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When is a statutory assessment likely to be carried out?

19 May 2020
clcadmin
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Many children do not require a statutory assessment in order to ensure that their needs are met at school. This is because the school itself can take action to help the child to learn at school.

On the other hand, when a child’s needs are significant and/or complex it may be necessary for the Education Authority to carry out a statutory assessment to find out whether extra support, provided directly by the Education Authority is required e.g. a classroom assistant.

Often a child will already be on Stage 3 of the Code of Practice when a request for a statutory assessment is made. However, the 5 stages are not “hurdles” which have to be crossed in turn and in some complex or serious cases it is appropriate to request a statutory assessment when no previous action has been taken at stages 1-3.

What is a statutory assessment?

19 May 2020
clcadmin
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A statutory assessment is a process of gathering full, up to date information about a child’s needs and the impact of their learning difficulty on the child’s school experience.

The Education Authority gather information called “advices” from parents/carers, the child’s school, relevant professionals such as an educational psychologist, a child’s therapist, medical professionals involved with your child, social services and any other relevant persons.

When the Education Authority have collected all of the advices they will examine the findings and decide whether it is necessary for the Education Authority to take the lead responsibility for the child’s special educational provision by making a statement of special educational needs.

What are the “Stages of the Code of Practice”?

19 May 2020
clcadmin
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The stages come from the “Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of SEN”.  The Code is statutory guidance and there is a legal duty upon decision-makers to have regard to it.  The current Code has 5 stages.  However, a new SEN framework, which has 3 stages, is gradually being rolled out by the Department of Education and the Education Authority (EA).

You can find out more about the stages in our SEND Parent / Carer Information Sheet, developed along side Angel Eyes as part of our EqualEyes project.

What is the “Code of Practice”?

19 May 2020
clcadmin
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The Code of Practice and supplement are booklets containing statutory guidance produced by the Department of Education which contain straightforward guidance about children’s legal rights to have their needs identified, assessed and met using the principle of early intervention. The Code and supplement also include useful practical examples.

What is the special educational needs register?

19 May 2020
clcadmin
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Children with special educational needs may be placed on the school’s special educational needs register, which starts a process of providing individual support tailored to the child’s individual needs.

By law, there is a five stage system of support which is explained in the Department of Education’s Special Educational Needs Code Of Practice.