The Graduated Approach - Asses, Plan, Do, Review

The Graduated Approach

Whatever a child with SEND needs, schools should use the Graduated Approach which is often described as "Asses Plan Do Review".

This page should be read alongside the Graduated Approach Toolkits

ASSESS

To support the ASSESS phase of the Graduated Approach, this guidance firstly provides an over-arching description of the broad range of strengths and difficulties that may present for a learner with special educational needs in the area of Cognition and Learning. It is designed as a starting point to begin to identify in close detail where a learner’s barriers to learning may lie.

SENDCO, teacher(s) and key staff keep the analysis of strengths and needs under review to ensure support is matched to need.
Parent/ carer and learner views support the analysis of strengths and needs - conversations are carried out with sensitivity and honesty.
Use of detailed National Curriculum and individualised assessment tools in relation to specific descriptors may be necessary to identify strengths, gaps in and barriers to learning to inform planning.
Specialist SEND services can be contacted where a school requires further guidance around understanding the learner’s strengths and needs and approaches to support.

When considering ‘What do our observations tell us?’ it may be useful to reflect on and record your thoughts on the following:

What does the learner’s strength or difficulty in each area look like and how do we know?
Do the learner’s strengths and needs present differently in different contexts and environments, including at home; when does this happen, when does it not happen?
To what extent is this need or difficulty having an impact on learning?
Are there areas we are not sure about and need further assessment? How will you do this? Do we need to look at any other areas of need?
What needs, gaps in or barriers to learning can we work on improving and which can we help to work around?

PLAN

It then suggests a range of targeted SEND provision, which is additional to and/or different from the universal offer of inclusive high-quality teaching, that schools may need to put into place for our learners with special educational needs in this area. It is targeted because it is designed to address specific barriers to or gaps in learning that have been identified at the ASSESS phase of the Graduated Approach.

Targeted provision should be carefully planned for, with clear expected outcomes linked to provision. It may be planned to take place within or away from the classroom, possibly as an intervention led by a teacher or teaching assistant. If this is the case, schools need to:

Have a clear justification for this being the best approach.
Be clear as to the purpose of targeted provision.
Discuss and agree the expected outcomes.
Ensure teachers remain responsible and accountable for progress, even where learners are receiving targeted provision away from the classroom.
Keep targeted provision under review as part of the graduated approach; including planning for alternative approaches or specialist advice where needed.

Schools will need a planning tool to record the targeted provision to be put into place and the outcomes sought and the progress made. It is for schools to determine their own approach to record keeping, but it may incorporate the use of provision mapping and an individual plan for the learner such as an IEP, I-APDR or MSP.

It is vital that the learner and their parents/carers are also involved in making decisions about the type of targeted SEND provision that will be put into place and in the evaluation of the impact. Utilising Person Centred Approaches through the Graduated Approach will provide a rounded picture that is focused on what is important to and for the learner, from their perspective and from that of the people closest to them.

Teacher(s) and SENCO agree, in consultation with the learner and their family, the outcomes they are seeking, the targeted SEN provision to be put in place to address gaps in and barriers to learning to accelerate progress and development.
Support and intervention are based on reliable evidence of effectiveness and provided by practitioners with relevant skills and knowledge.
All teachers and support staff who work with the learner are made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies or approaches that are required. Supply staff are provided with clear information about the key needs and adjustments required for the learners with SEND they will be teaching.
A clear date for review is set.
Advice from specialists is shared with all relevant staff; SENCO checks that it is fully understood and planned for.
Any related staff development needs should be identified and addressed.
Schools can determine their own approach to record-keeping to record provision made at SEND Support and its impact on the learner’s progress, e.g. Provision Map/IEP/I-APDR/MSP
Guidance for families is provided showing how they can offer support for learning and development at home.

Access Arrangements

Access Arrangements are pre-examination adjustments based on evidence of the learner’s need and their normal way of working.
Approved Access Arrangements and reasonable adjustments are in place for internal school tests, mock exams and external examinations.
Access Arrangements are planned for at the earliest opportunity to enable learners to be fully able to utilise approaches such as a scribe, readers, exam reading pen, word processor, rest breaks as part of their ‘normal way of working’.
More information about Access Arrangements can be found on the JCQ website.

Preparing for Transition

Planning meetings are arranged with the learner, their family along with key staff from the current and receiving setting/school/college. Where needed, create a transition plan detailing the support required to enable a successful transition. This may also involve specialist advice and guidance.

Preparing for Adulthood

This means preparing our learners for the next phase of Education/Employability, Independence, Community Inclusion and to be Healthy. Preparation for this can start from the earliest years. See the SENCo and Professional Information and Resources page of the Local Offer for further guidance including recommended outcomes to be planning for from Early Years to Post 19 across the four broad areas of need.
Support, appropriate to the learners age and stage, to enable them to develop an understanding of their needs and communicate them to others with growing awareness of the adjustments they need to successfully access, participate and achieve in lessons and school life.
Creative approaches are used to embed preparing for adulthood activities in the curriculum, everyday activities outside the classroom and where needed, through targeted provision.
A broad, experiential curriculum is offered to support the learner toward their next stage of education, employment or training which takes into account their strengths and interests enabling progression toward employment/adult education or community learning. This may include alternative qualifications pathways.

DO

The teacher remains responsible for all decisions relating to teaching and support with guidance from the SENCO where needed.
Where an intervention involves group or one-to-one teaching away from the main class, the teacher retains responsibility for the learner.
The class or subject teacher remains responsible for working with the learner on a daily basis giving as much teaching attention to the learner as to any other.
Teachers work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved, to keep under review the impact of support and interventions and how they can be linked to classroom teaching, making necessary adjustments along the way.
Teacher regularly monitors the progress the learner is making in
relation to the targeted support they receive.

REVIEW

Teacher(s), SENCo, any specialists already involved, the learner and their family and key support staff are involved in the review of provision made at SEN Support and its impact on the learner’s progress.
Review meetings with families happens at least 3 times a year. A focus is always given to both attainment and progress from starting points.
Outcomes of the review are recorded.
Where there is a shared view that a learner continues to make little or no progress or where they continue to work at substantially low levels despite high quality teaching and evidence-based targeted SEN Support delivered by appropriately trained staff, specialist agencies may be called upon.

Previous New Kirklees Graduated Approach Documents Next Where a learner has an EHCP, what are our additional responsibilities within the Graduated Approach?

Last updated: 02/08/2023