Wirral’s Graduated Approach
An Explanation for Parents and Carers
Wirral Council have created a new, clear approach to supporting pupils in their education setting. It will be used by all nurseries, schools, colleges and educational settings.
It is called the Graduated Approach. On this page is an easy-to-understand explanation of the Graduated Approach.
All children have the right to an education. It must meet their needs and help them reach their potential. The information below is to help children and young people, and their parents and carers. It tells you how schools support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
They use two methods: Quality First Teaching and The Graduated Approach.
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This is the way all teachers decide how they will teach pupils what is in the National Curriculum. In the National Curriculum there are ‘outcomes’ for every subject and at every stage of education. The outcomes describe what a child or young person should be able to do at a specific point in the future. We often refer to them as ‘hard’ outcomes.
Teachers also create ‘person centred’ outcomes, which means each child has outcomes specific to them. These ‘soft’ outcomes focus on what a child needs to help them learn, such as improving their ability to concentrate, or produce more work. Some outcomes will be long-term. So, a teacher may expect it to take a whole year for a pupil to achieve them. Other outcomes will be short-term and may only take a few weeks to achieve.
Soft outcomes are most often created for students who have been identified as having SEND. A good example of a soft outcome might be,
‘Audrey will write and edit 3 sentences correctly, in 50% of her given tasks.’
Outcomes are reviewed at least three times a year. Often, the reviews happen for parents evening, and this is the progress that teachers share with you.
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Teachers use a simple cycle to decide which hard and soft outcomes children and young people need. It is called the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle and is an important part of Quality First Teaching and the Graduated Approach.
ASSESS.
The cycle starts with ASSESS. Teachers think about the different abilities of all their students and how they will need different support.
PLAN.
Once teachers know the needs of their pupils, they decide how they will teach the pupils so they can reach their outcomes.
DO
Now they can teach their class. It doesn’t matter what subject they are teaching. Quality First Teaching is used.
REVIEW
When the teaching is finished, and they mark work or discuss the lesson with others they review how well each pupil has understood the lesson and what might need to change to help them achieve an outcome.
All settings and schools will have their own Assess, Plan, Do, Review format to record your child’s progress being made towards their outcomes. Short-term outcomes are usually reviewed within 6 weeks. Staff decide whether your child has achieved, partially achieved, or not achieved their desired outcomes.
By repeating this cycle, Quality First Teaching allows teachers to support pupils individually, sometimes by putting extra support in place; giving them small group support, targeted support, etc. This includes supporting learners with special educational needs or disability (SEND). Quality First Teaching supports most children and young people with special educational needs to be taught in mainstream schools and be included in their education with their peers.
In addition to their SEN information report on the school website, most schools produce a provision map which sets what quality first, targeted and personalised provision is available.
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Where children are not making expected progress towards their outcomes and the gap is widening between them and their peers, they may get additional support. They have been identified by their teachers as having additional ‘needs’. The same pupil can have different needs in each subject. It is personal to them. So, having a ‘need’ in maths, does not mean they will have any additional needs in other subjects. Indeed, they may be making progress above what is expected. Sometimes learners have temporary needs, and as they grow, they disappear. When teachers identify needs that are there all the time, they may begin to refer to them as Special Educational Needs (SEN). This term includes pupils with Disabilities so that is why we refer to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
The Graduated Approach describes the different levels of support children and young people need. This approach is used across England. In some areas they call it the Graduated Response. On Wirral it is called the Graduated Approach, and we follow a 4 Tier Model. As a pupil’s needs increase, they move up the tiers. As they move up the tiers they have different types of support. The diagram below shows you the tiers and the support that is added at each level.
What do the different tiers mean for my child?
Below you will find an explanation of each of the levels within the Graduated Approach. There is also an explanation of how the extra support is paid for.
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Universal Support – Inclusive Quality First Teaching
This is how all children in schools are taught. You might think of it as the ‘ordinary’ school day. For most children, settings and schools can support their needs through adjustments made to the quality first teaching. They are called reasonable adjustments and might include,
using a time out card to go to the quiet room
using a tablet to help with writing
noise cancelling headphones if it is too noisy
In most cases Quality First Teaching provides the support a child needs.
By using the ASSESS, PLAN, DO, REVIEW cycle schools can identify the pupils that need more than just Tier 1 universal support.
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Universal support PLUS TARGETED SUPPORT
Targeted support is provided in a mainstream school. Your school SENCo may create a personal support plan for a pupil at this point. This allows them to decide what support to use and monitor their Assess, Plan, Do, Review process. On your school website you should find their SEN information report. Most schools also have a provision map which tells you what their universal (quality first), targeted and personalised support is. Remember, each school will be different as they are allowed to choose which programs of support they use. This allows them to choose support that matches their pupils.
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Universal Support, plus Targeted Support PLUS Personalised SEND Support
For a small number of children, settings and schools may have gone through many cycles of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review process. They have found that a child or young person still needs more support. In this situation, more personalised SEND support might be needed. A setting or school may seek advice from professional people who do not work at their school (external agencies).
