What are Additional Support Needs?
The term "additional support needs" is significantly broader than its predecessor, "special educational needs". A child or young person is said to have additional support needs where, for whatever reason, they need additional support with their education. This applies whether the need for additional support is temporary or ongoing.
The term "additional support" simply means some kind of educational provision that is over and above (or significantly different to) the education normally provided to pupils of the same age in local mainstream schools.
Additional support is provided in order that children or young people with additional support needs can benefit from an education which is:
"directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of that child or young person to their fullest potential."
The Scottish Executive's Code of Practice suggests the following as examples of factors which may give rise to additional support needs:
- learning environment
- inflexible curricular arrangements
- inappropriate approaches to learning and teaching
- more able children
- children with English as an additional language
- family circumstances
- homelessness
- parental drug or alcohol misuse
- children who are parents
- children who are carers
- children looked after by the local authority
- disability or health need
- motor or sensory impairment
- specific language impairment
- autistic spectrum disorder
- learning difficulties
- ADHD
- depression or other mental health problems
- social and emotional factors
- children who are being bullied
- children who are suffering racial discrimination
- children who are bullying
- children with behavioural difficulties
This is far from being an exhaustive list - there are many more examples which could have been given. However, this does not mean that every child fitting one of the above categories necessarily has additional support needs. This will depend on the amount and type of support required by the individual child.
The next section is all about Co-ordinated Support Plans.