Identification & Assessment of SEND

Most children and young people will have their special educational needs met in mainstream schools through good classroom practice. This is called Quality First Teaching.

Early Identification of Need

In deciding whether to make special education provision to support educational, social, physical or emotional needs, we:

Work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils
Consult with relevant external agencies, such as Psychologists or Speech and Language therapists.
Use assessment tools & materials such as the DCC assessment grids and Pre-Interim Assessment for KS1 and KS2.
Use observations from staff
Use Short Notes as a method of early identification

SEND Support

At the Durham Dales Federation, where a pupil is identified as having a special educational need, we follow a graduated approach which takes the form of cycles of “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”. This means that we will:

Assess a child’s special educational needs.
Plan the provision to meet your child’s aspirations and agreed outcomes.
Do put the provision in place to meet those outcomes.
Review the support and progress.

For more detailed information see the Local Offer

Details of Identification and Assessment of Pupils with SEND

Staff or parents/ carers can raise concerns about a child’s progress. This can be done either in a formal meeting or during the many discussions we have with parents/ carers throughout the year. School will raise concerns with parents if we believe a child may be struggling or would benefit from further support or assessment from external agencies. The list below includes some (but is not inclusive) of the reasons school would contact parents/ carers:

A child may be struggling academically and falling behind their age-related expectations (ARE)
A child may be struggling to access the work in class due to a physical difficulty i.e. hearing/ sight etc.
A child may be struggling to access work due to disruptive behaviours.
A child may be struggling due to social and emotional issues.
There may be an unknown barrier preventing a child from making progress in line with their peers.

A parent/ carer may wish to contact school if they believe their child is having any of the above difficulties in school and at home.

First Steps in identification

When your child enters one of our schools, their current attainment is assessed by their class teacher.

Staff in the Early Years/Key Stage 1 will primarily identify any concerns about children who are displaying significant learning needs. Where possible, teaching staff and the SENDCo (where necessary), will liaise with the child's Nursery or previous school (if applicable).
If a child is performing below age-related expectations, then meetings will be held with the class teacher and SENDCo. Observations of the child may also take place.
Concerns may be raised by the class teacher regarding a child's behaviour or self-esteem. These difficulties may affect the child's performance or the child’s overall mental health.
We may liaise with external agencies for either support or advice. External agencies may inform us regarding a child's assessment/identification of need.
Health diagnosis through medical professionals
Parental concerns – SEND issues can be identified by parents / carers and raised with staff.

If your child has SEND, it is important for us to carry out formal assessments to identify their strengths and identify their needs accurately. To do this, we will use a range of methods depending upon their needs.

It may be appropriate for the SENDCo to request assessments from external agencies. These could include:

Speech & Language Therapy assessments – which may focus on sound production, language understanding, or other relevant assessments to your child’s needs
Education Psychology Assessments – which may include memory, understanding, reasoning, logic, and general skills assessments
Occupational Therapy assessments- which may include support with fine and gross motor skills, sensory difficulties and functional skills.
Assessments from the Durham SEND and Inclusion Service.

Next steps

As part of this approach, we will produce an individualised SEND Support Plan that describes the provision that we will make to meet the child’s special educational needs and agreed outcomes. This plan will contain several targets and an explanation of what school will do to help a child meet these targets. Staff will use quality first teaching, classroom resources and additional interventions (where necessary) to ensure that these targets are met.

The outcomes of all assessments are shared with parents / carers at our Parent Evenings and during SEND review meetings. If other agencies are invited to work with your child, you will be invited to attend a meeting where the outcomes of these assessments and their next steps will be shared with you.

Children’s school achievements may be assessed against age-related expectations for children who are working on the National Curriculum (i.e. the same as the majority of other children in their year group), or they may be assessed against other measures for children who are not ready to work on National Curriculum Levels (i.e. the steps before the National Curriculum). The school uses the recommendations from the Rochford Report to assess children for whom it is inappropriate to use the National Curriculum.

Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP)

A small percentage of children and young people with significant learning difficulties might need an assessment that could lead to an Education, Health and Care Plan. Full details can be found on the Local Offer website

For further information please view or download our Accessibility Plan which can be found in the School Policies section of our website.