Many pupils will experience some degree of difficulty in accessing the curriculum at some stage in their school career. The majority of these difficulties are short-lived and relate to specific areas of the curriculum, such as difficulties understanding fractions or decimals in mathematics. Arrangements to ameliorate these difficulties are usually made by the child's local mainstream school within the normal teaching régimes employed by the school.
School Action and School Action Plus
Where children do not respond to differentiation and do not make adequate progress, there is a need for the school to do something additional or different. This school based Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision is described in the SEN Code of Practice as School Action and School Action Plus.
www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=3724
School Action could be further assessment, additional or different teaching materials or a different way of teaching and it might sometimes, but not always, be additional adult support. Teachers use Individual Education Plans (IEPs) to record the different or additional provision to be made for the child, teaching strategies, short-term targets for the pupil, success criteria, and what they have achieved.
School Action Plus is where School Action has not helped the child to make adequate progress, and the school asks for outside advice from the Local Authority, or from health or social work professionals. This could be advice from a speech and language therapist on a language programme or an occupational therapist’s suggestions or a medical diagnosis and report giving recommendations as to how to work differently with the child in class. It might be information about the child’s home circumstances that explains the changes in the child’s behaviour and attitudes to learning which can then help the school to work with others to resolve the situation.
The key test for taking School Action, moving to School Action Plus, or considering whether a statutory assessment is necessary is whether the child is making adequate progress. The code defines ‘adequate progress’ and lists different kinds of progress, depending on the starting point and expectations for a particular child. Essentially, what is considered to be adequate progress for a particular child is a matter for the teacher’s professional judgement.
Most children will have their special educational needs met by their school through School Action and School Action Plus. This will not be possible all the time. If a child’s needs cannot be met through School Action Plus, the Local Authority may consider the need for a Statutory Assessment.
