Authority’s policy in relation to provision for additional support needs.
GCC Policy – Glasgow City Council has a duty, as outlined in the Standards in Scotland’s Schools 2000 Act, to ensure that your child achieves their potential. Glasgow’s Education Services is committed to the inclusion of all children and young people with additional support needs, where possible, within mainstream schools. This is in accordance with the statutory requirement in the 2000 Act. It is also part of Glasgow’s policy to maintain a range of special educational establishments. This recognises the key role to be played by specialist provisions in addressing severe low incidence disabilities. The authority recognises that there are a wide range of factors, which may act as a barrier to your child’s learning. We are committed to working closely with parents and carers to ensure that you are fully involved in overcoming barriers to learning. Additional support needs may be linked to a learning difficulty or disability but could also apply to a child or young person suffering from bereavement who requires pastoral support, a more able child/young person or those with a particular talent, which needs to be fully developed. The policy requires all establishments to provide an environment where children and young people with additional support needs are actively encouraged to be effective learners and benefit from their school education.
Any parent/carer seeking further advice regarding this policy should contact the Headteacher in the first instance.
If a parent is unhappy with the support their child is getting they must first discuss this with the school in order to seek a resolution at that very local level.
Further information relating to Additional Support Needs is also available on the Glasgow City Council website –
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=18941
Additional Support for Learning (Sources of Information)
· Children in Scotland: Working for Children and Their Families, trading as “Enquire – the Scottish advice and information for additional support for learning”, a charitable body registered in Scotland under registration number SC003527
· Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, a charitable body registered in Scotland under registration number SC033576
· Scottish Child Law Centre, a charitable body registered in Scotland under registration number SCO12741
The school has a duty to ensure that all our children have equal access to the curriculum, supported as appropriate to their individual needs. This covers not only the content of lessons and teaching strategies but also minor adaptations to the physical environment of our buildings to address the needs of children with physical or sensory impairments, including the relocation of classes to the ground floor where feasible.
If a child’s additional support needs also require input from social work services and/or health an ASP would be drafted (Stage 4 of the Intervention Model). Some children may meet the criteria for a Co-ordinated Support Plan. The decision as to whether a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) is required will be taken by the Area Manager based on the information provided by the school and other agencies. Children who have a CSP will also have a Well Being and Assessment Plan (WAP).
The WAP will identify the child’s significant additional support needs and the interventions which will address them.
The plans are overseen by a member of the Senior Leadership Team and will be drawn up in full consultation with parents/carers and the child. The contribution of children and parents/carers to achieving the learning outcomes and the views of parent/carers and children will be sought.
Physical access:
Ramps have been fitted to allow access to our ground floor. Handrails and high visibility markings have been placed on stairways outside and within our building. The first floor can be accessed by a stair-lift. There is no assisted access to the second floor level of our building. There is a disabled toilet on our ground floor.
Communication:
Parents/Carers have the opportunity to arrange alternative meetings outwith our planned Parents’ Evenings. These can be arranged at a venue suitable to the needs of individuals.
Interpreters are also offered for EAL and hearing impaired parents/carers.
Curriculum:
Children with Additional Support Needs have Personal/Group or WAP in place. Pupils with severe learning/behavioural difficulties are referred to our Educational Psychologist. Before any referrals, parents are contacted and fully informed as to the reasons for this step. The limitation on our Psychologist’s time means we have to make priority lists and children with the greatest difficulties are dealt with first.
Staff Development:
Staff are kept fully briefed on issues such as the supporting inclusion document and disability awareness. The Head Teacher and/or Depute Head Teacher carries out the training during inset days or at regular staff team meetings.
We also need to ensure that parents and carers who have a disability have equal access to information about their child. This will involve, for example, relocating the venue for parents/carers meetings to facilitate physical access; provision of an interpreter for people who have a hearing impairment; agreeing a phone contact system to provide direct feedback to parents and carers.
Our procedures for children with additional support needs are well structured. Children may need help/support at any time during their school career and teachers liaise very closely with the Senior Management Team on this issue. This of course includes the very able children who need the curriculum to be challenging and exacting.
The Depute Head Teacher has responsibility for co-ordinating Support for Learning. Children are regularly assessed on both a formal and informal basis and Support for Learning is carried out by the Depute Head Teacher,
flexibility teachers and pupil support assistants who are timetabled to support groups of children, as well as a one-to-one basis with individuals.
Should any problem require more specialised help or advice, every effort will be made to secure assistance from Psychological Services, or the School Health Service. Parents will be consulted throughout.
All classroom teachers have a contractual and statutory duty to address the learning needs of all the children in their class. The class teachers are the first line assessors of a child’s additional support needs and will differentiate the curriculum or teaching strategies accordingly.
For the majority of children their additional support needs are met by effective learning and teaching and appropriate differentiation. Where a child’s additional needs can be met by differentiated responses under the management of the class teacher there is no requirement for an Additional Support Plan. For these children educational progress is recorded by the class teacher in our routine system e.g. through the use of forward planning (Stage 1 of the Intervention Model).
If the assessed additional support needs require prioritised input from school managed resources – for example learning or behaviour support – for at least a school term, it may be necessary to identify short-term outcomes in order to establish progress (Stage 2 of the Intervention Model).
Additional local authority intervention, outwith the direct management of the school would require an Additional Support Plan (ASP) to be drawn up (Stage 3 of the Intervention Model). This could include direct input from external specialist services e.g. Sensory Support Service or the Psychological Service.