Special Educational Needs (SEN)

The following information is from three of the booklets in the Staffordshire Parent Partnership Service Information Pack.

Children learn at different speeds and not all children learn in the same way.

Many children need extra help of some kind during their time at school. In most cases, staff in mainstream schools can help children to overcome difficulties quickly and easily. They do this through providing a teaching programme suitable for each child's needs and level of ability. You may hear this called "differentiating the curriculum".

However, a few children will have difficulties that require help in addition to this. These children are said to have Special Educational Needs. They could have difficulties with:

all of the work in school
literacy, maths or understanding information
expressing themselves or understanding others
making friends or relating to others
a hearing or visual impairment
a physical or medical condition

Staffordshire County Council Children and Lifelong Learning Directorate (the LEA) produces detailed guidelines for mainstream schools to use when assessing a child's special educational needs.

These guidelines follow the government's Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs 2002 and set out what schools should be doing to support their pupils. The aim is to make sure all children with special educational needs:

have their needs identified as early as possible
have their needs met, usually at their local
mainstream school
have access to a suitable curriculum
make reasonable progress
have their and their parents' views taken into
account
are included fully in their school community
make a successful transition to adult life

Your child will still be part of the class group, but may receive some extra or different support to others in the class. This will be written down in an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or a Group Education Plan.

School Action

If the school thinks that your child has a special educational need, they may tell you that they are being placed at School Action. This simply means that they will be given extra help within school to meet your child's needs.

The school will collect information about your child from the teaching staff. They will use this information to plan a programme of teaching and learning to meet your child's individual needs. The person responsible for doing this is usually the school's Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), who will work closely with the class teacher.

Your views are important. Where possible, the school will try to actively involve you in discussions about meeting your child's needs and monitoring any progress they make.

School should keep you fully informed about the help your child is receiving and how you can support the work of the teaching staff.

Individual and Group Education Plans

An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is a planning, teaching and reviewing document for everyone to use when supporting a child. As part of the teacher's plans for the whole class, additional short-term targets will be identified that relate to the needs of an individual child. The IEP will then detail the extra help the child will receive in order to meet these targets.

When pupils in the same class or subject lesson have similar targets and these can be met by group teaching methods or resources, the teacher may write a Group Education Plan, rather than produce an IEP for each child.

A simple format should be used for an IEP. The information it contains should be clear and understandable to all concerned. An IEP should contain:

the targets set for the child - there will usually be three or four short-term targets that address specific areas of difficulty. These might be with literacy, maths, communication, behaviour or social skills
the help the school will provide - this will be help extra to or different from the rest of the class
who will provide the help - this may be support from a teaching assistant. It could also be in the form of advice from specialist teachers, therapists or other health professionals
when and how often the child will receive this help - this could be in the classroom or outside depending on the child's needs;
how and when the child's progress will be measured.

The IEP may also contain suggestions of how you can help your child at home.

The school may arrange an initial meeting with you when they set up an IEP. Your child may also be involved in setting the targets. You will get a copy of the Plan and should check that you understand the targets and the support your child will be given. Staffordshire Parent Partnership Service can support you in making your views known and attend the meeting with you if you wish.

In Staffordshire, schools are given money for SEN in their annual budget. The school's head and governors are responsible for managing this budget and meeting the needs of all pupils with special educational needs.

School Action Plus

If your child continues to make little or no progress over a long period of time, you and the school may decide that additional specialist help is needed. It may become apparent that your child is falling further behind other pupils of a similar age, in spite of the help given at School Action.

The school may need to seek advice and support from specialist services outside the school. This is called School Action Plus.

This will also be the case if your child has significant emotional or behavioural difficulties or specific needs that require regular contact with or advice from specialists.

As with School Action, Staffordshire Education Service produces detailed guidelines for schools to use when providing for a child at School Action Plus.

Schools will ask for your permission before any outside advice is sought. The advice will depend upon the needs of your child, but may involve:

Educational Psychologists
Specialist Advisory Teachers
Behavioural Support Staff
Health professionals.

You may wish to share information with these people and can ask for a meeting to talk to them about your child. You are also entitled to have a copy of any report. The specialists can advise the school on IEPs and targets for your child. They may suggest particular teaching methods or behaviour management styles. They can advise on special resource materials, access needs, adaptations and specialist equipment. Their advice will usually be included in a new Individual Education Plan.

In time, the extra help given at School Action and School Action Plus may allow your child to make enough progress for the school to decide that his or her needs can now be met by the curriculum available to all pupils and special help may no longer be required.School should always talk to you before this decision is finalised.

Working with school

Your child will have the best chance of success if you work with the school.

You know your child better than anyone else, particularly what works at home. It can help if you are prepared to share your experience and good ideas with the staff at school.
Because teachers are seeing your child in a different environment from you at home they may have important knowledge and experience that they can offer you in return.
It is important to encourage your child and praise any achievements. You may find it helpful to set aside a specific time each day to talk with your child about school.
Try to be realistic in your expectations for your child. Small steps to success are important.
Teachers and other school staff will also benefit from your positive support and encouragement.
It is important to focus on your child's strengths as well as where there might be a need for additional support.
It may help to ask the question "What can we and the school do together to make something possible?"
Learning to play and share with other children will help your child develop good social relationships and build self-confidence.
Your child does need to be in school to take advantage of the education on offer. Try to avoid taking your child out of school during term time.

You can provide useful information to school about:

Any hobbies and interests your child enjoys.
How your child behaves at home.
Any changes in general health or well-being of yourchild.
Changes within your family which may affect your child.
Appointments, medical treatments or assessments outside school.
Difficulties with areas of school work or homework you may observe.

Most children's special educational needs can be met by their local mainstream school, using funding from the school's own budget. A small number of children with significant and complex needs may need a Statutory Assessment. This could lead to a Statement of Special Educational Needs, which describes a child's difficulties and sets out the appropriate educational provision they need. More information about statutory assessment. Last Modified: 04/09/2008 11:55:24
Back to top