Read To Learn

UNIT 7: Special Needs and Inclusive Education 

Before we look in some detail at Individual Education Plans and how to make and use them, let’s hear from Deputy Head Teacher Agrippine who is the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at Umubano Academy:

What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?

In order to support every learner to ensure that they can all make the best progress possible in their learning, learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities will benefit from an Individual Education Plan (IEP). An IEP is a support plan designed by the school leader responsible for Special Educational Needs, in collaboration with the class teacher, the learner's parents/carers and the learner, if the learner is able to contribute effectively, and any other teacher who has the skills to contribute. 

 You may not have heard much about Individual Education Plans, so let us first think through a few key questions together, to start to understand what an IEP is and how to use one:

	Key questions
1	What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?
2	What is the key objective of an IEP?
3	Who needs one, and why?
4	Who is responsible for creating and managing an IEP?
5	When do we need to create an IEP?
6	Who are the main stakeholders and users of an IEP?
7	How can we identify learners’ specific Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to then be able to plan their IEP?
8	Following an official / professional assessment by a SEND coordinator,  how can the team best plan the learner’s priority needs 🡪 the strategies to use to help 🡪 and set targets for this learner to work towards?
9	Is an IEP a document that never changes or a ‘live’ document that can be updated and changed?
10	How often do we need to review a learner’s IEP?
11	Who should be involved in reviewing & updating the IEP?

The questions above are all important!  Can you answer any of them already? 
Read the questions again and make some notes on possible answers before you go through the table on the next page.