Parent's guide to the SCAN or Appraisal

thanks so much to Jenny for putting this together and sharing it!

THE SCAN 

Here are some tips that people shared with us when approaching our first SCAN (Student Centred Appraisal of Needs) & I hope other parents find them helpful too. These are just my own parent perspective of our public system process - not an official document. 

First - yes - it can be hard focusing on the deficits. A little trick I try & remember for myself when going in to these sessions for our boys is this. While discussing challenges - I think of them as school challenges. Areas where they need some help to look after all of their student body. 

NEED, NOT FUNDING - the SCAN is to identify & create a "profile of need" of all students with disabilities that are recognised by ACT Education & some other other students with recognised additional needs. The results are scored up by the Education & Training Directorate to decide how they can fairly split the special needs funding between ACT Schools. The school then receive a list of students who qualify with a lump sum of funding. This funding is to help the school fill the gaps as they see them. Funding is only part of the support. Just because someone doesn't think they can fund it doesn't make the need disappear. 
Funding is important, but it isn't the only way our kids need support. For example, a child in a wheelchair might be very independent & able to get access areas quite well. Perhaps ramps or structures would be helpful but this child may also need more regular considerations from people prioritised too - like not leaving their bags in the hallway. 
The SCAN is also an opportunity for you to tell more people about your child. People will have a better chance of seeing opportunities to support your child when they understand your child & the inequities they face. If you enter into a funding discussion you are providing the opportunity for the school to say "no, we would love to, but we don't have enough funding for xyz" whereas when you focus on identifying the need, there is a more focused solution orientated on what you can do together (not what you can't). A funding discussion can also allow people to say "sorry, no, we would love to, but we don't have enough funding for xyz" whereas when you focus on identifying the need, there is a more focused solution orientated on what you can do together (not what you can't). 

UNDERSTANDING NEEDS - The SCAN is also an opportunity for you to tell more people about your child. People might have a better chance of seeing opportunities to support your child when they understand your child & the inequities they face. 

 NOT IN COMPETITION - Yes all children with identified needs complete this document, however you are there to be accurate & honest about your child's needs. It is not your job to decide where they might fit against the rest of the state. For instance if your child can walk but has significantly debilitating issues with independent transitions, unable to move between classes or activities in the classroom without adult support like visuals or prompts from either adults or the physical makeup of the environment - then be honest about it at the SCAN when they discuss "mobility" issues. It is hard but it is important everyone understands what they need to be prepared for. We need to be completely honest about where our own children sit in the groupings - not make decisions about where we perceive all other children sit. Again if we understand the range of potential challenges we are also better equipped to support them in what they need to learn to manage it themselves in the future. 

SAME OPPORTUNITY TO ENTIRE DAY - this is what we are trying to achieve - to allow our kids the same opportunity as their peers to their education which includes the entire day - classroom, lunchtime, events etc - again, might be great during work time but gets overwhelmed with a relief teacher, or an excursion. It's amazing how regular these are in today's schools from as early as preschool & kindergarten. Today assembly, tomorrow transitioning to a different science room, next week book fair - better education opportunities seem to bring more variety & changes. Think about the entirety of what they face with different people when you consider the groupings. 

WORST DAY - Always answer as if on their worst day & stripped of supports, routine, even visuals. That's what you want to avoid. No good saying most of the year a child can do xyz & marking him there, as that doesn't let them know about his challenges - that's what it's for - to work out the areas they might need a little support so we can scaffold. Just think how easy it can be for our own resilience or capacity to be hindered if we're tired for instance - those normal hinderances can be a lot bigger when you already have some tricky challenges as it is. 

 HOW IS IT DIFFERENT - sometimes you need to ask this - class learning may sound like every other student but maybe the teacher needs to prep lessons differently with them in mind or give additional close range instruction. Sometimes things might be going great because things are being modified naturally - which is important to know as a need (& so it can be replicated). 

FUNCTIONAL - ask how functional it really is ... Eg we had one where everyone wanted to skip over communication for our older boy because he can talk. We asked how functional it was for him however in being understood, able to answer questions etc - yes he had words but very little real communication & was unable to take much in if it wasn't presented very specifically. He was non-conversational too. 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS - the ILP is only one supporting document - you can include reports from your therapists & get school to help there too - they may have action plans for Behaviour, learning, social, eating - all should go in to back it up & give a better picture. We've included some as back up for ILP & they've gone in that way. 

DEFAULT TO HIGHER GROUP - If there is considerable difficulty in deciding between 2 groups then it is fairer for the child to choose the higher need group as we want to see they're supported when they need it most. The overall "point" difference may be minimal or the same anyway - better to be cautious than ignore a potential need. This was advice from the impartial moderator at our SCAN's. 

GROUP WHERE DOT POINTS MET - to be a group 2, you don't need to meet every dot point in 1 & 2 - you may just have one dot point in 2 that's relevant - just because the other dot points might not be there - if they meet it & it's an accurate description for them, then we mark it. This is described in the explanation notes and again, the Moderator has reminded us at our SCAN meetings. 

SHARE NOTES - share notes before it if you can - ask therapists, teachers etc (avoids surprises so you & school are a united front too) - if you differ it's another important window to understand more too. 

 MAKE NOTES - print out the SCAN and scribble your own notes all over it to remind you as you go through. Then you are not referring to additional documents. I make notes to remind me as we go through like "functional" - I underline & highlight everything that's relevant so if we're sliding groups, I may not slide as far. 

 SCHOOL EXAMPLES - try to give "school" examples as they'll hold more weight (another reason to discuss before) - home important too but yeah - clearer if relating to school setting. 

 ASK QUESTIONS - think outcome - you want it to represent a clear picture of your child. Yes, disagree; that's fine - but try & ask questions to get them to thinking " how functional is that for him", "is it reasonable to think we'll have that teacher there with him throughout the day including breaks", "are we really comfortable that all teachers on playground duty would be able to de escalate a situation", "how much are they doing it themselves independently or do we have an adult nearby just still gently helping them stay on course" sorta stuff. 

TOUGH FOR TEACHER - remember sometimes the teacher is unwittingly in a parent response - tough for them too & emotional - they may have either tried their best & feel like a failure or that their hard work is unnoticed or they may adore them so much & be so proud of them & understand so well that it's hard for them to say anything negative too even if it is just really about where they sit so we can see more clearly where we can help more. 

THANK PARTICIPANTS - it is tough sometimes & important to appreciate everyone's effort of course. Thank them. Write an email after to do just that. And be kind to yourself - breathe - give yourself time afterwards & hug your kids (or a teddy if they don't let you).

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