Parent and carer guide to SEN support

The aim of this guidance is to inform parents and carers of children who are identified as needing SEN support.

SEN support is the support given to a child in school to meet their Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities (SEND), without the requirement of an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP).

SEN needs are split into four broad areas as defined by the SEN Code of Practice 2014 as below: 

1. Communication and interaction
2. Cognition and learning
3. Social, emotional and mental health
4. Sensory and physical

It may be that your child has needs in more than one of these areas. Your child's school or setting are responsible for identifying that your child has needs and how they will meet these needs to enable your child to make progress. Further information about these areas of need can also be found on the Introduction to SEND page and in our SEN support guidance for mainstream schools.

If your child is identified as having special educational needs and or disability, the school special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) or a member of teaching staff who knows your child well should:

• gather all necessary information about your child and their needs, including results of assessments, pupil views, progress and attainment data, any observations and where appropriate information from other agencies
• meet with you to discuss this and explain how they have and will continue to identify your child's needs and remove barriers to learning
• share with you how they plan to reduce the barriers to learning by making sure the appropriate support Is in place to meet your child's needs
• work with you, your child and with advice from other agencies (if appropriate) to plan and develop a SEN support plan to identify what specific support your child will receive
• review progress and impact of support regularly (at least 3 times a year)

The national guidance (SEND Code of Practice) states that schools and settings should adopt and use a graduated approach to SEN support. There are 4 stages in this approach:

1. Assess - are your child's needs fully understood?
2. Plan - discuss, agree and plan the support for your child to achieve identified outcomes.
3. Do - the school or setting puts the support in place.
4. Review - review your child's progress to see if the strategies are helping.

Please note it may take several cycles of intervention before it is possible to identify the most effective strategies.

Following national frameworks (including Ofsted) in Stockton-on-Tees we have produced clear guidance of what would be expected for our schools and settings to provide for children at SEN support.

Schools and settings are expected to:

• adapt the physical environment to meet the needs of your child
• ensure that all staff make a positive contribution to the progress of your child
• have a plan for further professional training for staff to enable them to meet the needs of all learners
• recognise and respond to the need for pastoral support for your child
• have effective measures in place to deal with safeguarding issues
• ensure that all staff are aware of the needs of your child and understand them and know how to respond to them
• ensure that staff differentiate activities to provide suitable learning challenges for your child
• ensure that learners have the opportunity to work in different ways, for example, in groups, pairs and/or individually and collaboratively with each other
• ensure that your child receives feedback on their work
• ensure that resources are allocated and provided to ensure your child's additional needs are met
• work with other agencies and specialists effectively and know where to refer to for extra support
• work in partnership with you and your child throughout the 4-stage graduated approach (assess. plan, do, review)
• help your child to understand their own barriers to learning and to value their own achievements
• enable your child to feel they can approach staff and know that their opinions and concerns are valued
• ensure that transitions between all phases are smooth and planned (this can also be between classes)
• ensure that expertise is in place to manage examination arrangements for tests and public examinations
• ensure the SENCO is a qualified teacher employed by the school with the relevant qualification
• ensure the SEN information report reflects the support and expertise of the school

Schools are allocated funding for every pupil in the school (this varies with age). Schools are also allocated SEN funding (£6,000) per annum in their budget to pay for additional support that a child or young person may require. Schools would not receive this for every child at the school as the amount allocated to schools is decided through a funding formula.

In some instances, some children and young people with SEN support need more resource than the budget allocated (£6,000 SEN funding) will pay for to support them. In Stockton-on-Tees, schools and settings are able to apply to the Local Authority for additional funding to support a child, without the requirement of an EHC Needs Assessment.

To do this the school would make an application to the One Point Panel. The One Point Panel also offers schools and settings access to outreach and in reach support from our Enhanced Mainstream Schools (EMS), Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) support and advice from Local authority advisers and officers.

To make an application the school would need to include the following:

• comprehensive information about your child's additional needs (i.e.what they have done to assess the needs of your child)
• evidence over time of meaningful and purposeful action through the assess, plan, do and review cycle (for example, what have they done, has it worked, what have they adapted, has that worked) and including a costed provision map which details all the provision and support in place and the costs of this.
• signed consent from yourself.

The Local Authority expects schools and settings to monitor the impact of any agreed top up funding, through the assess, plan, do and review cycle.

Where can I find my child 's school's SEND information report?

It will be located on the school website. It will detail what systems and provision your child's school can offer. It has the name of the SENCO and the SEND Governor included in it. If you cannot find if ask the school SENCO or your child's class teacher to help you. There will also be a link to the Stockton-on-Tees Local Offer on the website where you will find lots of information about education, health and care services available locally.

Where can I find the national SEND Code of Practice?

View the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years on the Gov.uk website.

Chapter 5 focuses on the early years.
Chapter 6 focuses on school provision and practice.
Chapter 7 focuses on further education.

I don't think my child's school is meeting his or her needs, what can I do?

Ask to meet with your child's class teacher and the school SENCO to discuss your concerns. If you feel this has not resolved things, then ask to meet with the Headteacher or principal or manager. If you still feel your concerns are not being addressed, you are entitled to make a complaint following the school complaints procedure (details of how to do this should be available on the school website).

My child is still at nursery, does that make a difference?

The Code of Practice applies to all children and young people with SEND needs aged 0-25 years old. Our Stockton-on-Tees SEN Support guidance for mainstream schools includes early years providers and information about what early years providers must do.

My child has additional needs. What adjustments and support are schools expected to do to support them?

In our Stockton-on-Tees SEN support guidance for mainstream schools and settings we have described expected provision, possible strategies, adjustments, approaches and interventions that schools can use for the 4 areas of need. 

Contact details for further information or advice

SENDIASS

Email: SENDIASS@stockton.gov.uk

Phone number: 01642 527158

SEN Team 

If you would like further help or advice, or a PDF version of our Parent and carer guide to SEN support, contact the SEN team on:

Email: sensection@stockton.gov.uk

Phone number: 01642 527145