School-based Stages

2:61.   The school-based stages should be seen as a continuous and systematic cycle of planning, action and review within the school to enable the child with special educational needs to learn and progress.  As such, they are a natural extension of the work of schools with children generally.

2:62.   Paragraphs 2:65-2:120 set out one model of a staged approach to the identification, assessment, monitoring and review of the special educational needs of children without statements in mainstream schools.  These paragraphs offer guidance as to what schools might do, particularly the procedures they might adopt, in order to fulfil their duty to use their best endeavours on behalf of children with special educational needs but without statements.

2:63.   Good practice can take many different forms.  It is for individual schools to decide the exact procedures they should adopt and, of course, for individual schools to decide the nature and content of special educational provision that they should make.

2:64.   Schools should consult the LEA when considering the development of a staged approach or any significant changes to such an approach.  Some schools may choose to use a two-stage model, perhaps combining elements of stages 1 and 2 described below.  Even those schools which decide to follow the Code's model closely may need to make adjustments to reflect their particular circumstances.  The model applies to schools generally but might be adopted differently in, for example, a small rural primary school and a large inner-city comprehensive.  The model nonetheless embodies certain principles which are central to this Code and to which all schools should have regard:

·   provision for a child with special educational needs should match the nature of his or her needs

·   there should be careful recording of a child's special educational needs, the action taken and the outcomes

·   consideration should be given to the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child

·   there should be close consultation and partnership with the child's parents

·   outside specialists should be involved, particularly, but not necessarily only, in the stage preceding any referral to the LEA for a statutory assessment.

2:65.   In summary, the staged model adopted by this Code is:

Stage 1 is characterised by the gathering of information and increased differentiation within the child's normal classroom work.  At this stage, the child's class teacher or form/year tutor:

·   identifies a child's special educational needs

·   consults the child's parents and the child

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