Early and accurate identification of a child's special educational needs leads to effective early intervention which helps to ensure that the child's outcomes are as good as they can be. 

Sometimes the child's needs may have been identified before they come into school, in which case the school builds on and continues the work that has already been started.

In other cases,  the child's needs may not be evident until they start school. They may become apparent through whole-class screening or through day-to-day teaching and learning activities. 

At Hurst Green we have a graduated approach, as follows:

• If a child is not making the progress we would expect, a concern will be recorded.  This might be raised by staff at school or by parents.  The teacher and parent will together record the issues on a concern form, and agree some targets and provision to work on.  This will be reviewed after a term.  If the objectives have been met and there are no further concerns, the support plan will be discontinued.  Progress will  be monitored to ensure that the issue has been fully resolved.  If the objectives have not been met, a further action plan will be agreed.
• If the actions agreed through the concern form do not resolve the concerns after two terms, we would recommend that the child be included on the school's SEND register.  The child will be supported through 'School Support Arrangements'.  A higher level of provision will be agreed and implemented. This will be reviewed and updated termly.
• If a child's needs are severe and/or complex, we will meet their needs through a higher level of School Support.  The school uses the Surrey School Support Arrangements   document,  which gathers a wider range of information from all involved with the child.  The child will have an individual education plan which will identify small-step objectives and the provision planned for them to help them achieve the objectives. These plans form part of the 'School Support Arrangements' document, which becomes a dynamic record of the child's progress.