Identifying Learners Needs and Progressive Provision

This section of the handbook is broken down into each are the areas of need. For each area of need you will find a brief description of the indicators of need; these are traits which learners may display if they have difficulties in that particular area of need. Each area of need also outlines some of the quality first teaching strategies which should be used to support the learner’s needs and support engagement with learning. Following on from this there is also a series of suggested additional and different provision which should be considered as part of the graduated approach to supporting learners with SEND. Each section also contains links to useful websites which contain helpful information and/or resources which may be beneficial when following the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle for a learner with needs in a particular area. Links to Support Services can now be found in the Support and Advice Services section of this handbook.

These lists are not exhaustive and in some cases the implementation of such strategies will not resolve the difficulties a learner is experiencing, however it will in many cases signpost SENCOs to appropriate support strategies to reduce the impact of their barriers to learning.

It is common for the indicators displayed by a learner to feature in a range of areas of need and therefore it is important to keep an open mind and use all available information to guide your assessments of a learners needs. For example; a learner who appears argumentative and disrespectful may initially be considered to have difficulties in line with Social, Emotional, Mental Health needs, however it may be that these behaviours are being driven by an anxiety linked to unidentified Social Communication need, or are displayed as an avoidance strategy to “get out of” a task a learner finds difficult due to a Specific Learning Difficulty.

It is also important to consider that some learners may have needs in more than one area. For example a sensory impairment may be a primary need, however this may impact on the learners social, emotional, mental health needs as a secondary need.