School action, School action plus and Statements

Each of the levels described below is based on national guidance and the SEN Code of Practice (2001).

First steps

Children make progress at different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. The school or setting will choose suitable ways to help your child from a range of activities - this is called "differentiating the curriculum".

School Action

If your child does not make progress through the school's normal teaching arrangements, the teacher will discuss this with you and will also talk to the school SENCo.

An Individual Education Plan (IEP) (or another planning and review document) may be drawn up which will include information about:

• short term targets
• teaching methods
• any additional resources
• when the plan is to be reviewed

For more information about IEP's please use the link on this page.

For younger children there is a similar process called "Early Years Action" which involves staff from any early years setting that he or she attends.

School Action Plus

Then the school may need to seek additional help or advice from an outside specialist such as an educational psychologist or advisory teacher. This level of intervention is called "School Action Plus". Again we would expect your child to be involved - taking into account his or her age and ability.

Most children identified with SEN make progress with this level of support and after a period of time it is possible to meet their needs are through the "School Action" stage.

A parallel process operates for pre-school children known as "Early Years
Action Plus"

Statutory Assessment

A small number of children do not make sufficient progress at School Action Plus and need further specialist assessment and/or help. The school or the parent may request that the Local Authority under takes a statutory assessment.

If you think that a statutory assessment is necessary for your child you should talk with your child's school. Having discussed this with the school, if you wish to seek further advice please contact our Customer Call Centre on 0300 123 4043 who will be able to direct you to your local SEN team. Alternatively, they will arrange for an SEN Officer to contact you and advise you on the best way forward including the way in which you can proceed with a parental request for statutory assessment.

This is a legal process which must follow procedures and timescales set out in the 1996 Education Act and 2001 SEN Code of Practice. In Hertfordshire we have made sure that funds and services are provided in schools and other settings so that as many children and young people as possible can have their needs effectively met at School Action and School Action Plus without the need for a Statement.

Please find a timeline of statutory assessment on the link at the bottom of this page.

Statements

In the small number of cases where a statutory assessment is necessary we may decide we need to write down all the information we have collected in a document called a Statement of Special Educational Needs. A statement will describe all your child's SEN and the help your child should receive.

A Statement of Special Educational Needs is a legal document so it has to be written in a particular way. It contains six sections, a document detailing each of these can be found on the link below.

More detailed information about statutory assessment and what the arrangements are for reviewing the statement of special educational needs on an annual basis can be found by following by the links on this page.

If you think that a statement is necessary for your child you should talk with your child's school. Having discussed this with the school, if you wish to seek further advice please contact our Customer Call Centre on 0300 123 4043 who will be able to direct you to your local SEN team. Alternatively, they will arrange for an SEN Officer to contact you and advise you on the best way forward including the way in which you can proceed with a parental request for statutory assessment.