An Introduction to Inclusive Education

Module overview

An introduction to inclusion and equality for practitioners, schools and local authorities

Welcome to this free online module Introduction to Inclusive Education. This module has been designed for education practitioners in Early Learning and Childcare centres, schools and local authorities with the aim of supporting equitable professional learning in Scotland.

This module supports the General Teaching Council Scotland’s (GTCS) standards for Career-Long Professional Learning highlighted below. Professional Values and Personal Commitment are at the heart of all professional standards. A summary of the CLPL standards is in your Reflective Log.

1. Pedagogy, learning and subject knowledge
2. Curriculum and assessment
3. Enquiry and research
4. Educational contexts and current debates in policy, education and practice
5. Sustaining and developing professional learning
6. Learning for sustainability

These focus areas are interlinked with each other and as you progress through this module the connections will be highlighted using the symbols highlighted in figure 1. You may work through this module in a number of different ways – perhaps alone, or with a colleague or group of colleagues and you will hopefully engage with the Reflective Log which is available to download and has been developed for you to evidence your professional enquiry and learning. The Reflective Log can be used for collegiate discussions with colleagues, annual reviews, GTCS Professional Update and can support applications for GTCS Professional Recognition.

Figure 1 GTCS Professional Learning Standards key

How to study the module

This course can be studied sequentially, or the material can be used as a reference guide with sections explored in any order. If studied as a course the core content should take around 1 – 3 hours to work through.

Throughout this module documents are available to support further professional learning for you to download.

Unless the text says ‘you will need to download this file’ the information in these documents is not included in the end of module quiz and is provided for you if you wish to deepen your professional knowledge and understanding of inclusion and equalities.

You can study at your own pace. However, as you work through the course, think about not only your role but also that of other partners and colleagues with whom you work. You might find it helpful to form an informal study group with colleagues and use some of the activities as a basis for group discussion.

We have also provided downloadable alternative formats of the course. You can find these on the first page of each section.

If you work through all of the content in this course, complete the activities and pass the end-of-course quiz you will be awarded a digital badge to recognise your learning.

Badge information

What is a badged course?

Badges are a means of digitally recognising certain skills and achievements acquired through informal study and are entirely optional. They do not carry any formal credit as they are not subject to the same rigour as formal assessment; nor are they proof that you have studied the full unit or course. They are a useful means of demonstrating participation and recognising informal learning.

If you'd like to learn more about badges, you will find more information on the following websites:

• Open Badges [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] – this information is provided by Mozilla, a leading provider of the open badges system.
• Digital Badges – this information is provided by HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory), a global community working to transform how we learn, and particularly making use of technology.

From within the Introduction to Inclusive Education course:

• Go to the navigation block and under My Profile you can access My Badges. When you click on My Badges you will be taken to your My Badges page on OpenLearn Works.
• To view the details of the badge or to download it, click on the badge and you will be taken to the Badge Information page.

Learning outcomes

After studying this introductory module and participating in the tasks you will have an:

• understanding of the education context in Scotland of inclusion and equality
• awareness of additional support needs and inclusion
• awareness of how to deliver child centred approaches within the Scottish legislative framework
• awareness of universal and targeted support
• awareness of information and approaches which support inclusive education

1 Scottish Context

In this section you will explore education within the Scottish context of legislation, policy and professional duties.

We will be looking at the following areas

• 1.1 Scottish education
• 1.2 Key milestones on the journey to inclusion

1.1 Scottish education

Scottish education is based on the belief that education is a human right and that all children and young people should be supported to reach their fullest potential. Scotland’s education system is designed to be an inclusive one for all children and young people in Scottish schools with or without additional support needs. The Scottish Government 2017 Consultation on the presumption of mainstreaming highlights that those with additional support needs should be enabled ‘to thrive as part of their class, their school and their wider community’. Mainstreaming is ‘a central pillar’ of this approach. This inclusive approach not only allows children and young people to thrive in their community but also contributes to all children and young people’s understanding and appreciation of diversity and helps to build a more just society.

Scotland’s ‘needs led’ system places the learner at the centre and the provision of support is not dependent upon a formal label or identification of need such as dyslexia, autism or a physical disability. Figure 2 provides an overview of the national legislation and policy which underpins the Scottish educational context of inclusion and equality. It is not intended as an exhaustive list of all Scottish policy which refers to inclusion but gives a broad over view of some of the key policy documents.

Maximise

Figure 2 Scottish educational contexts of inclusion and equality

Show description|Hide description

This diagram provides and overview of legislation and polices which support the Scottish Education system and how inclusive practice links with every aspect.

Figure 2 Scottish educational contexts of inclusion and equality

Legislative and policy framework

Scotland has a wide range of legislation to support inclusion and equality in education the most recent of which are explained in further detail in this section:

• Disability Strategies and Pupils’ Educational Records (2002);
• Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended 2009);
• Equality Act (2010);
• Children and Young People Act (2014); and
• Education (Scotland) (2016).

These promote a child centred approach to encourage every child to reach their ‘fullest potential’. Our legislation ensures rights and entitlements for children and young people to education, support and wellbeing. There is a range of legislation and educational policies which place duties and expectations on schools and local authorities to ensure that they:

• Deliver an inclusive education
• Support learners to achieve to the best of their ability
• Do not discriminate against those with protected characteristics
• Provide assessments when requested

Children’s rights and entitlements are fundamental to Scotland’s approach to inclusive education. It is supported by the legislative framework and key policy drivers including, Curriculum for Excellence, the getting it right for every child approach and the Framework for Professional Standards for teachers. These are underpinned by a set of values aligned to social justice and commitment to inclusive education.

1.2 Key Milestones on the Journey to Inclusion

Scottish education has come a long way since The Education (Mentally Handicapped Children)(Scotland) Act 1974 which declared every child was ‘educable’. Since then a range of policy and legislation has been introduced that supports inclusion. Figure 3 is a time line which provides an overview of the key milestones which underpin the journey to inclusion in Scotland.

Maximise

Figure 3 Key Milestones on the Journey to Inclusion

Show description|Hide description

This downloadable graphic provides an overview of the key milestones which underpin the journey to inclusion in Scotland.

Figure 3 Key Milestones on the Journey to Inclusion

As figure 3 highlights there have been a number of significant and notable developments which have contributed to providing an inclusive educational experience for all our learners in Scotland, a selection of which have been highlighted below.

You will need to download this file

Download Key Milestones on the Journey to Inclusion

This was brought into UK law in 1992 and is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities. The UNCRC consists of 54 articles that set out children’s rights and how governments should work together to make them available to all children.

Two particularly relevant articles with regards to inclusion are Articles 23 and 29.

Article 23 states that assistance to a disabled child should ‘ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education…in a manner conducive to the child’s achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development’.

Article 29 covers a range of factors which contribute to education. It states that the education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. It should also build their respect for other people and the world around them.

The UNCRC is the only international human rights treaty to give non-governmental organisations (NGOs), like Save the Children, a direct role in overseeing its implementation, under Article 45a. One of the Scottish Children’s Commissioner’s jobs is to make sure people in Scotland know about this convention.

Further information on the UNCRC can be found at https://www.unicef.org/ crc/

Every child or young person has the right and the entitlement to education, as detailed in this act. They have the right to be educated within mainstream education along with their peers and for education authorities to have due regard to their views in decisions that affect them. Local authorities, with their partners, have a duty within the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act (2000) to ensure that ‘education is directed to the development of personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person to their fullest potential.’ This wording deliberately reflects Article 29 1(a) of the UNCRC. This duty is for all children, regardless of whether they require additional support to reach their full potential. This Act includes a ‘presumption of providing mainstream education’ for all children except where education in a school other than a special school would:

• not be suited to the ability or aptitude of the child;
• be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for the children with whom the child would be educated; or
• result in unreasonable public expenditure being incurred which would not ordinarily be incurred.

