Ordinarily available provision

Ordinarily available provision

This guide is for education professionals and parent carers.

The SEND Code of Practice, 2015, 1.7, states:

Local authorities, early years providers and schools should enable parents to share their knowledge about their child and give them confidence that their views and contributions are valued and will be acted upon. At times parents, teachers and others may have differing expectations of how a child’s needs are best met. Sometimes these discussions can be challenging but it is in the child’s best interests for a positive dialogue between parent, teachers and others to be maintained, to work through the points of difference and establish what action is to be taken.

York is a needs-led city. We are committed to intervening early to support and improve the outcomes of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This means that any provision or support should be provided in line with the needs of the young person and is not dependent on any formal diagnosis.

The Ordinarily Available guidance sets out a common set of expectations about the provision and practice that is expected in all mainstream schools and post-16 providers for children and young people with SEND. It's what a young person, parent carer or family can expect to be “normally” or “ordinarily” available to their child without the need for involving specialist support.

The concept of Ordinarily Available Provision is grounded in the SEND Code of Practice, 6.15:

A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age. Making higher quality teaching normally available to the whole class is likely to mean that fewer pupils will require such support. Such improvements in whole-class provision tend to be more cost effective and sustainable

The purpose of this guide is to:

• promote consistency of approach across mainstream schools within the city of York
• provide information and reassurance for parents/carers that, when choosing a school or setting, that there is parity and consistency in terms of what will be available as Quality First Teaching (universal offer) and the Graduated Response at SEN Support (targeted offer)

The majority of children with SEND will have their needs met effectively within their local mainstream setting. As a local area SEND Partnership, we're committed to working together to deliver the best outcomes for York’s children and young people with SEND. Central to achieving this is to ensure consistency of approach across the city’s education settings through ensuring quality first teaching, close working with families and clear cycles of evaluation (Assess, Plan, Do Review).

These pages are designed to be used as a reference document and to support the delivery of a consistent local offer for children and young people across York’s education settings. It recognises that this consistency is grounded in the teacher standards and the SEND Code of Practice (2015).

These pages will be reviewed annually to ensure that they remains relevant and are grounded in best practice.