The Welsh Government has recently made changes to the way children and young people with Additional Learning Needs (ALN) are supported. Previously, this was known as Special Educational Needs or SEN. In recent years, the old (SEN) system was replaced with the new Additional Learning Needs (ALN) system. This ALN system strengthens the importance of providing information and support so that children, young people and their parents are involved as much as possible in the process and in decisions that affect them. The way in which funding is provided to schools has also changed during this time.

What is ALN?

ALN stands for Additional Learning Need. Children and young people with ALN need extra support to learn. This would be because they:

- find it harder to learn than other children of the same age

- have a disability that means they cannot use, or find it difficult to use, facilities for learning in the local nursery, school or college

When considering if a child has ALN, we must answer two questions:

1. Does the child or young person have a learning difficulty or disability? 

-   Does the child or young person have a greater difficulty in learning that the majority of others of the same age?

2. Does the child or young person’s learning difficulty or disability calls for Additional Learning Provision (ALP) .

-   ALP can take many forms; it might include any support that takes place inside or outside the mainstream classroom, where it is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age. 

Please see the Parent and Child guides below for detailed information. 

If you have any questions or queries please contact the school Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCO) Mrs Small.