Meeting the need: additional support for learning
- Educational Psychologist
- Mar 31, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 1, 2023
Every child and young person has their own unique learning needs. Some children and young people will require additional support in school to help them overcome barriers and reach their potential.
The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and then amended in 2009 created the term 'additional support needs. The act is important because it places duties on local authorities to identify, meet and keep under review the needs of pupils for whom they are responsible. It provides parents a number of legal rights, including the right to access mediation, dispute resolution and refer decisions to the Additional Support Needs Tribunals.
The need for additional support does not always remain the same. Whilst some children may face long term support needs, others may only require support over a short period of time. As the child or young person grows and develops their additional support needs may change. This is why it is important for their needs to be monitored at key transition points e.g. when moving to primary or secondary school and over time.
The reasons behind a child's additional support needs are wide ranging and typically fall into categories such as learning, social/emotional, mental heath and or health/disability needs. Many schools are very knowledgeable and skilled in identifying a child's support needs and do not require a formal diagnosis of a conditions to implement support. They may use a framework to support the identification process called 'Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) and monitor a child's targets and progress using a Child Planning Meeting (CPM) and or Individual Education Plan (IEP). For children with significant additional support needs where there are multiple agencies involved in helping the child reach their educational targets, a Coordinated Support Plan (CSP) may be developed.
Once the individual needs of a pupil have been identified there are many ways schools can offer support. As outlined in GIRFEC, support should be empowering children, young people and their families, child-focussed, tailored to their individuals needs, focussed on early intervention, strengths based and available for all children and young people.
Support comes in many different forms, from broad intervention based programs to small adjustments to a child's timetable. Classroom accommodations are a useful way to provide additional support. For example, a child with autism may benefit from being seated in a quiet area in the classroom. A child with dyslexia may benefit from extra time on tests or having their tasks printed out on their desk. A child with emotional needs may benefit from regulating breaks from the classroom to help them relax after long periods of study. Technology tools can be very helpful for children with reading difficulties (text-to-speech software). It is important to remember that these support should be tailored to a child's individual learning needs.
Many parents seek support from other professionals because they do not feel their child's additional needs have been identified appropriately in school or do not feel their is adequate support in place to meet their needs. This can be very frustrating and disempowering for parents and children/young people. Often it can be helpful for the parent to write to the school to share their concerns and ask for a solution focussed planning meeting to help find a way forward.
It is important for parents, educators, and other professionals to work together to help identify a child's learning needs and to provide appropriate support. This may involve communicating with school staff, parents and other professionals as well as observing a child's behaviour and learning patterns. Where possible, ensuring the child's voice is taken into account is crucial for this process to be effective.
Regardless of the individual need every child or young person has to right to access the support they need to reach their educational potential
Useful websites include:
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