Taking a Graduated Approach means that provision for a child with a SEND is a continuum between whole class QFT at the one end and highly personalised 1:1 teaching at the other.

All children have access to quality first teaching, but where a potential SEND has been identified, the approach to your child’s teaching and learning becomes increasingly personalised, as our understanding of your child and his/her need grows. Thus, support becomes more targeted as outlined in the flow diagram below:

Quality First Teaching

↓

Continued QFT + additional teaching strategies

↓

Specific intervention programmes and/or targeted group work

(These may be ‘one-off’ or more long-term)

↓

Specified individual support

Within each section of this continuum, a cycle of assessing, planning, doing and reviewing is ongoing. This cycle can become more individualised if your child’s needs become more complex. The cycle is driven by your child’s needs.

A few children with complex SEND will move through the graduated approach towards more specified individual support. In reality, many children will have a mixture of support and, depending on the lesson, can be placed at any point on this continuum. Similarly, a child who has received a great deal of 1:1 support can move the other way on the continuum as they begin to need less 1:1 support and can manage their learning more independently in the classroom.

We do not assume that a child who receives 1:1 support will always need 1:1 support. All provision is subject to regular review and parents/carers are invited and expected to contribute to this review process by attending meetings, talking to your child’s class teacher and SENCo and ensuring school are kept informed of any changes to your child’s needs.