow staff to make referrals to speech and language therapy, learning support and/or psychological services. Parents are therefore involved in the holistic approach to observation and assessment right from the very beginning, and are kept 'in the loop' at all times. The team at this centre said it was essential to give parents time to digest information and to make sure they see results from short-term targets, leading to long-term achievements for their child.
Using person centred planning techniques to prepare support strategies
A nursery in Clackmannanshire uses person centred planning techniques, which focus on individual needs and strengths rather than available resources, to ensure children get appropriate support as soon as they start primary school. The primary school's inclusion support team is notified as soon as a pre-school child is identified as a pupil who will require their support at school. A meeting, facilitated by the inclusion support team, is attended by those who know the child well (including their parents), around March of the year they are due to start at school. An 'identity poster' is created at this meeting, looking first at the child's interests, hobbies, gifts and skills, then at the barriers to learning and finally at strategies to help their learning. The information collated at this meeting is used to inform the beginning of the child's Individualised Educational Programme ( IEP) and will ensure that school staff are aware of their needs right from the beginning.
Improving communication between parents and school
This example, which focuses on one individual case study, illustrates the positive impact that good communication and a strong relationship with parents can have on improving support planning for a child. The child, who had language and communication difficulties, had made the transition from nursery to P1 two years previously. An assessment then had involved nursery staff, an educational psychologist and a speech and language therapist but a breakdown in communication between the parents and the school's headteacher during the intervening period was causing concern. A new headteacher, determined to improve the relationship, organised an assessment and planning meeting involving the speech and language therapist, educational psychologist, ASL manager, the child's parents and school staff. The meeting encouraged candid, open discussion and the headteacher employed a positive approach to overcoming the parents' concerns. It led to an updated assessment that included the following outcomes agreed by all involved: home parental support; staff training; joint planning with all involved; open access; resources agreed; agreement that a co-ordinated support plan was not required; and a date set for a second meeting.
In-school 'co-ordinator' to improve identification and assessment procedures
One school found that action points and reviews set for children with additional support needs were not being followed through. It took the following steps:
- The support for learning teacher, who is also the school's behaviour coordinator and is familiar with the children's learning needs and how each member of staff operates, took on a coordinator role within the school liaison group. She became the main point of contact, arranged meetings and liaised with all.
- The strategic management team incorporating teachers, support for learning teachers, communication support worker and nursery staff meet regularly, in relevant groups, to discuss general issues and individual children.
- The headteacher and behaviour coordinator meet frequently to discuss individual children support needs, check action points are being carried through, set reviews, plan new cases and plan individual support strategies.
The headteacher has reported improved efficiency, better monitoring of action plans, a more positive attitude from parents who feel that 'something is being done', more motivated staff, raised awareness of the role of the behaviour coordinator, greater awareness among the strategic management team of individual pupils' progress and improved pupil involvement in decision-making.
'Inclusion facilitators' are point of contact for staff and parents
To improve identification of and planning for children requiring additional support, one local authority has employed a number of 'inclusion facilitators', based in schools, to act as main point of contact for any member of staff or parents who may have concerns about a child. When a concern is raised, a meeting is held involving the inclusion facilitator, class teacher, support for learning teachers, pupil support assistant, homelink worker and parents. The school stresses the importance of ensuring that parents are involved at the very start of the process. Support strategies are discussed and agreed, then monitored closely. If further assistance is required a referral may be made to a joint support team, which provides an opportunity to seek advice from outside agencies with a range of expertise.
A whole-school audit of additional support needs
One secondary school undertook a whole school audit of additional support needs. A team identified all barriers to learning including factors such as divorce and bereavement. All pupils were discussed, ensuring thought was focused and questions reflective. The outcome was much greater awareness and understanding of individual pupils' learning needs and a comprehensive overview of resources required to meet the learning needs of the school as a whole. The school stresses that both time and dedication from all staff are required to ensure the audit is successful.
Multiple schools pool resources to buy assessment resources
A peripatetic additional support needs teacher working in three small rural schools in Perth and Kinross experienced difficulties in accessing resources due to the high costs and time associated with sourcing appropriate material. As a result, these three particular schools have joined together to buy assessment material on a multi-site licence. This software (Lucid Lass Junior) is particularly beneficial in identifying difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and other learning difficulties. This material can also provide invaluable information for other agencies such as Speech Therapy and the Educational Psychology Service leading to a more informed working relationship with the school, parents and children. For further information email: eking@inchture.pkc.sch.uk .
A common approach to assessment and record keeping across sectors
An interagency working group at Moray Council has developed an assessment tool to decide whether a child or young person should have a statutory co-ordinated support plan in addition to an individualised education plan or other education plans. It has also introduced an additional support needs file for individual pupils which contains their basic personal details, names and contact details of key people involved, a profile of the child and comments by the child and their parent/s. Both are used across the authority and were developed in order to maintain a common approach to assessment and record keeping.