In Wirral, where a setting or school needs advice from external agencies, it is likely that they would create a personalised plan for your child. You and your child will help to write it.
The professionals from an external agency will work with settings and schools to provide their support. They will be supporting pupils in lots of different settings.
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All Wirral schools get extra funding to support children with SEND. This is called a SEN Notional Budget. Schools get this funding when a pupil starts school in F2 (Reception). This budget is what schools use to meet your child’s needs. This may include small group support and group interventions. This budget is for pupils requiring more targeted or personalised support at Tier 2, and 3.
SENCos can talk to the WIRRAL Inclusion Team if they think they may need extra funding for a pupil. The pupil must have a support plan showing the support school have given them. They must already be getting Tier 3 support. The Inclusion Team would also help to set outcomes for the pupil and review their progress.
There is also other funding your SENCo might talk to you about. But, this funding will have criteria you must meet for the setting to get it. An example of this type of funding is Disability Access Funding (DAF).
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Sometimes a child does not make the progress they should. Even with Tier 3 support. The gap between them and their peers is getting bigger. The child or young person may now have needs that are more complex and long-term. At this point, the child will usually have a Personalised Support Plan. The plan will show that there have been several cycles of the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ process.
At this stage, the SENCo may discuss with you if an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment may be needed. Where agreed, this assessment may lead to an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). This is a legal document. It outlines the support a child or young person needs. This is to help them achieve their outcomes and aspirations.
Parents or Carers, settings, schools or educational providers can request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment. They can do this at any point of the Graduated Approach if they think they need to.
Where an EHCP is in place, extra funding might be agreed. This is on top of the money schools already get in their SEN Notional Budget.
Did you know…
3.3% of all pupils in schools in England have an EHCP. (Tier 4)
A further 12.1% of all pupils have SEN support, without an EHCP. (Tiers 1-3)
(Department for Education, 2020)
What if my child might need 1:1 support? What do I do?
First, talk to your SENCo about concerns you have. Evidence suggests that having 1:1 support is not always the best type of support. Children and young people can rely upon a 1:1 too much. This can affect their independence skills. Research shows that using evidence-based programs and targeted support is better. It helps pupils to make better progress. The Graduated Approach helps this to happen.
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For full information on Education, Health and Care Plans, please visit this page on SENDLO
Education, Health and Care Plans.
You can also get support from
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For any questions you may have about your child, we advise you speak to your child’s Setting or School SENCo. Here are some common questions people ask.
How does a setting or school identify that a child needs support?
Settings and schools try to identify this as soon as possible. They track and assess children using the Assess, Plan, Do, Review Process all the time. They should explain how in their SEND information report.
How long does it take for my child’s setting or school to put support in place?
As soon as they think that a child may need extra support, they begin the Assess, Plan, Do, Review Process. One cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review tends to take six weeks.
Does my child need to have a diagnosis to get support?
No. Settings and schools give support to children and young people by looking at their needs. In other words, what they need help with. They give extra support because of your child's individual needs. A diagnosis is not needed for external agency support or for an EHC needs assessment. It is up to you and your child to decide if you would like to be referred for a possible diagnosis.
My child has an EHCP, will they go to special school?
Most children and young people with an EHCP are in their local mainstream school. In most cases, the child or young persons current mainstream school will be able to meet their needs. They will use the EHCP to do this. If you feel that your child may need more specialist provision, please speak to your child’s SENCo.
My child has an autism diagnosis and/or SEND; does this mean they need an EHCP?
Where a child has a diagnosis of autism and/or SEND this does not mean they will definitely need an EHCP. The majority of children with SEND make progress with the support they receive in Tiers 1, 2 and 3. A pupil only needs Tier 4 support if they are not making the progress they are expected to. The Assess, Plan, Do, Review process will show if they might need more support. This would mean personalised provision due to their more complex and long-term needs. It may be helpful to request an assessment for an EHCP. The setting or school SENCo should support and guide you with these decisions.
If my child needs extra support, will it always be there?
Support will be there as long as your child needs it to make progress. If your child makes the progress they need, it might be that they no longer need extra support. SENCo's will talk to you and your child about it.
My child has personalised support in primary school; will they need an EHCP to get the same support in secondary school?
Primary and Secondary SENCos discuss children with SEND needs that are due to move up to Secondary school. They do this at the earliest point possible before the pupil starts Year 7. The SENCos share the support and provision needed to meet your child’s needs. Secondary school support may seem different to the support in Primary school. This is because support changes as a child gets older. This is to help them learn to be independent. The support will still be based on the needs identified by the Primary school. The SENCo will also have conversations with Parents and Carers. If you have any concerns about your child’s transition from Primary to Secondary school, please speak to the school SENCo.
I have been in contact with my setting/school but I still don’t feel my child is getting the right support. What should I do?
Every local authority must have a Special Educational Needs Independent Information and Advice Support Service (SENDIASS). On Wirral it is called SEND Parent Partnership. Support is available for children and young people with and without an EHCP.