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Access Tools

These are formal terms used to describe the levels of extra help that are given when a school decides that a child has special educational needs (SEN) and needs extra or different help.

School Action

This is when your child's school identifies that your child has special educational needs (SEN) and needs extra or different help from that usually given in the classroom. This is likely to be because your child:

• Makes little or no progress
• Has difficulty with literacy or numeracy
• Has emotional or behavioural difficulties
• Has communications difficulties
• Has sensory or physical problems

The school will discuss with you the best ways in which to support your child to make progress. The class teacher should be involved in these discussions, along with the school's special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).

The SENCO will assess your child's strengths and weaknesses, plan future support and arrange for regular reviews to be made. He or she will also draw up an individual education plan (IEP) for your child. You should be involved in this process.

The school may help by:

• Changing the ways lessons are planned and delivered
• Matching activities to the ability of your child
• Adapting learning materials such as work sheets, books and activities to suit your child's needs
• Small group work or some individual support
• Setting learning or behavioural targets
• Giving you ideas on how you can help your child at home.

School Action Plus

If your child does not make enough progress, the school should then talk to you about asking for advice from other people outside the school such as:

• Specialist teacher
• Eduational psychologist
• Speech and language therapist
• Health professionals
• Sensory specialist
• Behaviour specialist

They will look at your child's records to get a full picture of their progress, the stragegies already used by the school and targets that have been set and achieved.

They will develop a plan for your child, having spoken to you and your child's school. This may include:

• Regular advice to teachers working with your child
• Training for staff to support your child
• Teaching support
• Equipment and teaching materials
• Information technology
• Specialist assessment

Any extra help should, as far as possible, be in the normal classroom setting. The plan will be recorded in a new IEP, which will be monitored and reviewed regularly. Your child's teacher will be responsible for making sure the plan is put into action in the classroom.

Beyond School Action Plus

For most children the support given at school action or school action plus is enough to help them progress. For a few children, this is not the case. The school will then discuss with you what further support may be available from the local authority.

The local authority will need to know that all other alternatives have been tried and that over a period of time the child has made little or no progress.

You also have the right to ask the local authority for a statutory assessment.