You can download the CSP/ IEP Assessment Tool and a sample Additional Support Needs File from the Moray Council website: www.moray.gov.uk.
A multi-disciplinary approach to visual assessment in a clinical setting
Professionals in Tayside working with children and young people with a visual impairment identified the need for a multi-agency approach to assessing functional vision (the sight available for use in everyday activities) in a clinical setting. Independent professional assessment of vision was creating an overlap and duplication of work and too many reports for parents/carers to read. A new approach was needed that allowed pupils, parents/carers, the visual impairment teacher and health professionals to all be present and involved in the assessment process at the same time. This way of working would generate one report. The Functional Vision Assessment Clinic was established and initially funded through the Changing Children's Services Fund.
The aims of the clinic are two-fold: to carry out multi-disciplinary assessment; and to provide detailed information on the functional vision of the child/young person. Functional vision information is essential for parents/carers and professionals as it provides the starting point for strategies for planning of learning, mobility and independent living skills.
The health professionals involved include a community paediatrician and an orthoptist and/or a hospital optometrist, expert visual assessors of children who are crucial in carrying out the initial functional vision assessment. The hospital optometrist's role involves providing low vision aid assessments, including magnifiers for close work and telescopes for distance.
Following the assessment, all the information gathered is compiled into a report written by the community paediatrician. Visual information as well as recommendations are included in the report, which is then distributed to all those involved.
The visual impairment teacher discusses the report with the parents/carers, the child/young person and the school. Further educational visual strategies based on the report are also compiled by the visual impairment teacher. This process facilitates an understanding of how the child/young person with a visual impairment uses his/her vision and the visual strategies required for them to reach their potential in pre-school and school provision.
To obtain a leaflet on Functional Vision Assessment email ASLAct@scotland.gsi.gov.uk quoting ref Adoc1.pdf.
A theoretical framework for the definition of 'significant'
A number of delegates expressed concern over the definition of 'significant' in the context of Additional Support Needs. NHS Lothian has set up a working group of seconded health professionals, from occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, child & adolescent mental health services and school nursing, to devise a theoretical framework for the definition of 'significant'. A document from Tayside health board was used as a starting point and the working definition is now being put into practice. Any comments or questions on this issue can be submitted to the Edinburgh ASL Project team at www.asl.scot.nhs.uk.
Multi-agency speech and language assessment tool facilitates collaborative working
The Speech and Language Therapy ( SLT) team, as part of NHS Dumfries and Galloway, has used the 'Speaking Out: Speech and Language Framework and Audit Tool' to determine the impact of speech, language and communication difficulties on mainstream children's curricular and social progress. Speaking Out is a multi-agency package devised by SLT and education staff in Essex, published by Essex County Council. The tool proved particularly useful for facilitating collaborative working as it supported school staff, parents and speech and language therapists to work together to clarify children's needs and prioritise the targets that emerge thereafter. It also raised awareness of the complexity of language skills and their role in learning and the curriculum, plus strategies to use in class to support inclusion of children with speech, language and communication needs.
For further information email: eilidh.ross@nhs.net
For further information regarding Speaking Out email: Wendy.Harvey2@essexcc.gov.uk
Copies of Speaking Out are available from: eis@essexcc.gov.uk
Encouraging self-advocacy to ensure young people are meaningfully involved in the identification and assessment of their needs
Enable Scotland believes that ensuring young people understand what the Act means for them is crucial for enabling them to be meaningfully involved in the identification and assessment of their needs. It established the National Young People's Self Advocacy Group in 2002, which seeks to educate young people with disabilities about the policies and legislation that may have an impact on their life, and encourages them to form and express their own views and opinions. Young people all over Scotland have been discussing the Additional Support for Learning Act and its implications in their local advocacy groups. For further information on the National Young People's Self Advocacy Group visit: www.enable.org.uk. Enable Scotland is a voluntary organisation in Scotland concerned with the needs of people with learning disabilities and their families.
Using self-assessment and 'key worker' support to help young people make the transition from school to work
The self-assessment tool, MAPS+ is one of a range of products and services used by Careers Scotland, with people who face additional barriers to entry into education, employment or training. MAPS+ has been used in a pilot study in Dumfries to help young people with additional support needs identify their attitude, aptitude and personal learning style in order to increase motivation. In one case, a young person with particularly low self-esteem was supported in identifying positives about himself that he had not acknowledged he possessed. He was then supported in transferring those to fit a job application and has just been offered a job. The young person was supported by a Careers Scotland key worker. Key workers work with young people who are furthest removed from the labour market and face multiple barriers to entering a job, training or further education. For further information visit www.careers-scotland.org.uk.
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