It will always be necessary to tailor provision to the needs of the individual child and the Act recognises there is a need to make available a range of mainstream and specialist provision, including special schools, to ensure the needs of all pupils and young people are addressed.

The Act also places education authorities under duties to provide education elsewhere than at a school where a pupil is unable to attend school due to ill health, and to make provision to provide education where a pupil is excluded from school.

This Act requires education authorities (Responsible bodies) to develop and publish an accessibility strategy covering a 3 year period. This strategy must include setting out how the authority will increase learners’

• access to the curriculum,
• access to the physical environment of schools and
• improve communication with learners with disabilities

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and amendments made in 2009 (ASL) Act provide the legal framework for assessment. However, no particular model of assessment or support is prescribed in "the ASL Act". This ASL Act requires Education Authorities to:

• Identify and assess children and young people with additional support needs
• Provide for the additional support required for each child or young person with additional support needs for whose education they are responsible, subject to certain exceptions
• Review the additional support needs identified and the adequacy of support provided to meet the needs of each child or young person
• Prepare a co-ordinated support plan for those children or young people who meet certain criteria and keep this plan under regular review

The ASL Act provides the legal framework for identifying and addressing the additional support needs of children and young people who face a barrier, or barriers, to learning. Children and young people have additional support needs when they require additional support in order to benefit from school education. Under the ASL Act young people are those over school age but who have not yet attained the age of eighteen. Parents, children and young people have certain rights under the ASL Act.

Education authorities are required to identify the additional support needs of each child or young person for whose school education they are responsible and the ASL Act requires certain other agencies to provide help where this is requested.

Supporting Children’s Learning: Statutory Guidance on the Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2004 (as amended) - Code of Practice (Third Edition) 2017

The Code of Practice is designed to help schools, parents and others to understand the ASL Act and ensure its implementation. This is the third edition of the code and replaces all previous versions. It takes account of the amendments in the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 (the Act) which extended certain rights to children aged 12 -15 years and who have capacity, (these were already in place for 16 year olds) and it explains the duties on education authorities and other agencies to support children’s and young people’s learning. The code provides guidance on the additional support for learning legislation and the supporting framework of secondary legislation.

Education authorities and appropriate agencies, such as NHS Boards, are under a duty to have regard to the code when carrying out their functions under the Act. The code is designed to help them make decisions effectively but cannot be prescriptive about what is required in individual circumstances.

The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on schools and Education Authorities to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation of learners with protected characteristics, including disability, sexual orientation and ethnicity and to actively promote equality of opportunity.

The duties of the Equality Act 2010 (commenced 1 October 2010) require responsible bodies to actively deal with inequality, and to prevent direct disability discrimination, indirect disability discrimination and discrimination arising from disability and harassment or victimisation of pupils on the basis, or a perceived basis, of protected characteristics, including disability. The provisions include:

• Prospective pupils
• Pupils at the school
• In some limited circumstances, former pupils

In addition, under the Equality Act 2010 responsible bodies have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils and provide auxiliary aids and services. The duty is ‘to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the substantial disadvantage’ to a disabled person caused by a provision, criterion or practice applied by, or on behalf of, a school or by the absence of an auxiliary aid or service. (Commenced 1st September 2012)

The Getting it right for every child approach has been national policy since 2010 and is now defined in statute in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act (2014). The Act aims to strengthen children’s rights and improve and expand services that support children and families, including looked after children. Its purpose is to ensure an inter-agency approach across education, health and social work to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Policies supporting inclusive education

Curriculum for Excellence is designed to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18. The term curriculum is understood to mean - everything that is planned for children and young people throughout their education, not just what happens in the classroom.

Curriculum for Excellence includes four contexts for learning:

• Curriculum areas and subjects
• Interdisciplinary learning
• Ethos and life of the school
• Opportunities for personal achievement.

Curriculum for Excellence is intended to help children and young people gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for life in the 21st century, including skills for learning, life and work

Delivery of the curriculum is the responsibility of education authorities and individual schools under guidance from the Scottish Government and Education Scotland.

Further information on Curriculum for Excellence is available in section 2.4

The Doran Review Report sets out the strategic vision for provision for children and young people with complex additional support needs in Scotland. This review underlined that ‘Every child has the right to become a successful learner, confident individual, effective contributor and responsible citizen- wherever their learning is taking place. Some will face barriers to learning and will need additional support to enable them to make the most of their educational opportunities and to realise their potential’. The review report sets out the findings and recommendations for provision across four themed areas;

• Culture, Complex Additional Support Needs and Expertise,
• Policy Choice and Learning Experiences,
• Interagency Working, Planning and Review, and
• National and Local Provision and the Role of the Scottish Government.

Further information on the Doran review can be found here.

The National Improvement Framework (NIF)

The National Improvement Framework (NIF) was introduced in the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 and sets out the vision and priorities for children’s progress in learning in Scotland. It aims to improve Scottish education and close the attainment gap, delivering both excellence and equity. This includes improving and raising the attainment of learners from lower socio-economic backgrounds and extending the rights of learners with additional support needs and the National Improvement Hub has been developed to support this. Figure 4 sets out the drivers which will be analysed to identify where we can make improvements.

Figure 4: Key Drivers for improvement

Show description|Hide description

This graphic sets out the 7 drivers which will be analysed to identify where we can make improvements placing the child at the centre.

Figure 4: Key Drivers for improvement

Further information on the National Improvement Framework can be found at

https://beta.gov.scot/ publications/ national-improvement-framework-drivers-of-improvement/

 

Initiatives such as the Scottish Attainment Challenge and the Pupil Equity Fund have also sought to close the poverty-related attainment gap and empower schools to help those children and young people who most need support.

2. Inclusion and Equality

In this section you will explore what is meant by inclusion and equality.

We will be looking at the following areas

• 2.1 Inclusion
• 2.2 Equality
• 2.3 Young Ambassadors for Inclusion
• 2.4 Curriculum for Excellence delivering inclusive practice
• 2.5 Universal entitlement and targeted support

Figure 5 provides a visual representation of inclusion as the cornerstone of Scottish education. How Good is our School? 4th edition (2015) (HGIOS 4) provides schools and local authorities with a self-evaluation tool which should be used to reflect on their inclusive practice and plan for improvements.

Maximise

Figure 5:Inclusion and Equality

Show description|Hide description

This graphic provides a visual representation of inclusion as the cornerstone of Scottish education.

Figure 5:Inclusion and Equality

2.1 Inclusion

What is meant by Inclusion?

A range of definitions of inclusion have been developed and these contribute to an understanding of inclusive education.

2.2 Equality

Section 1 highlighted the range of equalities legislation in Scotland relating to race, gender, age, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

What does equality mean?

Equality is described as the removal of discrimination, disadvantage, inequality and / or barriers which can affect people on the grounds of the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation. The public sector equality duty also covers marriage and civil partnerships, with regard to eliminating unlawful discrimination in employment and therefore schools and education authorities do not have a responsibility as learners are not employees.

The Equality Act 2010 also gives the duty to advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not and to foster good relations between them.

2.3 Young Ambassadors for Inclusion

The Young Ambassadors for Inclusion are children and young people with additional support needs in secondary schools who have been nominated by their local authority to join a network which provides an opportunity for them to share their views and experiences of Scottish education. Twenty-six local authorities have been represented since the network began in 2015.

