When concerns are raised regarding the special educational needs of a child, the following steps will take place to identify the specific needs of the pupil and to then plan the provision and support that the child may need:

• Discussion with all relevant parties including the child, parents / carers, class teacher, teaching assistants and any other adults who may work with the child including the pastoral team and any outside agencies (such as speech therapists, advisory teachers, targeted support team, school nurse, or any other relevant professionals who may be involved). These discussions will focus on the strengths and difficulties of the child and will aim to provide more detail regarding the specific needs of the child.

• The class teacher will ensure that differentiation is in place to meet the learning needs of individual pupils.

• Observations may take place in class or in the playground to build a picture of their needs in different situations.

•  Assessment information will be obtained and analysed. This may include assessment information which the teacher completes for all children and also more specific standardised assessments or screening tools such as individual reading tests, phonics assessments, vocabulary assessments, maths assessments or profiles which indicate a child’s social and emotional strengths and difficulties.

• Progress over time will be analysed to check the rate of progress in the main academic areas of reading, writing and maths.

• The Gloucestershire Intervention Guidance is used to guide practice in meeting the needs of children with SEN and disabilities.

When a full picture of the child’s needs has been identified, then an individual education plan for provision and support will be written by the class teacher and agreed upon by all relevant parties including the child themselves. This will take the form of a ‘My Plan’.

If a pupil has needs related to more specific areas of their education, such as phonics, handwriting, reading, maths or vocabulary, then the pupil will be placed in a small focus group which will be led by a trained Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) or teacher. The length of time of the interventions will vary according to need but will usually be for a term (12 weeks) or a half term (6 weeks). The interventions are regularly reviewed by all involved to check whether they are effective and to inform future planning.