Ordinarily Available Provision and SEND Support Plans

The Graduated Response supports schools with SEND support and intervention. This helps to ensure that all steps taken are reasonable.

The Graduated Response

The Graduated Response gives a multi-agency framework to educational settings. It helps people work together to meet the social, emotional and mental health needs of a young person. This promotes inclusion for all. For more information, visit the Cognus Graduated Response page [External Link].

Aims and principles 

• High quality teaching is the first step to put in place when a pupil is not making expected progress. This will help to meet the needs of the vast majority of young people.

• A small number of pupils may need other support in addition to this. This support should be targeted and specialised.

• Schools and colleges have a responsibility to identify and address SEND.

• Support put in place should have a graduated response. This means that the level of support for SEND increases in a structured way.

• Interventions should target individual pupils' needs.

• Professionals should work together to develop knowledge and skills used to meet needs.

• Young people should have the same level of provision available to them regardless of the mainstream setting they attend. They should have access to similar approaches that meet their needs.

• Provision should be based on the needs of the pupils attending the setting. Decisions on this provision should use evidence and research to support practice.

Levels of Support

Universal Support

• Universal support is the support that is available to all young people. This includes differentiation within whole class teaching.

• This can also be changing how pupil groupings, interventions and group work.

• Staff development is also included in universal support. Examples of this include whole school or individual staff training.

• This is always the first level of support and intervention. Targets are set and monitored as part of high-quality teaching.

Targeted Support

• Targeted support is given in addition to universal support.

• It provides more focused intervention for some pupils who have specific needs.

• This support is different to the support given in mainstream teaching and learning.

• This support should focus on the areas of need a young person has. These are identified through assessment and regularly reviewed.

• Targeted support includes evidence-based interventions and increased small group support.

Specialist Support

• Specialist support is implemented when needs are not yet met despite previous levels of support.

• This support is different to support stated above and is usually stated in an EHC Plan.

• Pupils may have needs across all areas of development and have ongoing learning difficulties.

• External professionals are likely to be involved in this support.

• Some specialist provision can and should be provided in mainstream settings.

SEND Code of Practice

The SEND Code of Practice states that provision includes:

• Provision that mainstream settings make available for young people from their own budgets.

• Provision and funding made available by mainstream settings for young people.

• In early years settings, provision funded by Early Years Inclusion Funding (EY SENDIF). This comes from the Local Authority for a small number of children. This is in addition to the usual free childcare and education funding.

• Ordinarily available provision. This is reasonable and can be provided using resources that are already available to the setting. There is evidence that the higher the quality of this is the less likely the need is for other provision.

A Graduated Response

Expectations

The SEND Code of Practice states that schools are expected to:

• Make provision available for young people with SEND from their budgets.

• Have an amount of money within their budget known as the notional SEND budget. This is for the school to provide high quality support with.

• Plan for SEND resources to support young people with SEND. This should be done in the context of other resources such as pupil premium.

• To be clear about the provision they make using their budgets.

Equity of decision making

A description of the provision that is available across Sutton should be available. This ensures fairness when making decisions about a child's needs for higher level provision. To find out more about how this is funded, visit Funding Arrangements for Pupils with SEND in Sutton.