Through discussion and activities the Young Ambassadors have identified the ways they feel schools are doing well in their provision of inclusive education and also where improvements could be made. They have shared their ideas with the Deputy First Minister during a visit to Parliament.

The Young Ambassadors were keen to share their views on what works in inclusive education and have created professional learning resources, one of which is a film which allows their views to be heard and aims to help staff understand how to support young people with additional support needs.

The ‘Ask Us, Hear Us, Include Us' film and professional learning materials looks at what works and what could be improved in relation to inclusion in education. The PowerPoint explores the film further and looks at five themes identified by the Young Ambassadors as important for inclusion and which are highlighted in Fig 6

• Belonging
• Friendship
• Awareness of additional support needs
• Positive attitudes
• Asking for help and support.

Maximise

Figure 6: Five Themes for Inclusion

Show description|Hide description

This graphic represents the 5 themes identified by the Young Ambassadors as important for inclusion

Figure 6: Five Themes for Inclusion

They have also developed a pledge for schools and local authorities to use when working towards developing improvements in inclusive education.

Maximise

Figure 7 Inclusion Pledge

Show description|Hide description

A pledge to support the development of an inclusive school community

Figure 7 Inclusion Pledge

The network is funded by Scottish Government and supported by staff from Education Scotland and Enquire.

A range of resources, including the film, are available to download from the National Improvement Hub

https://education.gov.scot/ improvement/ self-evaluation/ young-ambassadors-for-inclusion

2.4 Curriculum for Excellence and Inclusive Practice

“Curriculum for Excellence is an inclusive curriculum from 3 to 18 wherever learning is taking place”.

Curriculum for Excellence is a world-class example of universal design for learning. Its principles of curriculum design include relevance, personalisation and choice and challenge and enjoyment. At its development stage, special school head teachers and support for learning teachers advised on building experiential learning into the curriculum through experiences and outcomes across its levels.

2.5 Universal Entitlement

All children and young people need support to help them learn and develop. The needs of the child or young person should always be central to the identification, planning and provision of support. Support should be appropriate, proportionate and timely.

Section 1.1 highlighted that the ASL Act provides a framework for identifying and providing support for children and young people who face a barrier or barriers to learning.

Further information on universal and targeted support will be explored in section 3.

The Building the Curriculum document series provides advice, guidance and policy for a wide range of different aspects of Curriculum for Excellence for practitioners, schools and education authorities. All of the documents within the series are relevant to support the development of inclusive education in particular, Building the Curriculum 3 (BtC3) sets out a range of entitlements for all children. These include the commitment that every child and young person is entitled to support to enable them to:

gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence can provide and move into a positive and sustained destination.

You will need to download this file

Download BtC3 

The full series can be downloaded in section 6.

3. Universal and Targeted Support

In this section we will look at:

• 3.1 Universal Support
• 3.2 Targeted Support
• 3.3 Identification of Additional Support Needs
• 3.4 Assessment and Monitoring of Additional Support Needs
• 3.5 Supporting needs

3.1 Universal Support

Universal support starts with the ethos, climate and relationships within every learning environment. It is the responsibility of all practitioners to take a child-centred approach which promotes and supports wellbeing, inclusion equality and fairness. The entitlement to universal support for all children and young people is provided from within the existing pre-school and school settings.

An environment which is caring, inclusive, fair and focused on delivering learning to meet individual needs will encourage all children and young people to strive to meet their learning potential. Every child and young person is entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence can provide. When a child or young person may require some additional support, this is initially the responsibility of the classroom teacher. The majority of children and young people’s needs are met through universal support.

Some examples of universal support are below – this list is not exhaustive:

• Personalised learning plans
• Literacy, numeracy or health and wellbeing support
• Enhanced transition e.g. P7 – S1
• Use of ICT e.g. digital learning and teaching resources such as digital SQA exams
• Quiet spaces
• Visual time tables

3.2 Targeted support

Children and young people can benefit from additional or targeted support, tailored to their individual circumstances. This could be at any point on their learning journey or throughout the journey.

This targeted support is any focused support which children or young people may require for short or longer periods of time to help them overcome barriers to learning or to ensure progress in learning.

Targeted support is usually, but not exclusively, co-ordinated and provided by staff with additional training and expertise through a staged intervention process. This may be by staff other than the class teacher and outwith the pre-school or school setting but within education services

In a secondary school, this support may be coordinated by guidance/pastoral care/pupil support staff.

Some examples of targeted support are below – this list is not exhaustive.

• Higher attaining children (ensuring progression)
• Bereavement peer support group
• Input from Allied Health Professionals e.g. speech and language
• Specific learning difficulties
• Trauma informed interventions designed for a care experienced child/young person
• Complex needs e.g. sessions in a sensory room

3.3 Identifying additional support needs

Additional support is a broad and inclusive term which applies to children or young people who, for whatever reason, require additional support, long or short term, in order to help them make the most of their school education and to be included fully in their learning. ‘Additional Support Needs’ is the standard terminology used in Scotland when children and young people need more − or different − support to what is normally provided in schools or pre-schools to children of the same age.

Staged intervention is used as a means of identification, assessment, planning, recording and review to meet the learning needs of children and young people. All local authorities have a staged intervention and assessment process in place which enables practitioners to assess and meet learners’ needs. Staged intervention:

• Provides a solution-focused approach to meeting needs at the earliest opportunity and with the least intrusive level of intervention.
• Involves the child, parents/carers, school staff and, at some levels, other professionals, all working in partnership to get it right for every child.

Staged intervention is designed to be flexible and allows for movement between stages depending on progress. There are variations between local authorities regarding the number of stages within their process,

There are a wide range of factors which may lead to some children and young people having a need for additional support. These fall broadly into the four overlapping themes described below:

• Learning environment,
• Family circumstances,
• Disability or health need and
• Social and emotional factors.

Within Curriculum for Excellence, all children and young people are entitled to support to enable them to achieve. Education authorities are required to identify the additional support needs of each child or young person for whose school education they are responsible. This can be achieved in a range of ways. Any person working with the child, or the young person himself/herself, could draw attention to the fact that difficulties with learning exist. For example, this person might be the parent, class teacher, a member of the school health team, educational psychologist, social worker or any person who has been working with a child or young person.

It should not be assumed that inclusion in the list inevitably implies that additional support will be necessary. However, the ASL Act automatically deems that all looked after children and young people have additional support needs unless the education authority determine that they do not require additional support in order to benefit from school education.

3.4 Assessment and monitoring of additional support needs

Assessment is a dynamic process, with the child or young person at the centre. As a result, it should not be divorced from other aspects of the child’s life either at school, home or in the community as illustrated in the My World Triangle below in Figure 8.

The My World Triangle can be used to gather more information from a range of sources (some of it possibly specialist), to identify the strengths or wellbeing concerns in the child or young person’s world.

Maximise

Figure 8 My World Triangle

Show description|Hide description

The My World Triangle supports practice that considers the child or young person’s needs and risks, as well as the positive features in their lives.

Figure 8 My World Triangle

Further information on the My World Triangle can be accessed on the Scottish Government website.

Assessment is an integral part of learning and teaching which takes place in every classroom each day. It helps to provide a picture of a child’s or young person's progress and achievements and to identify next steps in learning. Assessment of a learner’s progress and achievement is based on a teacher’s assessment of their knowledge, understanding and skills in curriculum areas. Teachers assess learning using a variety of approaches and a wide range of evidence. The Moderation Cycle in Figure 9 outlines each stage of the moderation process and enables practitioners to develop a shared understanding of standards and expectations in the broad general education.

