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APDR

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Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycles matter!

APDR cycles are the bread and butter of educationalists – we do it everywhere:

  • Planning lessons – we “assess” where the children are, we “plan” a lesson, “do” the lesson, and then, through marking and assessment “review” the impact of the lesson.
  • Improving attendance – we “assess” where the school’s strengths and areas for development lie, we “plan” how we will make improvements, we “do” the work that we have planned to deliver and then we “review” the impact of the work that we have done.

SEN provision is no different – we are required to:

  • Assess what the situation is for a child
  • Plan what we need to do in order to reduce the barriers, or improve the outcomes for the child
  • Do what we have planned to deliver
  • Review the work that has been delivered in order to establish its impact.
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Assess

How do we “assess”?

Assessing is about identifying what is working well and what is not working well for a child.  It is about identifying areas of strength and areas on which focus is required.

The “assess” section should be holistic – what is it that the child can do well (not just academically, but socially, emotionally, attendance, and more broadly, ie sport, music etc) and what is it that the child is struggling with?

When completing this section, it is wise to have a source for the information.  This could come from:

  • NHS reports / letters
  • Teachers’ feedback, if appropriate
  • Parental feedback, if appropriate
  • Social care input
  • Behaviour logs
  • External agency reports
  • Attendance records
Plan

What is in the “plan”?

Consider the content of the assessment – what does it tell us are the priorities for action and support?

What reasonable adjustments, interventions, specialist support is necessary in order to improve the outcomes for the child?  What is being prioritised for this current cycle of support?

Make sure that the targets on the plan are SMART:

  • specific
  • measurable
  • achievable
  • realistic
  • timely

A typical plan will run for a term, with a half-termly review point.

Do

What does the “do” bit look like?

Across the course of the term, it will be important to ensure that the planned provision is being carried out.

Review

What does the “review” bit look like?

Review the plan – what was it that was “measurable”?  What has been the impact of the intervention, provision or reasonable adjustment(s)?

SEN Code of Practice

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