Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004Information for Parents/Carers
“You know your child best. Sharing information lets you, your child and the school work together closely as partners in your child’s education.”
“When schools, parents and carers share information, everyone has a really good understanding of how they can help children learn.” (Parentzone)
What is a Pupil Support Planning Meeting?
It is a meeting that is called to plan how to best support your child’s additional support needs. In Dundee we call these Team Around The Child meetings.
Who will be invited?
You will receive a letter or telephone call inviting you to come to a meeting. You will be given a time and place for the meeting. The Named Person for your child will usually make the arrangements with you.
Some of the following people might also be invited to attend:
- Head Teacher of Depute Head Teacher
- Nursery Teacher or Early Years Practitioner
- Supporting Learning Staff
- Educational Psychologist
- Staff from specialist teams such as Multi-Sensory Service, Bilingual Pupil Support Service, Outreach Service
- Therapist
- Social Worker
What will be discussed?
The invitation letter will tell you the purpose of the meeting. You can also let the person organising the meeting know about anything you want discussed at the meeting.
Can I bring someone with me?
You can bring a supporter with you who will listen and take notes to discuss with you later. You can bring an advocate to take part in the discussion on your behalf.
The supporter does not take an active part in the discussion unlike the advocate.
Preparing for a meeting
Many parents/carers feel both anxious and emotional about attending meetings to discuss their child’s education. It is possible to reduce stress and anxiety by being well prepared for the meeting.
Good preparation can involve discussing the options with your family or friends and thinking about what you want for your child and writing it down.
Thinking about the following questions might help you to prepare for the meeting.
What do you want the meeting to achieve?
All meetings should have a minute taken which is a written note of who was there, what was said, agreed and decided. You will receive a copy of this minute.
Is there a draft assessment/plan to be discussed and can you have it in advance?
Sometimes seeing things in black and white, often describing your son or daughter’s additional support needs can be helpful or you might disagree with what is being written and need time to think about why you disagree. You can ask for
draft assessment/plans in advance.
What is your child good at?
It is too easy to forget to talk about the strengths. Identifying strengths informs planning and helps to motivate the child. Saying what your child is good at helps decide what to do next and helps your child to feel good about
themselves
What are your main concerns?
Although your concerns may be obvious to you they may be less obvious to others. It can be useful to share your concerns with others at the meeting so they can know too.
Key Contacts
If, after speaking with school staff to resolve a problem, you still want to talk about an issue your child’s support in school that bothers you, please contact:
Education Support Officer (ASN) Telephone: (01382) 433984
If you want to find out more about Mediation, please contact:
Email: infodundee@sacro.org.uk
Web Address : https://www.sacro.org.uk
Telephone: 01382 459252
Contact Name : Service Manager
SACRO Tayside ASN Mediation Service
Unit E, Market Mews
Market Street, Dundee DD1 3LA