Engaging in the moderation process with colleagues will assist practitioners in arriving at valid and reliable decisions on learners’ progress towards, and achievement of, a level.

Maximise

Figure 9 Effective Moderation and assessment

Show description|Hide description

The Moderation Cycle outlines each stage of the moderation process and enables practitioners to develop a shared understanding of standards and expectations in the broad general education.

Figure 9 Effective Moderation and assessment

The principles for the assessment of additional support needs are no different to those for Curriculum for Excellence. Information which is gathered on a daily basis by class teachers as part of their curriculum moderation and assessment can provide a significant contribution to support assessment. The information gathered reflects the learner’s presentation in class and can include examples of:

• Observations
• Pieces of class work – examples of free handwriting to evaluate spelling, structure
• Conversations about barriers to learning
• Information shared by parents and the learner

Education Scotland’s statement for Practitioners(August 2016) stated that the two key resources which support practitioners to plan learning, teaching and assessment are the Experiencesand Outcomes (Es and Os) and Benchmarks.

Download The Aug 2016 statement for Practitioners

Experiences and outcomes  are a set of clear and concise statements about children's learning and progression in each curriculum area. They are used to help plan learning and to assess progress.

Download the full set of experiences and outcomes

This document contains the experiences and outcomes for all curriculum areas.

​By exploring the entire set of experiences and outcomes, you will be able to see the curriculum from the early years to the end of S3 as a whole.

Further information on benchmarks can be accessed on the Education Scotland website.

3.5 Barriers to learning

Support for all learners begins within the classroom and is provided by the classroom teacher who holds the main responsibility for nurturing, educating and meeting the needs of all learners in their class, working in partnership with support staff to plan, deliver and review curriculum programmes.

Learners can display a range of support needs which can result in significantly different profiles and requirements. It is important to realise that the issues children and young people may face do not always fit neatly into categories and it is likely that there are overlapping barriers which are experienced. For example a child whose family is seeking asylum may have emotional difficulties resulting from previous experiences; may have suffered trauma, family breakdown or bereavement; have missed a lot of schooling; and may have limited English language skills.

Maximise

Figure 10: Factors giving rise to additional support needs

Show description|Hide description

This graphic highlights factors which can give rise to a range of additional support needs

Figure 10: Factors giving rise to additional support needs

Reducing barriers and supporting needs

Effective communication between professionals, parents/carers and learners is an essential contributing element required to reduce any barriers to learning. A child or young person may have additional support needs arising from more than one of the factors highlighted in figure 10. Additional support for children and young people may be provided in a range of locations including in school, at home, in hospital, or in a specialist health, social services or voluntary agency facility. Examples of support to reduce barriers may include:

• a particular approach to learning and teaching: for example, as used with children and young people with autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia or sensory impairments
• youth work provided through community learning and development
• attendance shared between school and further education college
• the deployment of personnel from within the school or education authority: for example, support from a learning support teacher in the school or from a peripatetic teacher of the deaf
• the deployment of personnel from outwith education: for example, support provided by allied health professionals working in health or social workers from the local authority or staff from the voluntary sector where this support enables the child or young person to benefit from education
• provision of particular resources, including information and communications technology (ICT) and particular learning and teaching materials.
• a support for learning assistant working with a learning disabled child in a nursery
• class teacher helping a child by following a behaviour management programme drawn up in consultation with a behaviour support teacher
• tutorial support from a support for learning teacher to help with a reading difficulty
• use of communication symbols by a child with an autism spectrum disorder
• designated support staff working with Gypsy/Traveller children on their site to help them improve their literacy and numeracy skills
• in-class support provided by an English as Additional Language (EAL) teacher for a child whose first language is not English
• use of an app on a tablet computer to support writing
• a higher attaining child at the later stages of primary school receiving support to access the secondary mathematics curriculum
• a higher attaining child at the later stages of primary school receiving support to access the secondary mathematics curriculum.

A suite of research-proven ‘interventions for equity’ has been designed and developed to support educational establishments.

Maximise

Figure 11: Interventions for Equity

Show description|Hide description

This graphic highlights a range of interventions to support Equity

Figure 11: Interventions for Equity

Family circumstances

Curriculum for Excellence promotes the active participation of children and young people in their learning. There may be many different reasons why individual learners become disengaged from education, for example where a child’s or young person’s home life is disrupted by poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, parental alcohol or drug misuse or parental mental or physical health problems. Examples where additional support needs may arise as a result of family circumstances include; where the learner herself is a young mother, or is helping to care for disabled parents or siblings, or where a child is from a family of Armed Services with a parent being deployed into conflict zones, or where the family is affected by imprisonment.

Factors such as these may affect learners’ emotional stability, their levels of concentration, readiness to learn, their relationships with their peers and, in turn, their punctuality and attendance.

In almost all cases, expectations for attendance, punctuality and learning at home (or homework) should be the same as for all other learners. However, there may some young people for whom flexibility is required. For example, young carers may need individual arrangements and deadlines for completing homework. Particular efforts may be needed to provide the same wide range of experiences and achievements for young carers, or refugees and asylum seekers which other young people take for granted. Learners at risk of missing out on education include girls who become pregnant and may need help to continue with their education. Support for young parents is a key responsibility for the community, working with the school. Further guidance is provided in “Included, engaged andinvolved- part 1: attendance in Scottish schools (2007).

Download Included, engaged and involved- part 1: attendance in Scottish schools

Supporting Care Experienced learners who are or have been Looked After Children (LAC)

Education authorities have particular duties in relation to looked-after children or care experienced children and young people, those looked after at home, who are accommodated by the local authority and who have experienced care – which includes those who are adopted or have previously been in care. The evidence shows that those looked after at home are at increased risk of poorer outcomes. The document ‘Improving the Learning Journey of Looked After Children’ provides some guidance on this. It was developed by The Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS) who work in partnership with carers, social workers, teachers, nurses, charities, the police, local authorities, and the Scottish Government. They are dedicated to making positive and lasting improvements in the wellbeing of children and young people living in and on the edges of care, and their families, across the whole country, and the globe - children who, through no fault of their own, are not able to enjoy the same positive experiences and outcomes as many of their peers.

Further information on Looked After Children can be found on the CELCIS website.

https://www.celcis.org/

Closing the Poverty Related Attainment Gap

Poverty can have a significant impact on a learner’s ability to access the curriculum and the Scottish Attainment Challenge provides support to address this barrier to learning.

Supporting learners and families where English is spoken as a second language

Local authorities in Scotland provide support when required for children, young people and adults who have English as an additional language (EAL). The nature of this support varies depending on local circumstances, for example, some of the northern authorities have been supporting Polish communities working in the oil field areas. Some of the larger cities such as Glasgow have dedicated educational support teams working with relatively large groups of migrant families.

The importance of providing a welcoming supportive environment is acknowledged by all staff supporting the various groups of relocated families.

There have been a number of research projects looking into how best to support EAL including understanding the different ways in which we use language – social and academic. Children and young people who are totally immersed in the life of a school can pick up on everyday social language reasonably easily and be fluent speakers; however, that may hide difficulties in acquiring the more complex skills of reading and writing. This is an important barrier to progress for young people entering the UK at the senior secondary stage and undertaking formal examinations.

