Individual Education Plans (IEP)

What is an IEP?

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      The IEP is a planning, teaching and reviewing tool

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      The IEP should underpin the process of planning intervention for the individual pupil with SEN

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      IEPs should be teaching an

 

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      The learning plans setting out:

   ‘what’ should be taught

   ‘how it should be taught

   ‘how often’ particular knowledge, understanding and skills  through additional or different activities from those    provided for all pupils through the differentiated curriculum

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      The IEP is the structured planning documentation of the differentiated steps and teaching requirements needed to help the student achieve identified targets

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      The IEP is a working document for all teaching staff

 

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      The IEP must be accessible and understandable to all concerned.

 

 

When should an IEP be used?

             To plan the interventions for individual pupils made through:

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      Early Years Action or Early Years Action Plus

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      School Action and School Action Plus

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      And for pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs.

 

 

What should be included in an IEP?

IEPs should focus on up to three or four key individual targets and should include information about:

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      the short-term targets set for the pupil

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      the teaching strategies to be used

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      the provision to be put in place

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      when the plan is to be reviewed

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      success and/or exit criteria

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      outcomes (to be recorded when IEP is reviewed

 

 

What IEPs should do

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      raise achievement for all pupils with SEN

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      be seen as working documents

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      use a simple format

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      detail provision additional to or different from those generally available for all pupils

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      detail targets which are extra or different from those for most pupils

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      be jargon free

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      be comprehensible to all staff and parents

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      be distributed to all staff as necessary

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      promote effective planning

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      help pupils monitor their own progress

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      result in good planning and intervention by staff

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      result in the achievement of specified learning goals for pupils with SEN

The IEP must be accessible and understandable to all concerned.  It should be agreed, whenever possible, with the involvement of parents and the pupil, depending on the pupil’s needs and particular circumstances.

IEPs are likely to be most effective when the pupil is fully involved in the process

 Teachers should generally aim to include SMART targets

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      Specific

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      Measurable

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      Achievable    

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      Relevant

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      Time bound

Group Educational Plans

Some schools may arrange for a group of pupils with similar needs and a least one target in common to be taught together in an appropriate setting, which might include withdrawal for a short period of time.  There will frequently be pupils in the same group or subject lesson with common targets and hence, common strategies will be employed.

If common strategies beyond the differentiated curriculum, such as additional resources or adult support, are employed, it might be appropriate to consider recording the pupils’ common targets and strategies in a grope learning plan – sometimes referred to as a Group Education Plan.  When pupils have targets and strategies additional to the group education plan, these together with details of their individual progress in both the common and individual targets should be recorded in an IEP

 

Extracts taken from DfES SEN Tool Kit

To obtain a copy of the Tool kit and the Code of Practice Tel: 0845 60 222 60

e-mail: dfes@prolog.uk.com    Quote reference DfES 558/2001