HOW AN EP ASSESSMENT CAN HELP YOUR CHILD

As parents, we can sometimes have concerns about our children’s development and it might seem that your child’s progress (learning or social) seems slower or more uneven than others. Perhaps, you are wondering whether your child might have a specific learning difficulty or later, be eligible for access arrangements for examinations. Some private schools also require parents to obtain an EP assessment as part of their admissions process.

An EP assessment can help to explore your concerns, to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses and to plan collaboratively with you and nursery/ school staff on the next steps to take. This may include ongoing school intervention, helpful approaches to use at home or referrals to other professionals, e.g. to a speech and language therapist or a Paediatrician).

The Graduated Response highlights the need for an increasingly more personalised approach to be taken by education staff should a child’s rate of progress continue to be of concern, despite ongoing interventions. For more information about the Graduated Response, please click here . A thorough assessment helps you and education staff to understand your child’s learning profile and how he/ she best learns. This then helps to ensure that the interventions planned for your child support his/ her weaknesses and develop areas of strength in order to enhance your child’s progress.

Some children need reasonable adjustments when taking examinations (known as Access Arrangements). Your child’s school is responsible for arranging these and submitting appropriate information, and in particular highlighting the adjustments that your child has been accustomed to at school. However, schools sometimes require additional clarity of a child’s difficulties. An EP assessment can support the school’s understanding of the most appropriate arrangements for your child.