Scottish Government and Education Scotland are working together to ensure provision is in place for welcoming new refugees from Syria and that English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) practitioners across Scotland are adequately supported. A well-received ‘Teaching ESOL to Refugees’ event was held in Glasgow to support practitioners from local authorities that are new to working with refugees. The event was filmed and talks and materials are available on the National Improvement Hub site, for further information click here example

Welcoming Our Learners, Scotland’s ESOL Strategy 2015 - 2020, provides the strategic direction to ensure we continue to support high quality learning and teaching of English language in Scotland.

Download Welcoming Our Learners, Scotland’s ESOL Strategy 2015 - 2020

Health and disability

Establishments should identify those children and young people with health conditions and disabilities, and school management should know how many there are and the year groups and classes they are in. For example, additional support is required to meet the needs of a child or young person who has a motor or sensory impairment, specific language difficulty, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, autism spectrum disorder or has learning difficulties. Children with a low birth weight may have additional support needs. Mental health and wellbeing issues such as anxiety, eating disorders and depression can disrupt learning and may lead to additional support being required, for example from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), or local counselling services to ensure benefit from school education.

Appropriate reasonable adjustments should be in place, including in transition planning and effective collaborative partnership working should be in place, for example with Allied Health Professionals.

Key principles in supporting all such learners are based on good communication between ELC practitioners, class teachers and specialist staff, involvement of parents and learners in decision making and careful tracking and monitoring of progress and achievement. Expectations of learning and achievement should be high.

Supporting Learners with complex additional needs

Section 1.1 highlighted the 2012 Doran Review Report - ‘The Right Help at the Right Time and Right Place’. Within the context of the ASL Act the reportaims to improve outcomes for children and young people with complex additional support needs through strategic commissioning of services; with a particular focus on the provision of education.

Download Scotland's Ten Year Strategy for the Learning Provision for Children and Young People with Complex Additional Support Needs 2017-2026

Education Scotland has published an extensive range of resources, advice and guidance for staff involved in making provision for learners with more complex needs. Click here to access the resources on the National Improvement Hub.

Milestones to support learners with complex additional support needs

Education Scotland has produced a set of milestones for literacy and English and numeracy and mathematics with accompanying guidance to specifically support learners with complex additional support needs. In addition, foundation milestones have been produced which outline key skills and competencies that underpin all curricular areas. The milestones aim to support practitioners to identify the progression of learning.

Milestones are important points in development and demonstrate progression. Learners who are not able to achieve any of the benchmarks within Early Level still require tracking and monitoring of their progression. Whilst, many of these learners will move on to work at Early Level, some learners will continue to make progress at the pre-early stage. These milestones are intended to support practitioners to track the progression of these learners. They are not intended to provide an alternative curriculum. Further information can be found on the National Improvement Hub.

Download Milestones to support learners with complex additional support needs Literacy and English

Download Milestones to support learners with complex additional support needs Numeracy and Mathematics

Social and emotional factors

In Scotland social, emotional and behavioural needs is a broad term. Each year, teachers in every school across Scotland completes a census which is collated by the Scottish Government into an annual statistical publication which provides information on a range of areas in education including ASN, Under the term ‘social, emotional and behavioural needs’ they identify children and young people who experience difficulties which can impact on their behaviour which can create to their learning. this term can also include children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) depression and eating disorders; conduct disorders such as oppositional defiance disorder (ODD); hyperkinetic disorders including attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD).

A child being bullied or bullying may also need additional support. Bullying behaviour smay be a result of prejudice that relates to perceived or actual differences. This can lead to behaviour and language which could manifest into racism, sexism, homophobia, biphobia or transphobia or prejudice and discrimination towards disability or faith.

A child who has had adverse childhood experiences may also benefit from additional support to overcome barriers to their learning. A child with behavioural difficulties or at risk of exclusionfrom school may require additional support to develop positive relationships and behaviours to prevent further escalation of risk of exclusion and other associated risks, including offending behaviour. Additional support could be short-term or could be long-term over a number of years. The factors which may give rise to additional support needs are wide and varied because they relate to the wellbeing and circumstances of individual children and the learning environment they encounter.

In 2013, Scottish Government and Education Scotland published ’better relationships, better learning, better behaviour’. It highlighted the positive impact in establishments where there is a focus on social and emotional wellbeing and an ethos of mutual respect and trust. This universal approach is part of the health and wellbeing curricular area in Curriculum for Excellence and its emphasis on developing social and emotional wellbeing. It is the responsibility of all staff to establish open, positive, supporting relationships across the community and promote a climate in which children and young people feel safe and secure.

Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions (2017) provides further guidance on this issue.

There is clear evidence of the impact of trauma and loss as well as school exclusion on the number of those who experience this as children and young people entering the prison system. Relationships and social and emotional wellbeing are key ways to continue to reduce the level of offending among young people in Scotland.

Download Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: A Positive Approach to Preventing and Managing School Exclusions (2017)

Being bullied, or the reasons why someone is bullying, can become a barrier to learning. This is a complex area which requires everyone to work together to address effectively.

‘Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti Bullying for Scotland's Children and Young People’ provides a holistic framework for adults working with children and young people to address all aspects of bullying. It aims to ensure that all sectors and communities, at a national and local level, are consistently and coherently contributing to a holistic approach to anti-bullying, regardless of the type of bullying. This includes an explicit commitment to addressing prejudice-based bullying. Respect for All describes how we define bullying and how we approach effective anti-bullying work.

Download Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti Bullying for Scotland's Children and Young People

4 Effective Planning

In this section we will look at

4.1 The inclusive learning environment

4.2 Educational planning

4.3 Differentiation and the curriculum

4.4 Transitions

4.1 The inclusive learning environment 

Planning and developing an inclusive child centred approach to learning and teaching can support a range of additional support needs. An inclusive learning environment will support all learners to access the curriculum and participate in the range of experiences provided through a flexible, accessible and inclusive curriculum. A combination of factors supports the development of an inclusive school community and learning environment. Figure 12 highlights features of an inclusive classroom and learning community.

Maximise

Figure 12: Supporting inclusive education

Show description|Hide description

This graphic highlights highlights features of an inclusive classroom and learning community

Figure 12: Supporting inclusive education

‘How Good Is Our School 4’ (HGIOS 4) is a resource to support improvement through self-evaluation and inclusion and is embedded across all the themes and quality indicators.

Figure 13 highlights how the reflective questions can support school communities evaluate their inclusive practice and identify areas for improvement.

Figure 13: Self-evaluation and Inclusion

Show description|Hide description

This diagram highlights how inclusion can be evaluated using the HGIOS 4 selfevaluation framework

Figure 13: Self-evaluation and Inclusion

4.2 Educational planning

All children and young people should have frequent and regular opportunities to discuss their learning and development with an adult who knows them well and with whom they have a mutually trusting relationship. This key member of staff has the holistic overview of the child or young person’s learning and personal development.

Staged intervention is used as a means of identification, assessment, planning,recording and review to meet the learning needs of children and young people.

All local authorities have a staged intervention and assessment process in place which enables practitioners to assess and meet learners’ needs. Staged intervention:

• Provides a solution-focused approach to meeting needs at the earliest opportunity and with the least intrusive level of intervention.
• Involves the child, parents/carers, school staff and, at some levels, other professionals all working in partnership to get it right for every child.

Staged intervention is designed to be flexible and allows for movement between stages depending on progress. The majority of learners will be supported within universal support and some learners will access more targeted support. Figure 14 provides an overview of universal and targeted support.

Maximise

Figure 14 Universal and Targeted Supports

Show description|Hide description

an overview of what Universal and Targeted Supports are

Figure 14 Universal and Targeted Supports

There are variations between local authorities regarding the number of stages within their process and their terminology used to describe planning documents. An overview using common terms is provided in the table below.

