The guidance in the SEND pathway – targeted stage should be followed if:

  • Ordinarily available provision guidance has been followed
  • A child is not making expected progress
  • Usual school-based assessments and discussion with the child and their parents/carers indicates that the SEND pathway is likely to be the most appropriate next step

Alternative support pathways may be appropriate for children where there are concerns about:

Step 1 – Implement a Assess-Plan-Do-Review cycle for SEND
Assess
  1. Use school-based assessment tools and formative approaches to identify learners who are continuing to make limited progress despite high quality teaching.
  2. Use the Initial Concerns Flow Chart to explore factors that are a barrier to expected progress support process. 
  3. Make appropriate provision for a child’s short-term needs in order to prevent problems escalating. Schools can use a ‘monitoring register’ to monitor children whilst they carry out initial assessments and put short term provision in place in order to identify whether it is a SEND need. 
  4. If the CYP requires ongoing targeted support which is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age to maintain progress or help reduce the gap, then they should be identified as receiving SEN Support.
  5. Use the Initial Concerns Screening Tool to support the first steps of identifying the primary area of need where SEND needs are identified.
  6. Use a broad range of assessment tools and approaches to unpick the needs of the CYP. This must include the views and experience of parents and the child’s own views. See Definition, Needs and Interventions for guidance on a range of assessment tools.  Assessments should be focussed on gaining an increasingly accurate picture of a CYP’s strengths and needs over time, regardless of any formal diagnostic assessment pathways.
  7. Identify an accurate primary SEND need for the national census return using the Recommended Categories of Need.
  8. Ongoing assessment is necessary to ensure that it takes into account any changes to the needs of the child. It is anticipated that one APDR cycle will take place at least every term before beginning again; however, in some instances it may be more frequently. 
     
Plan
  1. Use a person-centred approach to plan the most appropriate provision for the child or young person. Tools like a One Page Profile are an effective way to capture the child or young person’s views and aspirations, and to share with those who support them. 
  2. Agree a helpful format for recording the APDR cycle, including child/parent views and aspirations, targets, provision, review of progress and agreed next steps. The central My SEN Support Plan template can be used. The child and their parent/carer should receive a copy of the record.
  3. Use a range of approaches to identify a child’s longer term aspirations. 
  4. Work with the child and their parents/carers to identify meaningful targets. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART). They should also be focussed on supporting progress in the child’s identified area of need and help the child to work towards achieving their aspirations. Ultimately targets should also help a child prepare for later/adult life and achieve the best outcomes in employment, independent living, health and community participation.
  5. Work with the child and their parents/carers to identify what support/provision is needed to help a child to achieve their targets and therefore their aspirations. This targeted support should be additional to high quality adaptive teaching. Additional provision should be informed by a child’s strengths, interests and evidence of what has worked well for them. At SEN Support a school should be able to put in place additional provision costing up to £6,000 per year for a child. Schools should refer to the guidance in the central Costed Provision Map document, and use the central template if they choose to.
  6. Identify if there are any other unmet needs or wider family needs as a result of a child’s SEND needs. Consider if an Early Help Assessment (EHA) may be a helpful approach to identifying and planning support needs beyond the school context. 
  7. When planning SEND provision, it is recommended that it is done in conjunction with any other plans in place to support a child or young person, (e.g. an individual health care plan, an early help/social care plan) so that a holistic approach is taken to meet needs.
  8. Schools should signpost families to the local offer and the Wolverhampton Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS).
     
