It is reasonable to expect that schools and settings should undertake baseline assessments at the start of any interventions, as this will enable staff to measure the impact of an individualised or group-based intervention.

Many schools use ongoing formative assessments, particularly in literacy and numeracy, to track progress and to provide feedback on areas of strength and need. For example, a school may track reading age and spelling age scores from year to year to measure progress.

Schools and settings may also use observations, samples of independent work and problem-solving tasks as less formal assessments measuring progress over time.

For children and young people who present with SEMH needs then schools may use questionnaires and checklists to measure development of skills. In setting assessments such as the Boxall Profile may be used to baseline and reassess each term. For specific SEMH interventions such as ELSA both teachers and parents may be asked to fill in ‘Emotional Literacy Checklists’ or ‘Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire’(SDQ) before the intervention has taken place. Following the intervention, it is good practice to reassess using the same measure to track progress.

The school or setting may seek advice from outside agencies such as Speech & Language Therapy, Educational Psychology, Hearing or Vision Impairment service,  Occupational Therapy or allied colleague from relevant health departments. The assessments, advice and recommendations given should be incorporated into the student’s IEP or to amend EHCP targets.

For post 16 students there may be a focus on functional skills assessments to support independent living skills, self- care and safety awareness.