A CSP is a statutory plan to help identification and ensure provision of services for children or young people, whose additional support needs arise from complex, or multiple factors, which have a significant adverse effect on their school education and are likely to last at least a year, and which require support to be provided by an education authority and at least one other non education service or agency. It is a legal document and aims to ensure that all the professionals, the child/young person and the parents/carers work together and are fully involved in the support

Below are examples of targeted support which would require collaborative planning between partners.

Some children and young people will require additional support from agencies from outwith education services if they are to make progress. This support may be provided outwith an educational setting. Some examples are:

• Social work support to help a young person with social and emotional needs address their substance misuse
• A communication programme drawn up by a speech and language therapist and teacher for implementation in the classroom
• Promoting positive relationships programme delivered to a group of young people by staff from a voluntary agency
• Counselling provided by a voluntary agency for a child who has been bereaved and needs support to help overcome difficulties in school
• Psychiatric support for a child with mental health difficulties
• Specialist equipment support from physiotherapy
• A sensory integration programme provided by an occupational therapist
• Group or individual career support to engage choices for education, training or employment, in anticipating leaving school

4.3 Transitions

Transition can be a difficult, nervous and exciting time for any learner, however for children and young people with additional support needs it can be a particularly stressful time for them and their family. Nevertheless, the process can be eased with appropriate understanding, partnership work, support and planning. It is important to understand that transitions occur each day, throughout the year and not only at the commonly highlighted stages such as P7 – S1 or S4/5/6 to post school. This section provides some guidance to support the various stages of transition which school communities are involved in to ensure that they are child centred, positive experiences which support learners with additional support needs.

School education is organised in such a way that all children and young people experience transitions as they move through the various stages of schooling. These transitions include entry to pre-school provision, transfer to primary school and through the different stages of primary and secondary school and, in particular, to post-school provision. Within almost all schools, children and young people will encounter changes and transition from each stage to stage. Whatever the form of change and transition, all children and young people are entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence can provide and also support in moving into positive and sustained destinations beyond school.

Nursery, primary and secondary schools need to work within time scales and collaboratively to put in place strategies which will help pupils who have additional support needs to cope with this each stage of their educational career. This requirement is supported by educational law for children and young people whose additional support needs are considered to be ‘significant’ or if they are otherwise at risk of not making a successful transition.

Examples of transitions experienced by learners – (this list is not exhaustive).

• Nursery to P1
• Class to class
• Home to school
• Year to year
• P7 – S1
• Broad general education at the end of S3 into the senior phase
• School to offsite to school
• Post school

Curriculum for Excellence Briefing 12 provides advice for planning for learning, training and employment beyond age 16.

https://education.gov.scot/ Documents/ cfe-briefing-12.pdf

Download Briefing 12

4.4 Differentiation and the curriculum

The impact any additional support need has on learning varies in degree according to the learning and teaching environment. It is the responsibility of all who work with children to respond appropriately to their needs. Recognising early signs of difficulties and adapting learning and teaching approaches are a regular part of the daily routine for teachers supporting all children in an educational environment.

Differentiation is defined by the Training and Development agency for Schools as:

Differentiation is a key skill and requirement for all teachers to ensure the needs of all their learners are met. Creating resources, which are accessible for learners with additional support needs, will also support a wide range of learners. The impact a barrier to learning has varies in degree according to the learning and teaching environment. To ensure learners can access the curriculum and engage with the learning and teaching, staff will need to make adaptations and differentiate their approaches and resources and this may happen in a number of ways. Expert opinion varies regarding agreement on the definitive methods and approaches to support differentiation within learning and teaching, for example Kormos and Smith (2012) highlight that effective differentiation can be achieved by considering four dimensions: materials, task, expectation and support. (Teaching Languages to Students with Specific Learning Difficulties: 2012) and others focus on the areas of

• task
• support and
• outcome.

Figure 15 highlights different approaches to consider when planning effective and meaningful differentiation.

Maximise

Figure 15 Differentiation

Show description|Hide description

This diagram highlights different approaches to consider when planning effective and meaningful differentiation.

Figure 15 Differentiation

The availability and access to IT has changed the development and production of learning and teaching resources in an extremely positive way. All teachers have access to computers and create the majority of resources on a word document which can be converted very easily into a range of differentiated and accessible resources as highlighted in figure 16.

Staff should consider ways to remove any unnecessary barriers including ensuring that language used to describe what is expected of learners is accessible. They should consider the amount of support required to ensure fairness and provide sufficient challenge.End of Figure

Maximise

Figure 16 Accessible resources

Show description|Hide description

This graphic highlights that a range of formats can be created from a word file

Figure 16 Accessible resources

5. Collaborative partnerships for inclusion

In this section we will look at

• 5.1 Effective communication
• 5.2 Working with Learners
• 5.3 Working with Parents
• 5.4 Working with partners
• 5.5 Collaborating for Inclusion: A new role for special schools

5.1 Effective communication

Supporting learners is a collaborative process which involves effective partnership working. The role and views of the parents, carers, and child or young person are very important. Parents, carers or someone else involved with the family (e.g. social worker, health visitor) may have brought concerns to the teacher's notice in the first instance. The involvement of professionals will vary depending on the needs of the learner.

Figure 17 highlights the range of people who may be involved in the support and identification process over a period of time and who work together collaboratively to support the needs of the child/young person.

Figure 17. Collaborative Partnership

Show description|Hide description

highlights the range of people who may be involved in the support and identification process over a period of time and who work together collaboratively to support the needs of the child/young person.

Figure 17. Collaborative Partnership

This is a child centred approach as highlighted in figure18

Figure 18 Interlinking stakeholders

Show description|Hide description

This graphic highlights how stakeholders interlink with the child/young person at the centre

Figure 18 Interlinking stakeholders

5.2 Working with learners

Listening and gathering the views of learners

Section 2.3 highlighted the work and the contribution the Young Ambassadors for Inclusion have made through their active participation and willingness to share their experiences and views to support improvements. Participation and engagement work is an important mechanism to ensure we are listening to and reflecting on the needs, views and preferences of the children and young people we are working with. In all participation and engagement work, children and young people should be actively listened to, treated fairly and have their opinions respected and taken seriously.

Children in Scotland have created a useful set of principles and guidelines for practitioners undertaking participation work with children and young people.

Download Children in Scotland’s resource ‘The participation and engagement of children and young people: Our principles and guidelines’

Further information about planning and participation can be accessed on the National Improvement Hub - https://education.gov.scot/ improvement

5.3 Working with parents

Effective communication, respect and partnership working are key requirements between establishments and families. They are essential in supporting appropriate and effective identification, planning and monitoring and important for maintaining positive relationships.

All parents need to feel they are included and that there is transparent and regular communication. This could be done via phone calls, emails and letters – please ensure that the communication method used is appropriate for the family and follows establishment guidelines. A regular short message to a parent about progress can be extremely effective in avoiding a situation escalating negatively.

It is important that:

• Parents and carers feel that they are being listened to and their views are valued.
• Parents and carers are informed of all the support their child receives. This will reduce perceptions that no supports are in place, as often they are discrete and the learner may not be fully aware of the additional support they are receiving.
• Parents and carers are contacted about achievements and not only when difficulties arise.
• Parents and carers are provided with information on what assessment and support means within the ‘needs led’ Scottish educational context - the ‘label’ is not in itself required in order for resources or support to be made available for learners. Equally, a specific label can be very valuable to the learner and their family in terms of the learner’s sense of self and understanding from others.
• Local authority staged levels of intervention are followed and information on the process is made available to the parents and carers.

