Statutory Assessment
Information about the Assessment of Special Educational Needs in Oldham
Please note: All references to ‘parents’ or ‘parental’ is intended to have both singular and plural meaning and includes anyone who has parental responsibility for a child. Anyone who feels they need any assistance or help with meanings or phrases used can contact Oldham Pupil Services or the or the Parent Partnership Service. Any references in this booklet to ‘Local Authority’ or ‘LA’ means Oldham Council Children, Young People and Families Directorate.
What does assessment mean?
The term “assessment” is heard often and is used in a number of ways.
When the term “assessment” is used in relation to special educational needs it means: "Finding out what a child can do and cannot do and what a child needs to learn"
Assessment:
- Is something that a teacher does all the time for all pupils
- Is done for a set period of time
- Can be done by teachers, special needs co-ordinators, educational psychologists, special needs support service staff and parents.
- Is used to plan future teaching/support needs
- Is something a teacher can use to check a child’s progress and see if the teaching is helping a child to progress.
Assessment is not:
- An IQ test
- Something a child can “pass” or “fail”
- Something that happens “once in a blue moon”
Assessment of special educational needs in schools includes a number of things. The school will ask you what your child can do and will ask you about any concerns or suggestions you may have regarding your child in school.
The school will plan how they intend to teach your child and will review this regularly. You may have already been involved in the setting of the IEP (Individual Education Plan) for your child or may have seen a copy of the provision mapping document for them.
The school might ask other staff from the Local Authority to become involved, for example, Additional Educational Needs Service or Quality, Effectiveness and Support Team staff. These are routine discussions and if more formal meetings are to be arranged you will be informed and involved. Once school based planning has taken place at this stage, it will be subject to a further review of your child’s progress in order to see how the school plan is working.
There may be times when you, the school, or the Local Authority (Children, Young People and Families Directorate) may believe that your child’s needs are not being appropriately met and that a further detailed assessment is required. It is at this point that an assessment under the Special Educational Needs & Disability Act 2001 may be recommended or considered.
An application for statutory assessment in Oldham is made to the Local Authority’s SAMP (Statutory Assessment and Moderating Panel). The panel meets on average about ten times each year and is made up of members who are experienced staff drawn from schools and the Local Authority. Submissions to the panel are required to show that five factors or criteria are met before a Statutory Assessment of a child’s Special Educational Needs can be carried out.
The organisation of Submissions to SAMP is by the Pupil Services Staff.