Additional Learning Needs and Inclusion

At Ysgol Deiniol we are passionate about creating an environment where all pupils can thrive and develop.

All staff strive to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils. When planning, teachers set suitable learning challenges and respond to pupils’ diverse learning needs. Some pupils will have barriers to learning that mean they have needs that are additional to and different from their peers and require particular action by the school.

We aim to identify at the earliest opportunity, all children who need special consideration to support their physical, social emotional communication and cognitive development.

Once these needs have been identified we will work in partnership with parents/carers and other agencies, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Psychologist Service, Neurodevelopment Team, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Inclusion. This will provide the appropriate support for our pupils so they can reach their potential.

The new ALN system will begin to be implemented in September 2021 and will take three years for the conversion process to be completed. The LA will, therefore, eventually cease carrying out statutory assessments, issuing new Statements and any existing Statements will begin to be converted to the new Individual Development Plans (IDPs).The old (SEN) and new (ALN) systems will run parallel to one another until all the year group conversions have been completed, according to a statutory timetable. Schools will now be required to provide for their pupils' needs, according to their own Provision Map.

Most pupils' needs will be met through daily quality-first differentiated teaching within the classroom. Some pupils will require reasonable adjustments to be made within the classroom environment, as and when needed, e.g. use of dyslexia-friendly strategies and resources, access to ELSA,SAP or a social skills group. This is school's Universal Provision (UP) offer.

Some pupils will require a slightly more focused intervention, if progress is still a concern despite the above processes being implemented. This will come under school's Targeted Universal Provision (TUP) offer and will involve a Small Steps Plan that is time limited and specifically targeted to the pupil's needs.

If progress is still not evident, despite the above intervention, then a process (ALN Determination) will begin which will identify if the pupil has an additional learning need (ALN) that requires additional learning provision (ALP) and that is additional to and significantly greater than any pupil of the same age. A school-based Individual Development Plan (IDP) will then be set up and reviewed on an annual basis.

An IDP can also be prepared and/or maintained by the LA if the school proves that they cannot meet the pupils' needs within their mainstream setting. 

It is important to recognise that not all individual interventions or adult support equates to ALP.

It is not what intervention or adult support is used but how it is used that differentiates between UP/TUP and ALP.

ALN and Inclusion Interventions