Notice, check, try

Early Identification (Notice)

Noticing is the first step.

It is the job of classroom practitioners.

Is about viewing a child’s presentation, be it withdrawn or extreme, as a form of communication.

Noticing, for example, if a child is withdrawn, if a child is absent a lot.

Early Intervention (Check and Try)

Is the job of classroom practitioners.

Is about checking what is going on for that child by asking the child themselves, asking parents/family, asking colleagues.

Check is about deciding from all the information gathered what you might do e.g. actively listening to the child’s views, not dismissing what they say, reasonably acting on what they say.

Try does not need to be a mammoth task:

• Taking 2 mins to check in every day or arranging for someone else to do this
• Asking others to similarly notice and let you know what they think
• Keeping an eye on the situation.

Needs persistence and monitoring to see if concerns can be resolved quickly and easily:

• Trying different approaches
• Continuing to keep an eye on the situation
• Involving others close to the child
• Keeping families informed and involved and building a trusting relationship.

This would constitute up to the first 2 terms of the period of concern with a flexible approach according to the level of need.

At this stage, there is no need for children to be considered as having special educational needs.

This is pre-graduated approach.

Children are not at SEN Support.

At every stage of Notice Check Try schools should look across all agencies for support in identifying the underlying need:

• Education concerns (i.e. concerns in respect of learning) can be raised at pupil progress meetings
• Social Care concerns can be raised through Multi Agency Family Help meetings or by contacting the school’s Early Help Locality Team
• Health concerns can be discussed with the School Nursing Team or via the Healthy Young Minds duty line.

Use the Local Offer to source a large range of services and their contact details

Schools should have comprehensive recording systems in place for Notice Check Try so that should children enter the graduated approach, there is sufficient information to help SENCOs decide if the child has a need which requires special educational provision to be put in place.

The graduated approach

If concerns cannot be resolved after time (around 1-2 terms depending on the severity of the concern), and then the SENCO should become involved.

If you’re sure this is a Special Educational Need, the child can be entered on the SEN list.

Special Educational Provision (SEP) will need to be put into place – this is the definition of SEN Support in the CoP.

Consider is there sufficient assessment information to identify the type of need and allocate a school census disability code (SCDC)?

How the underlying need which is causing the concern will be addressed.

This is not just about supervising or managing behaviour (although this sometimes is also required to reduce risks) but is about how adults are providing or delivering special educational provision.

Going straight to needing 1-1 adult support may be a sign that the pre-graduated approach has not been thorough.

This is the start of your first APDR cycle.

Initial cycles might be kept quite short so that monitoring/review is frequent

As cycles run over time, by each review stage, more should be understood about the underlying need, regardless of whether the provision has been ‘successful’ or not

Continuing cycles might:

• Completely address the need over time, in which case children leave the graduated approach

OR

• A balance of provision which is securing progress in the area of need is found and the pupil need is met; provision is then sustained to continue to meet need

OR

• After several cycles, need might continue to cause concern

Schools may begin to feel that they have tried everything available within school and may want to engage other advice and support to help them to plan further cycles:

• Discussing ideas with colleagues at SENCO events
• Contacting other SENCOs through group emails or within Academy Trusts
• Requesting the involvement of the SEND Support Service or Outreach Team

This would constitute up to a further two terms of the concern period

Should a point of balance still not be found, schools will be able to evidence that all the above steps have been taken.

The point at which schools have exhausted the extent of delegated funding, an application for top up funding (SEN Support Plus ) can be made to support school to plan further cycles of assess, plan, do, review.

A printable summary of Notice, Check and Try can be found below along with three examples of how Bury schools are recording their Notice Check and Try information.