| Title |
UPDATE ON REVIEW OF ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS PROVISION |
| Lead officer(s) |
Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Director of Education and Skills and Chief Education Officer |
| Telephone number |
|
| Email address |
Ian.Burgoyne@east-ayrshire.gov.uk |
| Date summary created |
12 Apr 2026 |
| Date assessment completed |
12 Apr 2026 |
| Summary of policy aims |
This report provides an update on the Review of Additional Support Needs Provision, and outlines recommendations designed to support the long-term sustainability of additional support needs (ASN) provision in response to the growing demand for services. The report outlines the rationale underpinning our locality-based approach to supporting children with ASN, demonstrating how this model enables effective, responsive, and inclusive support within local communities. The recommendations will see the establishment of 3 new ASL Centres and a reprofiling of the East Ayrshire Support Team in line with the new Staged Intervention Model. The ethos of this locality-based approach was approved at Cabinet in June 2025. This report outlines operational arrangements in line with this. The aims are aligned to the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended), GIRFEC, Staged Intervention and locality planning. |
| Key issues |
The expansion of provision of ASL Centres across localities and mitigating travel barriers, particularly for those with more complex needs, may provide opportunities for these children and young people to engage more fully in learning and the wider life of the school, while supporting them to form and maintain peer relationships within their own communities and friendship groups, which can be of significant importance for social development and emotional wellbeing. By devolving EAST support to Headteachers within Education Groups and removing the current centralised approach to determining assessment and interventions, we can help ensure that supports are more effectively linked to the assessed needs of children in the specific school context. |
| Summary of involvement with Groups |
Consultation with young people and children with additional support needs potentially impacted by the proposals were engaged through focus groups to gather their views. There were engagement sessions between October and December 2025, and via Support for Learning: All our Children and All their Potential ( Scottish Government, 19 June 2020) |
| Key recommendations |
To approve the policy. The expansion of provision of ASL Centres across localities and mitigating travel barriers, particularly for those with more complex needs, may provide opportunities for these children and young people to engage more fully in learning and the wider life of the school, while supporting them to form and maintain peer relationships within their own communities and friendship groups, which can be of significant importance for social development and emotional wellbeing. By devolving EAST support to Headteachers within Education Groups and removing the current centralised approach to determining assessment and interventions, we can help ensure that supports are more effectively linked to the assessed needs of children in the specific school context. |