All children have the same right to a good education. This includes children who have additional needs caused by disability, learning difficulties or circumstances which, for whatever reason, require additional support, long or short term, in order to make the best of their education.
A new Act, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 came in to force on 14th November 2005. It changed the system for identifying and meeting the needs of ALL children who may need support with their learning.
Pre-school: It is important to get help as soon as possible. If you think your child has a disability speak to your health visitor, family doctor, health clinic or someone at the psychological service (see back page for contacts). Do not delay. Children with serious disabilities can benefit greatly from early help with their education. The education authority may place your child in a nursery or playgroup or may provide a home visiting teacher.
School–age: If problems arise once your child has started school talk to the teacher or head teacher - they may of course approach you first. All schools provide extra help for children who are having difficulties with learning. The nature of that help depends on the severity of the difficulty. Help may be given through:
- a specially designed learning programme
- provision of aids and equipment
- learning support assistant in classroom
- teaching individually away from the class room
- attendance at a special school or special unit
Staff in Highland Schools follow a Staged Approach to identifying and assessing the needs of the children and young people in their care to ensure that they receive the help they need.
Stage 1. Most children and young people’s needs will be met at the classroom level by the class teacher’s observations, assessments and planning for the class as a whole, for groups and for individuals.
Stage 2. Where your child has needs identified which cannot be met wholly by the class teacher’s planning then assistance from support staff within the school will be requested. Observations and further assessment will help the staff plan for and monitor how your child is achieving.
Stage 3. Should your child continue to have difficulties in moving forward with his/her learning help, advice and direct involvement may be requested from Education Services available to the school. For example; Area Support for Learning staff, Psychological Services, Autism Outreach Service or Services for Hearing or Visual Impairment. At this stage an Individualised Educational Programme (IEP) may be drawn up. This will record your child's needs, the support required to meet those needs, the learning outcomes and the planning needed for the programme. You and your child should be involved in drawing up and reviewing their IEP.
Stage 4. A few children and young people may need more help from wider services such as Health and/or Social Work. Help from these services would be requested at this stage at a multi-agency Liaison Group level .
If your child's needs are :
- significantly complex,
- likely to last for more than a year and
- are proving a barrier to their learning
they may need a high degree of co-ordination of support from the Education Authority and other agencies. A Co-ordinated Support Plan may then be required. A Co-ordinated Support Plan is a legal document.
If, at any time, you feel your child needs this high level of support you can request that the Education Authority considers whether or not they should have a Co-ordinated Support Plan. You can also request that particular assessments are carried out as part of the process.
At all stages the involvement and agreement of yourselves and your child is encouraged.
CHIP+ can provide support through help in preparing for any meetings about your child. A member of the CHIP+ staff can also attend the meeting, providing moral support, taking notes and ensuring that points that you wish to make are not forgotten.
More information on education can be found on our education pages.