Frequently Asked Questions
Parents and Carers
What is SEN Support?
Every child with special educational needs should have SEN Support. This means help that is additional to or different from the support generally given to most of the other children of the same age.
The purpose of SEN support is to help children and young people achieve the outcomes or learning objectives set for them by the school in conjunction with parents and pupils themselves.
Every school must publish an SEN information report about the SEN provision the school makes. You can find this on the school’s website. You can also ask your child’s teacher or the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator for information on the SEN provision made by the school.
My child has SEN – what support should be put in place?
SEN support in nurseries, schools, colleges and other educational settings is based around the specific needs of each child or young person. The staff, equipment, resources and support that help your child are decided using something called the graduated response. This is an ‘assess, plan, do, and review’ cycle. That means if your child has special educational needs, the educational setting should:
assess what support they need
plan the support
do the support set out in the plan and then
review how well it’s working
Information about your child’s needs, support and goals should be written down in a plan, which is used by staff and updated regularly. As part of this process your child’s school will keep a record of this. This plan records a child’s educational, health and social care needs, the outcomes they are working towards, and the support provided.
What if I’m not happy with the support being provided?
If you are not happy about the help that your child receives the first step is to talk to their teacher, Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) or the headteacher. If you are still unhappy after speaking to staff you may be able to:
seek some help to put your concerns forward
make a complaint
ask for independent disagreement resolution or mediation
Sheffield SENDIAS can tell you more about each of these and help you decide what to do.If you think the nursery, school, college or educational setting is doing all it can but your child needs even more help, you can discuss with school about asking the local authority for an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment.
What is an Education Health and Care needs assessment?
An EHC needs assessment is a detailed look at the special educational needs (SEN) of a child or young person and the support they may need in order to learn.
Local authorities are responsible for carrying out EHC needs assessments under the Children and Families Act 2014.
The needs assessment brings together information about your child’s strengths and difficulties and the extra help they might need.
It includes information from:
you
your child
the early years’ setting school or college
other professionals who work with or support your child
The assessment is to see if your child needs an Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan).
What is an Education Health and Care Plan?
An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) describes a child or young person’s special educational needs (SEN) and the help they will get to meet them. An EHC Plan also includes any health and care provision that is needed. It is a legal document written by the Local Authority and is intended to ensure that children and young people with an EHC plan receive the support they need. In order to get an Education Health and Care Plan for your child, you must first request an Education Health and Care assessment.
How to refer:
We take referrals directly from parents, carers and young people
Telephone: 0114 2736009
Email: ssendias@sheffield.gov.uk
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