Lincolnshire ladder of behavioural intervention

Statutory guidance

Schools should consider what additional support or alternative placement may be required to improve behaviour and avoid exclusion where possible.

School actions

Refer for intervention placement in alternative provision (AP), noting that referrals  must be received by the Pupil Referral Team (PRT) on the Thursday of the week before the fortnightly panel meetings and accompanied by a BOSS report (or equivalent specialist advice). 

Upon successful referral of a pupil KS1-3, attend admission meeting at the AP so that the intervention can be planned with roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders confirmed.

Throughout the intervention placement, maintain close contact with the alternative provision to gain regular information around attendance, behaviour incidents and progress and attainment.  You will also need to be aware of safeguarding arrangements.     

Attend review meetings and work with the provider, BOSS and the PRT throughout the pupil’s time at the alternative provision to ensure successful reintegration into school following intervention. A re-referral to BOSS may be made at this point.

KS4 pupils will not usually return to mainstream but will instead follow an alternative pathway within the alternative provision for some or all of the week. 

Intervention Placement (KS1-3) referrals for pupils with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan

When consideration is being given to applying for an intervention placement for pupils with an EHC plan, the following must be considered and appropriate evidence provided as part of your request (reflected in a section of the referral form):

• how long has the pupil had an EHC plan?
• has an annual review been held or robust discussions taken place with the pupil’s SEND Caseworker? Please note if an annual review will be due during the 16-week placement this must be completed before a request for an intervention placement is made. 
• are additional resources or changes in provision being requested or likely to be requested in the next 6 months? If these are being considered discussions must be had with the SEND Caseworker and SEND processes followed. 
• has there been any change to the needs as outlined in section B of the EHC plan? 
• how are the pupil’s difficulties linked to their identified needs or diagnosis? Has the impact of the pupil moving between settings in a short 16-week period been considered? Will they be able to manage this or will this impact further on their difficulties?
• since the EHC plan has been agreed and finalised has all provision detailed in section F been consistently implemented? 
• has the SEND graduated approach been followed?
• has the provision in Section F been reviewed and adapted with different strategies introduced and previous strategies revisited?
• have reasonable adjustments been made to ensure that the pupil can thrive and is not inadvertently discriminated through the application of an inflexible behaviour policy?
• has recent (within the last 6-12 months) advice been sought from outside professionals including (where relevant) Working Together Team, BOSS, PRT, Healthy Minds, MHST, CAMHS, SALT, educational psychologist, Specialist Teaching Team, Ask SALL, etc? Has this advice been implemented and reviewed? 
• what is the hoped for outcome following a 16 week placement?  How will you work with the AP to achieve this throughout the placement? 
• following this placement, you will be expected to reintegrate the pupil back into your setting. Will you be able to continue to meet needs?

If your referral is successful: 

• throughout the intervention placement, maintain close contact to ensure a carefully planned transition back into the named mainstream setting.
• statutory timescales for annual reviews must be met. Therefore, if a review is due during the intervention placement, this must be held before the intervention placement commences. 
• an annual review should be held once the pupil has returned to their home school full time and a robust cycle of assess, plan, do, review – building on progress - has been completed.
• caseworker should be invited to attend if concerns remain ongoing. 
• consideration should be given to any amendments required to the EHC plan.

KS4 Alternative Pathway referrals for pupils with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan

• how long has the pupil had an EHC plan?
• has an annual review been held with robust discussions with the pupil’s SEND Caseworker? 
• what are the pupil's views in regard to an alternative provision placement? Are they fully aware of what this is and any potential impact on future aspirations, for example, ability to take full range of GCSE's?
• have additional resources or change in provision been requested in the last 24 months? What was the outcome of the request? Has all advice following the request outcome been followed? 
• has there been any change to the needs as outlined in section B of the EHC plan? 
• how are the pupil’s difficulties linked to their identified needs or diagnosis? Has the impact of the pupil moving between settings been considered? Will they be able to manage this or will this impact further on their difficulties? Will they be able to meet their full potential if attending an AP; for example, will they be able to achieve the GCSE's or qualifications they require for meeting their future aspirations? How will the AP help prepare them for adulthood and moving onto further education?
• since the EHC plan has been agreed and finalised have you consistently implemented all provision detailed in section F? 
• have robust cycles of assess, plan, do, review (SEND graduated approach) been followed?
• has the provision in section F been reviewed and adapted with different strategies being followed and previous strategies revisited?
• have reasonable adjustments been made to ensure that the pupil can thrive and is not inadvertently discriminated through the application of an inflexible behaviour policy?
• has recent (within the last 6-12 months) advice been sort from outside professionals including (where relevant) Working Together Team, BOSS, PRT, Healthy Minds, MHST, CAMHS, SALT, educational psychologist, Specialist Teaching Team, Ask SALL, etc.? Has this advice been implemented and reviewed? 
• what is the hoped for outcome of the placement? 

If your referral is successful:

• for 5-day alternative provision placements, all SEND EHC plan funding allocated to school will be ceased. AWPU funding will remain in place to ensure funding is available in setting to maintain responsibilities for the pupil and to work alongside the alternative provision provider 
• throughout the alternative provision placement regular contact must be maintained between both settings to ensure education remains appropriate
• statutory timescales for annual reviews should continue to be adhered to with the mainstream school continuing to attend all reviews
• caseworker should be invited to attend if concerns remain on going
• consideration should be given to any amendments required to the pupil’s EHC plan