A statutory assessment means an assessment carried out by Greenwich Council to decide whether to give a child a 'statement of special educational needs'. A 'statement' is a legal document which describes a child's needs and the extra help that will be provided to meet those needs.
As part of a statutory assessment, information is collected from the people who know about the child's needs: parents / carers, teachers, doctors, educational psychologists, social workers and other professionals, such as speech and occupational therapists.
Requesting a statutory assessment
A statutory assessment can be requested by a school (or early years setting), or by the parent or carer. However, the request will not be agreed unless certain criteria are met, namely that the child's needs are severe, complex and lifelong.
Schools will be expected to have used all available resources to meet a child's needs before requesting a statutory assessment. Assessments are undertaken for about 2% of children.
Statutory assessment process
The statutory assessment process should take no more than six months. If the Council decides to give a child a 'statement of special educational needs', this will be implemented by the school.
The child will be given an Individual Education Plan (IEP) to enable them to work towards the objectives written on the statement. The child's progress will be reviewed by the Council annually.