Vale of Glamorgan Council
Cyngor Bro Morgannwg
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Planning and Reviews

The new ALN system in Wales places a duty on all Local Authorities and Schools to ensure the views, wishes and feelings of the child, young person and their parent or carer are at the heart of the decision making process. This duty reflects the ethos of Person Centred Practice (PCP).

 

Person Centred Practice

Using person-centred thinking tools can improve communication between children, families and practitioners, adopting person-centred approaches can be particularly useful when meeting children and young people's needs.

  • Person Centred Thinking Tools

  • One Page Profile

  • Annual (PCP) Reviews

All maintained schools and early years settings in your local authority will aim to communicate with you and your child using person centred practice communication tools. This includes working with you and your child to complete a One Page Profile (OPP).

 

  • One Page Profile

    With the implementation of the ALN Act, those working with children and young people will be using one-page profiles (OPP) to gather relevant information.

     

    The OPP captures all the important information about the child or young person on a single sheet of paper under three simple headings:

    • What people like and admire about me?

    • What’s important to me?

    • How best to support me?

  

 

Individual Development Plan (IDP)

An Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a legal document that will replace Statements.

 

An IDP focuses on what the CYP needs for them to reach their educational potential. The information noted in the IDP will be used to inform the Additional Learning Provision (ALP). The type of support outlined, and the detail within the plan, will depend on the extent of your child’s ALN.

 

  • Who will need an IDP?
    Any child or young person (CYP) aged 0-16 who has been identified as having ALN requiring ALP. In addition, any young person aged 16-25 who fits the definition of ALN and education criteria.

  • What will happen if my child needs an IDP?

    A request for an IDP can be made by a parent/carer, professional, or the learner themselves.

     

    • For children aged 0–3, the request is made to the local authority

    • For school-aged children, the request is first made to the school

    • For college students, the request is made to the college

     

    The Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCo) will probably be your main point of contact, unless your child hasn’t started school or nursery, in which case, it will probably be your healthcare professional, the early years ALNLO or another early years specialist from your local authority.

     

    If the school does not agree that your child has ALN, they must let you know this and explain why. If you disagree with the decision, first discuss this with the school. If you still can’t reach agreement, you can ask the local authority to review the decision. Please see the Disagreement and Resolution information.

     

  • What will an IDP look like?

    The Welsh Government has developed a mandatory template for the IDP.

     

    Welsh Government has said that local authorities can change the style and layout of the document, but must use all the headings, in the order they appear on the template.

  • Who will be responsible for creating and reviewing the IDP?

     

    Who will be responsible for creating and reviewing the IDP?
    Child or young person Responsibility for IDP

    Birth to-3 (not in compulsory school) 

    Local authority

    Children 4- 16 years attending mainstream schools.

    School or local authority

    Young people aged 16 plus attending mainstream college or school

    The college or school 

     

    An IDP will be reviewed annually (within 12 months) following the person-centred review model of communication and participation. If you or your child wishes, you can request an earlier review. Also, your child’s school, college or the local authority may decide to review an IDP earlier, they will let you and your child know, and agree where and when the review takes place. 

  • What is a person-centred IDP review?

    Person-centred reviews are a way of deciding what support is needed for a child or young person with additional learning needs (ALN) or to decide any changes that need to be made to their support or ALP.

     

    It is important that children and young people have the right people involved in their review meeting to help them to plan for their future.

     

    This is to make sure that they have the things that are important to them, as well as the right support to help achieve their aspirations.

  • Who will be there?

    Sometimes there may be lots of people involved in the review, such as health, social care and education professionals, as well as family and friends.

     

     

    For others, there might just be you, your child, and someone from the school or college. 

  • Where and when will it be?

    It will probably be held at the early years setting, the school or college. The time and date should be mutually convenient for all of those attending. There will be at least one IDP review meeting a year; the school or college will let you know when these are due.

     

  • What do you need to think about before the meeting?

    Welsh Government has created the ’person-centred reviews for families’ booklet to help you think about the things that you might want to say.

     

    You can use the activities or resources within the booklet to write down things you want to remember to say on the day. This will help to make sure that your views are listened to at the meeting. Your school may also send you their own paperwork that they think might be useful. They may ask for a copy of this back before the meeting. 

     

    It is important to your child that your views are heard so it is essential that you take time to think about the questions and record your thoughts.

  • What will happen at the meeting? 

    You will find a person-centred review has a relaxed atmosphere, very different to other traditional meetings you may have been to.  Everything is set out to be as informal and comfortable as possible.

     

    If it is a small meeting, it may be just a relaxed talk, or the meeting may include some of the things below:

    • If there are lots of people coming, there may be a big table, but there could be music playing and posters or large pieces of paper pinned up on the walls

    • These are for everyone there, including you, to say what they think is important

    • Every review will change to meet the needs of your child, who is at the centre of the meeting. One person, called a facilitator, will have the job of making sure that everyone can have their say and that the meeting comes up with targets and actions for change

    • The facilitator is most likely to be someone from the school or college and you should know who it is before the meeting

    • The meeting begins with everyone introducing themselves and possibly sharing something that they like or admire about your child

    • The facilitator will explain what will happen in the review meeting, and then everyone will have the chance to share their views and knowledge about your child

    • When everyone has finished giving their comments, you will all think about and talk about what needs to change and what outcomes and targets you want to see

    • You will then all agree what actions need to take place to support your child to help him/her meet their aspirations

  • What will happen at the end of the review?

    By the end of the review the facilitator will make sure that there is an agreed actions. The actions are to make sure that everyone can see what is going to be done to support your child to learn and to achieve their dreams. Schools have a range of resources which will help to guide you through the process and ensure that the views of the learner are considered.