Do
  1. Implement the additional targeted provision that has been planned with the child and/or their parents/carers for an agreed period of time, usually until the next review. 
  2. Ensure that targeted interventions are evidence based and delivered by someone with the appropriate skills, training and experience. For advice on targeted interventions, see Definition, Needs and Interventions
  3. Targeted support should be delivered in a way which is ‘least restrictive’, supports ongoing access to a broad and balanced curriculum and promotes independence. Guidance for the effective use of additional adult support can be found here Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants | EEF
  4. Identify any adjustments that need to be made to ensure the child is able to access extra-curricular activities alongside their peers.
  5. All children and young people with SEND must be in receipt of support that is additional to and different from that offered to other learners, up to a nationally prescribed threshold of £6,000 per pupil per year, out of their own resource/school’s budget i.e. SEND Notional Budget.
  6. The child’s class/form/subject teachers should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis, planning appropriate work for them and carrying out ongoing assessments.
  7. The SENCO should have oversight of all interventions to support CYP with SEND, including any pastoral and subject-specific interventions. All interventions should be monitored and reviewed in terms of the evidence base, cost effectiveness and impact. Putting Evidence to Work - A School’s Guide to Implementation | EEF
  8. Frequently audit and review staff knowledge and skills to ensure they can and are effectively meeting the needs of all learners and to identify any whole school or individual training needs.
     
Review
  1. Involve children and young people and their parents/carers in planning how and when their progress and the impact of interventions will be reviewed. There should be a clear plan for how a child’s progress towards their outcomes will be measured (See the Definitions, Needs and Interventions for guidance on assessment and interventions).
  2. Review progress at least termly but be aware that for some children and young people, if their needs are growing or changing, it may be necessary to shorten the assess-plan-do-review cycle and review progress each half term, or sometimes more frequently.
  3. Children and their parents/carers should be involved in the review process which is usually carried out as a meeting in the school. Person-centred approaches should be adopted with thinking about how children and parents/carers can be supported to contribute.
  4. The views of children and parents/carers, information about progress and the impact of the planned interventions should be recorded and the record should be shared with children and parents/carers. The central My SEN Support Plan template can be used. The review will feed into decisions about next steps. It might be that:
    • A child has made good progress and could be removed from the SEN register, being placed on a ‘monitoring register’ to ensure progress is maintained
    • A child has made progress but will need new targets setting and will continue at SEN Support
    • A child has not made expected progress and so something needs to change. It might be that one or more of the following needs to happen:
      • further, more detailed school-based assessment needs to be carried out,
      • the child or young person needs a different type of targeted support,
      • the child or young person needs a higher level of targeted support,
      • the child or young person needs to receive the targeted support over a longer period of time,
      • OR, it may be that more specialist assessment and/or support is required. 
  5. Consider involving specialist support services (including those secured by the school itself or from outside agencies) where a child or young person continues to make less than expected progress, despite evidence-based support and interventions that are matched to their area of need. Involve the child or young person and their parents/carers in any decision to involve specialists.
  6. If a child at SEN Support is considered to be at risk of exclusion, schools must see this as an indication that their individual needs are not being met and the provision needs to change to ensure the correct support is in place. The school is expected to:
    • Engage relevant specialist services to join the APDR cycle and consider what additional support might be needed to ensure the school are using their ‘best endeavours’ (i.e. this means doing everything they can to meet the child and young person’s special educational needs). See SEND Pathway – specialist stage.
    • Review guidance in the Preventing Exclusions pathway.
    • Consider commissioning Alternative Provision to support the needs of the child or young person. For further guidance contact the Inclusion Team.
    • If it is an agreed recommendation from a review with relevant specialist services involved, then a referral to Inclusion Support and Alternative Provision Panel (ISAPP) may be appropriate to explore more specialist provision options.
    • Be aware of the potential risks of discrimination and ensure that the school’s behaviour policies (or equivalent) are inclusive and do not directly or indirectly discriminate any children or young people in relation to their SEND.
Step 2 – Decide on next steps in accordance with information gathered through the review
  • Move back to ordinarily available provision
  • Continue with SEND APDR at targeted stage
  • Move to SEND APDR at specialist stage
  • Consider moving to Attendance pathway
  • Consider moving to Exclusion Prevention pathway
Support offers 

Support offers for implementing the SEND pathway – targeted stage can be found below.

  • Solution Circles
  • SEND & Inclusion Officers
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