• Sources of advice and support are shared: for example Enquire, Dyslexia Scotland, Scottish Autism, Autism Network Scotland, or the Scottish Sensory Centre
• Effective consultation takes place with parents and the young person. If the young person is old enough to understand what is happening they can participate in their meetings. They have a legal entitlement to do so.

5.4 Working with partners

Personalised learning ensures effective practice in meeting the needs of children and young people. It involves strong teamwork and objective professional dialogue amongst staff and partner professionals, with the full involvement of learners and their parents.

Meeting the wide-ranging needs of all children, young people and their families is the heart of what makes an excellent school. Schools cannot achieve this by themselves. They will have a range of partners such as the third sector, youth workers, community learning and development staff, colleges, universities and employers who work with them to deliver learning pathways to meet the needs of all children and young people. Other partners with specialist expertise in additional support needs will also work alongside staff to remove barriers to learning and ensure all children and young people experience success in school and beyond school.

All partnerships are based on mutual trust and respect for the particular contribution each partner brings. Strong partnerships with parents and other partners who support children and young people are essential. Monitoring the impact of interventions and making timely adjustments to practice are key to providing highly-effective universal and targeted support. Families benefit from strong collaboration with colleagues from other sectors which support referrals to and from services and enables tracking and also builds trust. Families should always be consulted in a meaningful way and schools should work to develop effective working relationships with other services to ensure continued strong support for families and positive impacts for children, young people and their families.

5.5 Collaborating for Inclusion: A new role for special schools 

Despite our inclusive context with aspects of universal and targeted support, more needs to be done and more can be done to get it right for every child and ensure that all experience high quality inclusive education resulting in equity and excellence. Across the globe and within Europe, education systems are developing new roles for special schools and services in supporting inclusive practices. Recently UNESCO (2017) stated

“there is a clear role for special provision, such as special schools and units, in promoting inclusion and equity in education.”

Communities and schools can collaborate to improve inclusion with special schools and units taking on an innovative role as support services and resource centres.

6 Next Steps

Now that you have clicked through all the sections within this module and completed the activities you can now take the End of Module Quiz. Your notes within your Reflective Log will provide support with the answers.

To pass 60% of your answers will need to be correct. If your answers are incorrect you will have an opportunity to try again. After 3 failed attempts you will be locked out for 24 hours before you can attempt the quiz.

End of module quiz

Congratulations – now that you have completed all sections and the end of module quiz you have reached the end of this module.

7. Useful resources

AAC Scotland -Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Additional support needs

Addressing Dyslexia Toolkit

Applying nurture as a whole school approach: A framework to support self-evaluation.

Autism Toolbox

Call Scotland - Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning

CELCIS - Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland

Curriculum for Excellence

Dyslexia Scotland

Dyslexia Unwrapped

Education Scotland

Enquire

Forces Children Education

Guidance on the education of children unable to attend school due to ill health

Guidance on the preparation of Accessibility Strategies

National improvement Hub

Dyslexia and Inclusive practice: An Overview

National Improvement Hub

NHS guidance on Sensory impairment

NHS information on ADHD

NHS information on Deafblind

NHS information on depression

NHS information on improving mental wellbeing

Respect for All: The National Approach to Anti-bullying for Scotland's Children and Young People

Scottish Government

Scottish Government information on care experienced (looked after) children

Scottish Sensory Centre

The Principles of Good Transitions 3

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)

The Scottish Network for Able Pupils

World Health Organisation information on mental health

Glossary

Achievement

The result of what the learner has successfully learned from their educational and extra-curricular experiences

Accessibility strategy

Accessibility Strategies are required to consider improvements, over time, to school information, curriculum and physical access. Guidance is available for responsible bodies on their duties to develop and maintain accessibility strategies.

Allied health professionals

AHPs are a diverse group of professionals supporting people of all ages focusing on personal outcomes. They provide preventative interventions in such areas as supported self-management, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitation and enablement services to support people to live healthy, active and independent lives.

Armed forces

Navy, Army, Airforce, Full time, Reserves and Veterans - Children whose parents are serving, or have served, in the military can have unique needs and there may be times when they require additional support in order to be successful in their learning.

Attainment

The measurable progress which children and young people make as they advance through and beyond school, and the development of the range of skills, knowledge and attributes needed to succeed in learning, life and work.

Attainment gap

significant and persistent disparity in academic performance or educational attainment between different groups of learners, such as white students and minorities, for example, or learners from higher-income and lower-income households.

Attention deficit disorder

a term used for people who have excessive difficulties with concentration without the presence of other ADHD symptoms such as excessive impulsiveness or hyperactivity

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

A group of behavioural symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.

Autism spectrum disorders

Autism is characterised by people typically finding challenges with aspects of understanding social communication, social interaction and social imagination / flexible thinking. People with autism also tend to share common traits such as sensory processing difficulties, special interests, and some may have repetitive and stereotyped behaviours. Many can have significant difficulties with sleeping, eating, toileting and personal hygiene. Autism Spectrum Disorder can occur in association with any level of general intellectual/ learning ability, ranging from subtle problems of understanding or processing of information, impaired social function to severe disabilities. Autism is a lifelong condition and its impact is likely to change throughout a person’s lifetime. While they often share common features, every pupil with autism is unique.

Auxiliary aids and services

Auxiliary aids and services refer to anything that provides additional support or assistance to a disabled pupil, such as a piece of equipment or support from a member of staff.

Biphobia

Intense hatred, fear or aversion towards bisexuals or bisexuality, which may include negative stereotyping or denial of the existence of bisexuals

Capacity

Maturity and understanding to: carry out an action (such as request an assessment); understand any information or advice the school or authority might give them about their additional support needs or their rights; understand the information in their plan (such as a co-ordinated support plan); give their view (for example, during mediation); make a decision (such as to let their information be shared with other agencies when they leave school). When checking if the child has capacity to make a decision, the school or local authority will consider whether the child is able to discuss their decision, remember what their decision was, and understand what it might mean for them.

Child centred approach

Giving priority to the interests and needs of children. Putting the rights and wellbeing of children and young people at the heart of the services that support them and ensuring the child or young person is at the centre of decision-making and the support available to them.

Collaborative

All involved are working together in partnership.

Communication symbols

Symbol systems can also be used to help people with complex communication needs, including those who are deafblind, to understand what is being communicated to them; to anticipate an event or activity; to express themselves and to make choices.

Community learning and development

A field of professional work linked to a more widely shared set of values and approaches. It draws on a long history of Community Education, Community Development and Youth Work.

Complex additional support

A child or young person who has been diagnosed with an illness, disability or sensory impairment and needs a lot of additional support on a daily basis, these complex needs may arise from birth, or after an illness or injury.

Curriculum for Excellence

The Scottish curriculum comprises a broad general education up to the end of S3 followed by a senior phase. There is an increased emphasis is placed on inter-disciplinary learning, skills development and encouraging personal achievement.

Disability

Impact on the individual’s daily life is significant/severe – 2010 Equality Act

Discrimination

Direct discrimination means treating someone less favourably than someone else because of a protected characteristic. In the case of age, treating someone less favourably than someone else may be justified. Direct discrimination by perception means treating one person less favourably than someone else, because you incorrectly think they have a protected characteristic. Indirect discrimination means putting in place, a rule or policy or way of doing things that has a worse impact on someone with a protected characteristic than someone without one, when this cannot be objectively justified.

