School Action Plus - what the heck ^is^ it?

[MrsMattie]

DS is 'on school action plus'. What does it mean?

Background : Ongoing assessment for SEN, seen a Ed Psych, been referred to CAMHS.

[TurtleAnn]

School Action Plus 'should' mean that the school are giving your DS extra input either in class or in a small group and that they are receiving extra advice from a professional such as a Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist. DS may also be receiving direct intervention such as participating in a small group run by a Speech Therapist, or a group run by a school staff member that is being advised by a Speech Therapist/ other professional. The school receive an SEN budget from the LEA based on the number of kids on SA+.

This is different to School Action where your child is receiving extra help provided just by the school.
This is different to a Statement where the school receive extra financial support from the LEA to provide intervention to meet your DS's needs specifically.

[nickschick]

As i understand it its just extra support to help a child 'catch up' the next step is band 2 funding which is when a child will need more long term support and then a long rocky road later comes the statement.

Its very common for children to need a little extra support and just because a child needs it now doesnt mean that they always will,thats why its help available for any child deemed needy and you dont have to apply for it individually as with the band 2.

[Hassled]

What TurtleAnn said. The "plus" bit refers to additional help from outside school - Speech Therapist, Occupational Therapist, etc.

SEN Budget rules have changed recently, though - I still don't fully understand it.

[nickschick]

sorry i didnt knowabout the plus bit .

[mrz]

School Action

If you and the school decide your child needs some extra or different help, the school will organise it. This might include teaching certain things in a different way, offering extra adult help or organising extra equipment such as a computer.

School Action Plus is the next step

If your child doesn't seem to be making progress with this extra help, the class teacher or the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) should get in touch with you. At this point, you may both decide to get advice from other people outside the school.

This could be a specialist teacher, an educational psychologist, a speech and language therapist or another kind of specialist.

[MrsMattie]

Makes sense now, thanks!

DS has been seen several times by the SENCo and is having weekly one-to-ones with the school's learning mentor. He has also seen an Ed Psych (GP referral) and has now been referred to CAMHS (awaiting appt - have been told not to hold my breath).

Ed Psych asked if he had an IEP and was on School,Action Plus and I was totally baffled. Went back to school and they said he didb have an IEP - gave me a copy sharpish - and the SENCo left a message today to say that that he is on School Action Plus and apologised that this hadn't all been communicated to me. I'm speaking to him on Monday, but thought it would be good to have a clue about what all of this means first!

So...I sort of understand now. Thank you

[TurtleAnn]

Good luck on Monday.

Do you have any concerns about DS? If so, ask about them, you as a parent should have a good understanding about why DS is receiving extra help and what he is missing in order to receive it, e.g. maths/ dance.

The IEP is really helpful, make sure the goals on it are really specific and measureable, by that I mean can DS achieve them by the end of the term. A goal that says 'improve social skills' is neither specific nor measureable. A goal that says 'will be able to use the preposition 'under' in a sentence to describe an action' is both measureable (can be ticked as done) but meeds to checked to make sure that the child can achieve it. This won't mean they don't work on broader goals but will mean that you as a parent have a good idea what things are being done and how successful those interventions are.
If they are not successful that doesn't mean the school aren't working towards them it just means extra support is required, such as a Statement.