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.