A person-centred approach:
- considers the wishes, views, and aspirations of the child or young person.
- focuses on the child or young person.
- makes sure the child or young person and their parent or carer are at the centre of the planning and decision making.
- makes sure other people and agencies who know the child or young person are involved (for example, family members, health professionals, playgroup staff, teachers, social workers).
- involves on-going listening, observing, and learning.
Why we arrange a person-centred meeting
We may arrange a person-centred meeting to get information from everyone who supports the child. This can include:
- healthcare professionals, and
- teachers or playgroup staff.
In these meetings, we may decide if your child has additional learning needs (ALN) which requires additional earning provision, or whether we need to make alternative referrals.
What happens before a meeting
The person leading the meeting will:
- make sure you and your child are involved,
- invite relevant professionals to the meeting,
- arrange a suitable meeting place, and
- gather any information that may be needed.
Everyone who is invited to the meeting will need to consider:
- What do we like and admire about the child?
- What is important to the child?
- What is working?
- What is not working?
- What is important for the child now and in the future?
What happens in the meeting
The meeting will be as interactive as possible and everyone will have a chance to contribute. We will use all of the information talked about to create an action plan to support the child or young person at school or college.
What happens after the meeting
We may use the information gathered at the meeting to create a range of plans, such as:
- individual healthcare plan,
- one page profile, or
- individual development plan.
If the plans are created, they have to be reviewed at least once a year.
We may develop a one page profile during the meeting. The profile gives a positive snapshot of the child or young person and includes:
- what is great about the child,
- what is important to the child, and
- how we can support them.