SEND Support in Schools and Pre-Schools - WNC

Always speak to your child’s teacher or pre-school leader first if you are worried about your child's learning.

What will the pre-school, school, or setting do?

All academic establishments are required to identify and address the special educational needs of the pupils that they support. They must:

• use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEND gets the support they need - this means doing everything they can to meet the child or young person's special educational needs
• ensure that children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have special educational needs or disabilities
• prepare and publish an SEND information report

All education staff, including early years settings and colleges, expect to support children and young people with a variety of needs, defined in four broad areas as laid out in the SEND code of practice:

• Communication and interaction
• Cognition and learning
• Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
• Sensory and physical needs

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo or SENDco)

Every school must designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEND provision. This is the SENCO or SENDCo. If your child doesn’t progress despite well-targeted teaching, you or the teacher should speak to them.

They will work with your child's teacher to assess whether your child has special educational needs or a disability that will affect their learning (SEND). They will do this by talking to you and your child and looking at your child’s work, progress and behaviour.

If they think your child has a special educational need or a disability:

• the setting must tell you if they think your child has special needs and about what action they plan on taking
• they will put in place support and closely monitor progress

SEN support has four stages:

Assess - Identifying a child as needing SEND support after carrying out clear analysis of the pupil's needs.

Plan - Parents must be notified when their child is to receive SEND support although parents should have already been involved in the assessment stage. The setting,  parents and the pupil should agree the adjustments, interventions and support to be put in place as well as the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour along with a clear date for review.

Do - The class or subject teacher remains responsible for the pupil on a day to day basis with the support of the SENCO if required. Any intervention delivered by other school staff should be closely monitored by the responsible teacher.

Review - The effectiveness of the support and interventions and their impact on the pupil's progress should be reviewed in line with the agreed date. This evaluation will include the views of the pupil and their parents and feed back into the analysis of the pupil's needs and the next steps.

Children with medical conditions

If your child has a medical problem that affects their learning or access to education, discuss these issues with the education provider. They will work with you and any relevant health professionals to implement an effective health plan. A medical condition (such as diabetes)  is not considered to be a special educational need.

• DfE - Statutory Guidance on Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions (Link)
• WNC - How Schools Support Children With Medical Conditions (Link)

What happens if the support my child is receiving isn’t meeting their needs?

If you do not believe that the support is working effectively to support your child's progress, you should:

• In the first instance speak with the class teacher or SENCO to discuss your concerns
• You can contact the Information Advice and Support Service (IASS) for impartial advice and support
• If this does not resolve your concerns you can follow the school's complaints policy and contact the head teacher, the SEND governor, or chair of governors depending on the school's policy.

Schools and pre-schools have a designated part of their funding budget to support children with special educational needs and disabilities

• West Northamptonshire Council schools are able to apply to the SEND Funding Panel to request help with funding appropriate support packages for children with special educational needs.
• Early years providers are able to apply to the Early Years Panel 

These arrangements are for pupils funded by West Northamptonshire Council (pupils who are resident in West Northamptonshire). If you are not sure who is the responsible funding authority, please email [email protected].

SEND Support Service (SSS)

If a child or young person has significant or complex needs, a parent, education provider or young person (aged 16+) can request support from the SEND Support Service.

Requests for Statutory Assessments of Special Needs

The school, setting or family can make a request for a statutory assessment (RSA) of special educational need. This is a 20 week process and schools, settings or families will need to provide evidence of the special educational need in order for the local authority to consider whether a statutory assessment is required.

• You can find more information about the RSA process on the EHC webpages

Further Information:

• WNC - Early Years and Childcare (Link)
• WNC - Support in the Early Years (Link)
• WNC - Support for School-Age Children (Link)