Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) Support
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Support In Schools
Schools have legal duties to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), however those with medical needs should also be supported. Schools must make sure they do not treat children and young people worse than others, or badly, because of their disability. They must also change what they do (or were planning to do) to make sure a disabled child or young person is not disadvantaged.
SEND Support
Schools should identify and support children and young people with SEN and/or a disability.
Children and young people in mainstream schools may be supported from within the school’s own resources. This means a child, or a young person, receives special educational provision (SEP) without an education, health and care plan (known as an EHC plan). This additional support is called SEN support.
The school must:
- tell parents/carers if their child has been identified as having SEN
- tell the child or young person they have been identified as having SEN
- identify a child’s/young person’s needs to the best of their ability, and
- put the right support in place to make sure a child or young person makes progress and achieve specified outcomes.
This information should be recorded by the school on what is often called the ‘SEND Register’. Individual support plans (often called individual education/support plans or SEND pupil passports) should be put into place for children or young people included on the SEND Register as part of the Assess, Plan, Do and Review four-stage cycle. This is explained in more detail in the SEND Code of Practice (SEND CoP) SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years and The Role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) sections of this information sheet.
One of the key duties is for schools is to use their 'best endeavours' to support children and young people with SEN. This means doing everything that could reasonably be expected of them. This duty applies to mainstream schools and alternative provision, but not special schools or independent schools.
Read more about the duties of independent school’s on the : Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA) website.
You can also find more information at: The ‘best endeavours’ duty (ipsea.org.uk)
The Special Education Need and Disability Code of Practice
The SEND CoP contains guidance on what schools should be doing to identify and support children and young people with SEN. The SEND CoP applies to all schools except independent schools. SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years.
Schools must “have regard” to the Code. This means that they should do what it says or be able to explain why they have not done so, and what alternative has been put in place instead.
The SEND CoP (section 6.27) suggests four broad areas of need that schools should plan for:
- Communication and interaction.
- Social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
- Cognition and learning.
- Sensory and/or physical needs.
Schools should use a “graduated approach” to support children and young people with SEN. The graduated approach involves a four-stage cycle that school staff must use: .
- Assess
- Plan
- Do
- Review
The Role of the SENCO
It is the responsibility of the SENCO at the school to arrange extra support for those who need it. The SENCO will work with teachers to ensure their teaching is accessible.
The SENCO should be able to give clear information about the extra help a child or young person is getting when requested by parents/carers or young people. Regular meetings should be arranged (at least termly) with parents/carers and young people to discuss the support in place and review the Individual Education/Support plan in place. This is part of the four-stage cycle of Assess, Plan, Do and Review, parents/carers and young people should be part of this process and included in any decisions made.
Illness
When a child or young people attending a maintained school, an academy or a pupil referral unit has a medical condition, the governing body/proprietor must make arrangements to support the child or young person.
Statutory guidance explains to schools, parents and carers how this duty should be carried out. You can check this guidance to see if your school is meeting its duties.
Find out more:
How should your nursery, school or college help? (ipsea.org.uk)