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Graduated Approach (Early Years)

The graduated approach encourages practitioners to revisit, refine and revise decisions and actions that have been made, in order to grow their understanding of children’s needs and the provision in place to support them. The SEND Code of Practice (DfE, 2015, pg. 100) encourages us to provide the right support at the right time. It is graduated in that for some children, they will require small adjustments within the environment to be successful, whereas for others they will require a highly personalised timetable of support and intervention in order to make progress and be included. The Code highlights;

  • Where a child is identified as having SEND, the setting should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place.
  • Once a child is identified as having SEND their family must be informed. The setting must work with parents/carers, listening to their views and involving them in any decision making and planning.
  • The provision in place must be reviewed termly and involve the child and their family.

There are a range of teams within Bury who can support settings to meet the needs of children with a wide range of SEND. These include:

  • The SEND Support Service
  • School Attendance Team;
  • Outreach Team
  • The EHC Team;
  • First Point Family Support Service;
  • Bury2gether;
  • The Portage Service
  • Early Years SEND Team
  • Early Years Lead Officers;
  • Early Years Advisors;
  • Children’s Community Team for Learning Disabilities.

Details of Bury’s supporting services and other relevant organisations can be found on the Local Offer at SEND Support Services and Early Years.

It may be decided that specialist advice from professionals is required to meet the needs of children, for example Speech and Language Therapy (SALT); Vision and Hearing Impairment/Deaf Education Service and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Bury CAMHS), Educational Psychology Service (EPS), Occupational Therapy (OT) and/or Physiotherapy.

Any recommendations provided by professionals should be clearly incorporated and referenced in planning for children.

This SEND support should be embedded within Assess-Plan-Do-Review cycles, through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised with a growing understanding of the child's needs, alongside what support the child requires to make good progress and secure good outcomes (SEND Code of Practice, 2015, pg. 100, 6.44). The Assess-Plan-Do-Review Cycle is the foundation of the graduated approach and key to meeting the needs of all children identified as having any form of SEND.