Dynamic process

Dyslexia

Scottish working definition 2009

Duty

Where the law requires a professional, education authority or appropriate agency to do something.

ELC

Early learning centre

Entitlements

The right to have it or do it

Ethnicity

A social group that shares a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like

Experiential learning

Is a method of educating through first-hand experience. Skills, knowledge, and experience are acquired outside of the traditional academic classroom setting, and may include internships, studies abroad, field trips, field research, and service-learning projects.

General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)

GTCS carries out a wide range of statutory functions and initiatives to register, promote, support and develop the professional learning of teachers in Scotland

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

An umbrella term for several diagnoses that are all related to prenatal exposure to alcohol (i.e. while a baby is still in the womb)

First language

Someone's first language is the language that they learned first and speak best; used especially when someone speaks more than one language.

Framework for Professional Standards for teachers

The General Teaching Council for Scotland maintains a suite of Professional Standards which are underpinned by the themes of values, sustainability and leadership. Professional values are at the core of the Standards.

Holistic

A holistic view is one which addresses the whole child or young person and his/her circumstances, strengths and areas of need. It is a collaborative process which can take place over a period of time, drawing on a range of observational and assessment method which involves the child/young person, schools staff, partners and the family. Rather than focusing on specific isolated aspects an holistic approach considers the whole range of needs that influence a child‘s healthy development and well-being

Gypsy/traveller

Gypsy/Travellers' refers to distinct groups – such as Roma, Romany Gypsies, Scottish and Irish Travellers – who consider the travelling lifestyle part of their ethnic identity

Harassment

Behaviour towards a person that causes mental or emotional suffering, which includes repeated unwanted contacts without a reasonable purpose, insults, threats, touching, or offensive language:

Homophobia

Dislike of or prejudice against homosexual people

Learning difficulties

Also referred to as Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) affect the way information is learned and processed. They are neurological (rather than psychological), usually hereditary and occur independently of intelligence – thus means having a learning difficulty is not a reflection on an individual’s cognitive ability. Learning difficulties can be a hidden disability (Equality Duty Act 2010) if there is a significant impact on the individuals day to day life. Learning difficulties include: • Dyslexia • Dyspraxia or Development Co-ordination Disorder • Dyscalculia • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Learning disability

A learning disability affects the way a person understands information and how they communicate. Around 1.5m people in the UK have one. This means they can have difficulty: understanding new or complex information; learning new skills; coping independently. A learning disability can be mild, moderate or severe. Some people with a mild learning disability can talk easily and look after themselves, but take a bit longer than usual to learn new skills. A learning disability is not the same as a learning difficulty or mental illness

Legal responsibilities

Obligations which must be carried out

Motor or sensory impairments

‘Sensory impairment’ or ‘sensory loss’ are umbrella terms used to describe loss of the distance senses i.e. sight and hearing.

Needs led

Support is provided based on the level of need the child or young person has. A formal identification/diagnosis of need is not required to receive support in the Scottish education system

Observations

Watching and interpreting a learner’s behaviour and how they interact with learning in the school and home environment

Peripatetic

A specialist teacher/practitioner who usually works in more than one school and travels between them e.g. pupil support or music teacher teachers.

Practitioners

The word practitioner normally indicates a person who has studied, and gained recognised qualifications. An educational practitioner is someone who is working in the education sector and has recognised qualifications e.g GTCS teacher, community link worker, early year’s practitioner, accredited Nurture staff and some support assistants.

Prejudice-based bullying

Occurs where a person is picked on because of who they are or who they are perceived to be. This is rooted in the prejudice and beliefs of the person who is doing the bullying or harassing.

Reasonable adjustments

The duty is ‘to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the substantial disadvantage’ to a disabled person caused by a provision, criterion or practice applied by or on behalf of a school or by the absence of an auxiliary aid or service. In the Equality Act 2010 as a whole there are three elements to the reasonable adjustments duty that relate to: • Provisions, criteria and practices • Auxiliary aids and services • Physical features.

Safeguarded

To safeguard something or someone means to protect them from being harmed, lost, or badly treated.

School community

All people involved in the school – staff, children and young people, volunteers, partners, local community police and third sectors organisations

Sexual orientation

A person’s sexual orientation is whether they are sexually attracted to people of the same sex, people of the opposite sex, or both.

Social justice

The General Teaching Council for Scotland standard for Social Justice applicable for all GTCs registered practitioners is: • Embracing locally and globally the educational and social values of sustainability, equality and justice and recognising the rights and responsibilities of future as well as current generations. • Committing to the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable policies and practices in relation to: age, disability, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion and belief and sexual orientation. • Valuing as well as respecting social, cultural and ecological diversity and promoting the principles and practices of local and global citizenship for all learners. • Demonstrating a commitment to engaging learners in real world issues to enhance learning experiences and outcomes, and to encourage learning our way to a better future. • Respecting the rights of all learners as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and their entitlement to be included in decisions regarding their learning experiences and have all aspects of their well-being developed and supported.

Socio-economic

The differences between groups of people caused mainly by their financial situation. Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family's economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation.

Specialist provision

A primary or secondary school is to be identified as having an integrated special unit/class if the sole or main purpose of any such class or other such unit forming part of the school is to provide education specially suited to the additional support needs of children or young persons selected for attendance at the class or unit by reason of those needs. (The class/unit may be located in the school or in a separate location, but will not have a separate SEED code).

Specific language difficulty

Some children and young people find it difficult to listen, understand and communicate with others and may need support to develop the surprising number of skills involved.

Staged levels of intervention

A process within the Scottish education system which helps identify, assess, plan, record and review the learning needs of children and young people. It aims to meet a child’s needs at the earliest opportunity and with the least intrusive level of intervention. The process involves the child, parents and carers, school staff and, at some levels, other professionals. All work in partnership to get it right for every child.

Statutory duties

The laws that a company, a government organisation, or the members of a particular profession must obey

Third sector

Third sector organisations’ is a term used to describe the range of organisations that are neither public sector nor private sector. It includes voluntary and community organisations (both registered charities and other organisations such as associations, self-help groups and community groups), social enterprises, mutuals and co-operatives.

Transphobia

Dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people

Universal design for learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework that helps teachers plan learning to meet the diverse and variable needs of all learners.

Victimisation

Treating someone badly because they have done a ‘protected act’ (or because it is believed that a person has done or is going to do a protected act). A ‘protected act’ is: • Making a claim or complaint of discrimination (under the Equality Act). • Helping someone else to make a claim by giving evidence or information. • Making an allegation that you or someone else has breached the Act. • Doing anything else in connection with the Act.

Wellbeing

The areas of a child’s life or circumstances that, when optimised will give them the best start in life, and make them ready to succeed. They are Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Active, Respected, Responsible and Included. Mental wellbeing refers to the health of the mind, the way we think, perceive, reflect on and make sense of the world. Emotional wellbeing refers to recognising, understanding and effectively managing our feelings and emotions. Social wellbeing refers to being and feeling secure in relationships with family, friends and community, having a sense of belonging and recognising and understanding our contribution in society. Physical wellbeing refers to the knowledge, skills and attitudes that we need to understand how physical factors affect our health.

Young carers

The Carers (Scotland) Act defines carers as those who provide or intend to provide care for another individual (the "cared-for person"). A young carer is aged under 18 years or aged 18 and a pupil at school. This includes helping to look after a parent, grandparent, brother or sister, or another relative, or a friend or neighbour, who is unwell, or is disabled. This also includes helping to look after someone who has a mental health problem, or who is having difficulty as a result of their use of illegal or prescription drugs or alcohol.