ALN Reform: Wales
Dear Parent / Carer,
Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal Act (ALN ET 2018)
The system for supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disability in Wales is changing. The Welsh Government is bringing in a new more flexible and responsive system of meeting the needs of children with special educational needs or disabilities and are striving to deliver a fully inclusive education system for the learners of Wales.
The new system will ensure:
needs are identified early, addressed quickly and all learners are supported to reach their potential.
our professionals are skilled and confident in identifying needs and deploying strategies to help learners overcome their barriers to learning.
that the learner is at the centre of everything we do and that they and their parents and carers are equal partners in their learning. (Person Centred Approach)
From September 2021 the new system will be brought in gradually over the next few years (2021 -2024). Here are some of the key messages about these changes and what they may mean for you and your child.
Key Messages
The term Additional Learning Needs (ALN) will replace the terms Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD)
Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos) in schools will now be called Additional Learning Needs Coordinators (ALNCos)
The mandatory ALN Code for the new system will cover children and young people aged 0-25. This means that early years and further education colleges will have duties under the Act, but this does not include higher education or apprenticeships.
The current graduated system of Early Years/School Action, Early Years/School Action Plus and Statements is being replaced over the course of the next 3 years. All children and young people with an identified additional learning need (ALN) that requires additional learning provision (ALP) will have an Individual Development Plan (IDP). The IDP will replace all other individual plans. IDPs for children under compulsory school age, who require them, i.e.in the early years will be maintained by local authorities.
Most Individual Development Plans will be maintained by the school but may also be maintained by the Local Authority for those learners with the most complex needs.
The Act expects that all partners such as Education, Health and Social Care will work in collaboration to support children and young people with ALN.
There will be increased opportunities for children, young people, parents and carers to contribute to the creation and maintenance of Individual Development Plans through Person Centered Planning.
It is expected that working together more closely should help to avoid disagreements.
All reasonable steps will be taken to ensure additional learning provision will be provided in Welsh, if required
Additional Information
The interactive e-learning course giving an introduction to the new ALN system is now available on the Welsh Government's Hwb platform. Here is a Hwb news article introducing the course, which is currently on the Hwb homepage:
https://hwb.gov.wales/news/articles/20686965-8669-40ac-bdc5-599f4a4dfe8b
And here is the link to the course itself: https://hwb.gov.wales/repository/publishers/9fb2afc9- 6408-4aa3-9474-3c745006535b/resource/c8033263-aaa0-42fc-9511-ab7d33bd8084/en
Welsh Government website: https://gov.wales/additional-learning-needs-special-educationalneeds
SNAP Cymru as our parent partnership service provides dispute resolution and advocacy support for children and young people www.snapcymru.org
Our school and the Local Authority has its own information on our web-sites at https://www.bedwasrhydri.school/bedwasjunior and https://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/Services/Schools-and-learning.
Leaflets explaining in more detail-Person Centred Practice, The IDP; Dispute Resolution and the Tribunal system are also available.
If you would like any additional information or advice, please contact us at the school on 02920 852511(Bedwas) and 02920852525 (Rhydri) or the Caerphilly Additional Needs Service on 01443 866610.
Yours sincerely,
Samantha Banks
ALNCo
The Federation of Bedwas Junior and Rhydri Primary Schools