Additional support in Scotland

The foundation for all support is the Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) policy. GIRFEC promotes, supports and safeguards the wellbeing of all children under 18. Under GIRFEC, all services working with children, young people and families, should give the right support at the right time. The policy upholds children's rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

The Scottish advice service for additional support for learning, Enquire, have a short leaflet that explains GIRFEC.

You can read detailed information about GIRFEC on the Scottish Government’s website.

Wellbeing

The wellbeing of children and young people is at the heart of GIRFEC. Services working with children track 8 indicators, known as SHANARRI. The indicators are safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included.

Schools should use SHANARRI to measure how a child or young person child is doing. Read more about the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators (gov.scot).

Named person

A key part of GIRFEC is the named person. This is someone with an overview of all the services involved with a child or young person. The named person is the central point of contact for a family if you want advice or support.

Read more about the role of a named person (gov.scot).

If a child or young person needs a Child’s Plan, a lead professional will be agreed. This person will work with the family and services. Their role is to coordinate and review the support agreed for the child or young person.

Read more about the role of the lead professional (gov.scot).

An important law is the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. This law lays out how children and young people with additional support needs (ASN) should be supported in their education. It applies to all children and young people in public education. It covers all stages of education, from the start of free nursery education to the end of secondary school.

All schools funded by the local authority must follow the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. They must also follow the Supporting children's learning: code of practice (revised 2010). These laws mean that they should:

• provide an education that allows your child to achieve the best possible outcomes
• have arrangements in place to support children with ASN
• listen to parents and carers. They must make sure the family is involved in all decisions about a child or young person
• share information with families on how they support children and young people with ASN
• make sure that children and young people help from specialist education services as quickly as possible
• work together with other professionals, such as ToDs and the local authority.

Local authorities must have arrangements for identifying and assessing ASN. Each local authority will have its own ASN policy. These policies will provide details of local ASL arrangements. You can download this from your local authority’s website or you can contact them and ask for a copy of their policy.

Local authorities can decide whether to assess a child or young person for ASN or not. If they do assess a child or young person, they may decide that they do or do not have ASN. If a local authority decides that a child or young person has ASN, they must provide adequate and efficient additional support to meet these. They must also follow special rules that apply to placing requests for children with ASN.

The education or health professionals working with a child or young person will normally identify ASN. They can request a needs assessment.

Some children or young people may have ASN that haven’t been identified or aren’t being met. Parents and carers have the right to ask the local authority for an assessment of a child's needs. Young people (aged 16 or over) can make a request for their own assessment.

Children and young people with long-term, complex or multiple needs, as well as their deafness, will likely have ASN. They may need significant support from multiple agencies. In these cases, the assessment should consider a coordinated support plan (CSP) is appropriate.

A request for an assessment should be made in writing. The request should include the reasons why you feel a child or young person needs to be assessed. The local authority must carry out an assessment unless it considers the request unreasonable. An example of a request being unreasonable is if an assessment was done recently and there haven’t been any changes since.

Professionals working with a child or young person can also request an assessment. They should discuss their concerns with parents and carers, so they're aware and involved.

CSP requested

If a CSP was requested, the local authority should respond within 4 weeks.

No CSP requested

If a CSP is not requested, the local authority should decide whether they will carry out an assessment within 10 weeks.

If the local authority refuses to carry out an assessment, you can seek mediation or independent adjudication.

If a local authority agrees to carry out an assessment, they will inform you of their decision. They should let you know who will carry out the assessment and share their contact details. This key contact or coordinator should keep you updated throughout the assessment process.

The assessment may include informal observations and assessments by:

• teachers
• other educational professionals, like a ToD
• medical professionals, like a speech and language therapist (SLT)
• psychological professionals, like an educational psychologist

It will be up to the local authority to decide who is best placed to carry out the assessment.

The assessment may lead to a GIRFEC Child's Plan, an Individualised Education Programme (IEP) or a CSP.

Unless your child will be having a CSP, there are no specific timescales for when these plans must be produced. The timescales depend on the local authority’s policy and also the education setting’s approach.

The assessment of a deaf child or young person should involve parents, carers and others who know them well. Children and young people should be able to contribute to their assessment.

Some deaf children and young people may get an individualised educational programme (IEP). This may be called something different depending on where you live. It is also known as an:

• Individual Learning Plan (ILP)
• Individual Support Plan (ISP)
• Additional Support Plan (ASP)
• Wellbeing Assessment Plan (WAP).

Whatever the local authority calls it, an IEP provides detailed planning for learning. If the local authority decides that a child or young person needs an IEP, it will describe in detail:

• the nature of their ASN
• the ways in which these needs must be met
• learning outcomes to be achieved
• specific information about the additional support that’s required. This includes support required from other agencies, like health or social services.

Some deaf children and young people will also have significant long-term, complex or multiple needs. These needs, in addition to their deafness, may require support from multiple agencies. These agencies include education, health or social services.

Children and young people with complex additional needs may be eligible for a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP). A CSP is a legal document that outlines support that must be provided.

Most deaf children who do not have complex additional needs will not meet the eligibility criteria for a CSP. Read our information about deafness and additional needs.

Deaf children and young people with complex needs in addition to their deafness, may be able to get a CSP. They can sometimes be difficult to get. Visit Enquire's website for more information about obtaining a CSP.

Children and young people in Scotland may have multiple plans. They may have a Child's Plan and IEP or CSP. In these cases, information from their IEP or CSP can be included in their Child’s Plan.

A CSP is a legal document, which coordinates support from multiple agencies. All local authorities must follow the same detailed rules and regulations. Once a local authority has agreed to create a CSP it has 16 weeks to produce it. Parents and carers should be invited to a meeting with the professionals working with a child or young person to discuss what should go in the CSP. The local authority should then share a draft of the CSP to be approved.

A CSP will include information on:

• the child or young person's strengths
• why they have additional support needs (ASN)
• their educational objectives
• what support is needed to help them achieve their objectives
• who will provide this support
• details of the person responsible for coordinating their plan
• any other additional information

CSPs should be reviewed at least once every 12 months.

You have the right to appeal to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal if:

• the local authority decides not to carry out an assessment for a CSP
• they decide a child or young person doesn’t meet the criteria
• you’re not happy with the contents of the CSP
• the plan is not being implemented properly

For children and young people with ASN, the timescales for transition planning is strict. The local authority should begin to gather information and views from the professionals working with a child or young person:

• 6 months before a child starts primary school
• 12 months before starting secondary school.

The local authority are responsible for supporting transition planning for deaf school starters. They should play a significant role as part of additional support for learning (ASL). This support may not be automatically offered. Parents, carers and deaf young people may have to advocate with the local authority.

• Teaching methods such as an auditory-oral approach, sign language or total communication to make sure your child can access the curriculum.
• Support from a ToD.
• Speech and language therapy.
• Support from a learning support assistant for literacy-based subjects. They should have experience of working with deaf children.
• Support from a communication support worker (CSW).
• Radio aids, both in and out of school.
• Background noise kept to a minimum. Good classroom acoustics to cut out echo and sound bouncing off surfaces. 

See our information about creating good listening conditions at school.