ADDITIONAL LEARNING NEEDS IN WALES IS CHANGING
The system for supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disability in Wales is changing. The Welsh Government is bringing in a more flexible and responsive system of meeting the needs of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities and is striving to deliver a fully inclusive education system for the learners of Wales. The new Additional Learning Needs system will be phased in from September 2021.
ALN
As a school we ensure the needs of all children through high quality teaching and learning provision. Our Universal Provision includes:
- whole class teaching
- effective differentiation
- collaborative group work
- individual and small group interventions
- appropriate and reasonable adjustments to enable access to the school environment, curriculum and facilities.
During their time at Laugharne, most children will make expected progress in their learning from their starting points. If a child is not progressing, we will gather observations, use assessment data and seek to work in collaboration with outside agencies / professionals to identify any additional learning needs. A wide range of evidence will be gathered over time, including:
- assessment tools, frameworks and questionnaires
- standardised assessments
- observational data
- formative assessments of day to day learning
- monitoring progress over time
- assessments from other agencies e.g., Paediatrician.
A child not moving forward in their learning is characterised by progress which:
- is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline,
- does not match or better previous rate of progress,
- does not close, or widens, the attainment gap between the child and their peers, despite the provision of support aimed at closing that gap.
Identification of Additional Learning Needs (ALN)
When pupils do not make the expected progress with Universal Provision and following thorough investigation and evidence gathering, a child may be identified as having ALN.
What are Additional Learning Needs (ALN)?
- A child has additional learning needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability (whether the learning difficulty or disability arises from a medical condition or otherwise) which calls for additional learning provision, beyond the Universal Provision provided for all learners.
- A child of compulsory school age that has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she (a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or (b)has a disability for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities for education or training of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream-maintained schools.
- A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she is, or would be if no additional learning provision were made, likely to be within subsection (2) when of compulsory school age.
- A person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because of the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been used at home.
The same considerations apply with regard to children with healthcare needs. It will be necessary to establish whether a child has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for Additional Learning Needs Provision (ALP). There will be many circumstances where an individual with healthcare needs does not have a learning difficulty or learning disability or where this is the case, the learning difficulty or disability does not require ALP.
Additional Information
For additional information regarding ALN, follow the links below:
Additional Learning Needs in Wales – What is happening in Wales?