An Individual Education Plan is the document that turns "we support this child" into something a teacher can do on Monday and a reviewer can check in December. KHDA's Dubai framework and ADEK's Abu Dhabi policy both expect an individual plan for students who receive targeted or specialist support. Neither prescribes a single form. That freedom is useful, because the best IEP is the shortest one that still answers five questions: what is the child working on, what will we do, who does it, how will we know, and when do we look again.
The template
Use this structure as it is, or map your school's existing form to it. Every heading below earns its place.
1. About the student
Name, year group, class teacher, the person leading the plan, the date the plan starts and the date of the next review. One or two sentences on strengths and interests, written so that a new teacher understands the child before the need. A line on communication preferences and anything a supply teacher must know on day one.
2. The need, in plain words
What the student finds hard, described as observable behaviour rather than a category. "Loses the thread of a three-step instruction and stops" tells a teacher more than a label. Note any assessment on file, who wrote it and when, and what the family has told you. If there is no report, say so; the plan does not wait for one.
3. Targets
Two to four targets, never more. Each target names a behaviour the child will show, in a setting, with a level of support, by the review date. A weak target says "improve reading". A usable target says "reads a 60-word passage at the current book band with fewer than three errors, with a starter prompt, by the spring review". Write the baseline next to each target so the review measures distance travelled.
4. Provision
For each target: the strategy, how often it happens, who delivers it, and where. Distinguish what every teacher does in every lesson from what happens in a small group or one-to-one. This is the section inspectors read most carefully, because it shows whether the support is real and whether it belongs to the whole school or to one adult.
5. Tracking
How evidence is gathered between reviews: a weekly tick sheet, a short observation note, a piece of work with a date, a reading record. Name the person who records it. If tracking is not named, it will not happen.
6. Home
What the family will try, what the school will share and how often. One agreed routine at home, done consistently, often moves a target faster than an extra session at school.
7. Review
Date, who attended, what the evidence shows against each target, what continues, what changes and what stops. Then set the next date before anyone leaves the room.
Writing targets you can measure
The words that make a target measurable are the ones people skip: the number, the condition and the support level. Ask of every target: could two different adults watch the child and agree whether it was met? If not, add the missing detail. Keep the number of targets small. A plan with eight targets is a wish list; a plan with three that everyone knows by heart changes practice.
Keeping the cycle alive
Plans fail between reviews, not at them. Three habits keep an IEP alive:
- Put the strategies in the lesson plan. If the provision only exists in the IEP folder, it is not happening in the classroom.
- Track little and often. A thirty-second note twice a week beats an hour of reconstruction the night before the review.
- Share the plan with the child. Students who know their own targets, in their own words, hit them more often, and they can tell you when a strategy is not working.
How Nooravi fits
Nooravi builds the plan from expert-reviewed strategy cards, keeps the tracking in the same place as the strategies, and shows the evidence record at review time, so the IEP is produced from the work rather than written on top of it. Schools use it for the whole cycle; families use it at home for the same child.
Sources
- KHDA — Dubai Inclusive Education Policy Framework (2017)
- ADEK — Education for People of Determination
This template is general guidance for educational planning. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace advice from a qualified professional who knows the child.