The graduated response helps schools and early years settings identify and help children who may have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It's a stepped approach where the need for more help is identified and given in stages.

The response involves 4 main steps in a cycle:

• Assess: A teacher or early years professional looks into any problems that might be affecting the child
• Plan: From the assessment, they work out how to support the child with their difficulties
• Do: From the plan, they start putting it into action
• Review: After doing the plan, they review and see if it has helped the child

The teacher or early years professional will then continue the cycle with further plans and actions until the child's needs are understood and met.

Our toolkit for providing the graduated response can be found on our Family Information Directory (FID), in the Publications on the right. We have separate guides for:

• early years children
• school age children
• young people aged 16 and over