Graduated Response (North Somerset)

Children’s Services

Graduated

Response

How children and young people with special educational needs and

disabilities (SEND) are supported in North Somerset

Graduated Response

This leaflet tells you all about the support that you and a child or young person can expect to receive if they need more help to reach their full potential. The Graduated Response is North Somerset Council’s approach to improving the support and outcomes for children and young people aged 0-25 years with SEND.

The Graduated Response is delivered by early years childcare providers, settings and post 16 education providers to support children and young people who have, or who may have, Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). The Graduated Response helps all providers, specialist and mainstream, to plan how they can work together with parents, carers and other professionals and achieve best outcomes for individual children and young people.

Areas of need

The type and level of support required for a child or young person will depend on their needs.

There are four broad areas of need. Children and young people may have SEND in more than one of these areas:

communication and interaction - difficulties with speech and language development and non-verbal communication

cognition and learning - difficulties accessing learning, perhaps due to having a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia

social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) - difficulties with emotional regulation, social interaction, or forming positive relationships

sensory and physical - hearing, visual, and multi-sensory impairments or physical disabilities

What is the Graduated Response?

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 states that children and young people with SEND should have their needs met and outcomes achieved in a mainstream education setting, however, it also acknowledges that a specialist provider may be another option for a few children and young people.

A key principle of the Code of Practice is that the views, wishes, and feelings of the child or young person and their parent/carers should inform the support they receive. This begins with making sure they are provided with all the information and support they need to feel confident and participate fully in decisions about their support.

The provider may record a child or young person’s strengths and needs and will identify outcomes that will be agreed with you. They may record details of meetings, action plans, and targets set. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCO), or equivalent in Post 16, will review this with you regularly. The Graduated Response expects mainstream providers to make full use of all their resources and expertise before accessing increasingly specialist support provision.

The Graduated Response follows four stages of action: Assess, Plan, Do, Review, as outlined in the SEND Code of Practice.

Assess

Plan Review

Do

Assess When a child or young person needs SEND support, the education provider will work with the SENDCo, parents/carers, and the child or young person to assess their needs. This first assessment is reviewed regularly to make sure the support is matched to the level of need. This cycle of action should be revisited regularly to identify the best way of securing good progress.

Plan If the setting decides to provide SEND support, they will agree outcomes with the parent/carer, discuss what interventions they will use and the expected impact on progress, development, or behaviour, and set a clear date to review. Plans should always consider the views of the child or young person and parents should be involved in reinforcing the provision or contributing to progress at home.

Do The education provider will work with the child or young person daily in line with the intervention/support agreed in the previous stages. The SENDCo should support those intervening with the child or young person to measure their response to intervention and advise whether it is effective for their specific needs.

Review The effectiveness of the support and its impact on the child or young person’s progress should be reviewed at the date agreed during the first stage. The education provider, SENDCo, the child or young person, and their parent/ carer should agree any changes to the outcomes and support in light of their progress and development. Parents should have clear information about the impact of the support provided and be involved in planning next steps.

Where expected progress against their goals is not achieved with a particular provision, it may be that more specialist assessment is needed from specialist teachers or from health, social services, or other agencies beyond the setting. This could include applying for an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) assessment through North Somerset Council if progress is not made with specialist support.

Graduated Response: Three Waves of Intervention flowchart

This flowchart explains the support the child or young person should receive in their setting. The Graduated Response cycle of ‘assess, plan, do, review’ should be used frequently throughout. If the setting has taken action to identify, assess, and meet the needs of the child but the child has not made expected progress, they will move up a step to receive more targeted or specialist support. If expected progress is not made at Step 3, the setting may consider requesting an EHC needs assessment.

Involve child, young person parents, carers throughout the process

Step 1: Universal approaches

Step 2: Targeted SEND Support

Step 3: Specialist SEND Support

EHC request

progress not made progress not made

progress not made

● Quality first teaching

Step 1 and:

Steps 1 and 2 and:

● Personalised Programmes

● Specialist Interventions

● Differentiation

● Reasonable adjustments

● Other interventions

● External agencies

● Monitor/Review

Progress made?

Yes

Progress made?

Yes

Return to Step 2: Targeted SEND support and monitor progress. Follow the flowchart if further concerns are identified.

Yes

Continue with Step 1: Universal approaches and monitor progress. Follow the flowchart if further concerns are identified.

Step 1 – Universal: Quality First Teaching (QFT)

Quality First Teaching provides the appropriate learning opportunities to all children and young people, whatever their individual needs. It is the first step of the Graduated Response when supporting children and young people with SEND. Staff knowledge and understanding of SEND is a key factor to Quality first teaching. Knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and The Equalities Act 2010 is also essential.

Quality First Teaching will always be based on a child-centred approach to address their specific needs. It includes:

clear objectives from the start to the end of teaching

inclusive teaching methods tailored to individual needs (differentiated teaching)

quality SEND support
consistent routines and boundaries

clear strategies to enable students to learn and develop in their mainstream setting

Step 2 – Targeted SEND Support

If a child or young person has not made expected progress with universal provision/Quality First Teaching, Targeted SEND Support is offered.

The child or young person will receive all support outlined in Step 1 in addition to adaptations and additional support as part of Step 2. This will be delivered by the early years childcare provider, school setting, or post 16 education setting and can include:

small group support
personalised Programmes for school age children and young people
adult support, for example, during break and dinner times
use of the Graduated Response ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle

As a parent or carer, you will be informed of the support given and involved from the time when SEND was initially identified. Children and young people will also be involved in the process.

Step 3 – Specialised SEND Support

If Targeted SEND Support is not sufficient to meet a child or young person’s SEND, then they will be supported through Specialised SEND Support. This decision will be made jointly with parents / carers and adults working closely with the child or young person, where appropriate.

Specialised SEND Support does not mean that a child or young person will be accessing specialist provision or any specific specialist service. It means that the early years childcare provider, school setting, or post 16 education provider has made the decision to involve external agencies alongside the support in Step 1 and 2 to help them provide the right level of support for the child or young person.

Specialised SEND Support might include:

one-to-one interventions/programmes delivered by early years childcare providers, school settings, or post 16 education providers

specialist advice from services such as Educational Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy

training for childcare providers, settings, or post 16 providers to better understand and support a child or young person

continuing with the Graduated Response ‘assess, plan, do, review’ cycle

If a child or young person has needs which require support and intervention above and beyond Specialist SEND Support, then parents or carers, early years providers, schools or post 16 education providers can at any point in the Graduated Response request an Education, Health and Care needs assessment which may lead to an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP)