< Previous | Contents | Next >

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

OPENING A RECORD OF NEEDS: THE STATUTORY ASSESSMENT

68. Where the education authority believes a child or young person has pronounced, specific or complex educational needs which will require continuing review, the 1980 Act lays down statutory procedures for observation and assessment. The precise nature of the observation and assessment which is appropriate will depend on the circumstances of the case, but section 61(l) of the 1980 Act requires there to be educational, psychological and medical assessments. If the authority has implemented the procedures for discovery and identification, described above, essential contacts with all those who will be statutorily involved will already have been established. The contents and form of the Record are prescribed in the Education (Record of Needs) (Scotland) Regulations 1982.

The Process of Observation and Assessment

69. Formerly education authorities carried out a process of assessment including formal medical and psychological examinations, as well as a report by any teacher in their employment who was, or had been, concerned in the child or young person's education. The procedures were amended by section 14 of the 1986 Act. The change substituted a process of observation and assessment, which must include educational, psychological and medical assessments. The change in wording recognises that while there is undoubtedly a need, in appropriate circumstances, for formal examinations, this is not always the case and assessment may often be best carried out by careful and discreet professional observation in the home, or in the school.

Sources of Advice

70. Medical assessment, as against other types of assessment, will be more likely to require a specific examination. In addition to the specified educational, psychological and medical assessments and observations, education authorities may also look for advice from other sources which they consider appropriate and desirable. Sometimes this may involve a service of another education authority.

71. In reaching its conclusions about a child's or young person's special educational needs, the education authority will have considered the following information:

(a) educational, medical and psychological assessments and reports;
(b) advice or information gained from the parents or others who know the child or young person well;
(c) any material provided by the health board or social work authority; and
(d) any other relevant advice e.g. whether the child or young person has a first language other than English.

Special Arrangements for Children and Young Persons not Living at Home

72. Special arrangements involving health boards and social work authorities may be necessary where the need for statutory assessment under section 61 of the Act is indicated for children and young persons in hospitals, in other health care provision, or who are being looked after by an education authority in a residential unit with education. Circumstances that might indicate the need for assessment include those where the child or young person:

(a) has a medical condition likely to affect future learning ability;
(b) has been admitted in connection with a social condition which is likely to affect future learning ability (such as social deprivation, neglect, or child abuse);
(c) has been admitted to a children's or adolescent psychiatric ward
(d) is receiving treatment likely to affect future learning ability;

73. In all these circumstances, arrangements should be in place so that the education authority can be alerted to the need to carry out an assessment and thereafter for education departments and, as appropriate, health, and social work authorities to liaise closely together in the interest of the child or young person and his or her future education.

< Previous | Contents | Next >