Parent’s General Information

There are two main sources of SEND information that parents can access from a school website; the Special Educational Needs Policy and the School SEND information Report.

What is a SEND information report?  

SEND information reports are intended to tell you how the school’s SEND Policy is used.  How help and support for pupils with SEND works in that setting.  What happens and how, not what they aspire to.  The SEND information report should be written in a way that makes the information clear and meaningful for parents.

Schools must publish a SEND information report about their provision and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.  Schools should publish this information on their school website so that young people, parents and other professionals can find it easily.   

What should be included in a school report?

As in previous years, schools should decide the appropriate level of detail required within reports recognising that pupils may not have completed their full year’s education.  This decision needs to take account of the availability of staff to write and prepare reports, as well as the information that they can reasonably access. 

The information to be included in the report is set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disability regulations 2014 Schedule 1)   

51.   “For the purpose of section 69(3)(a) of the Act the SEN information which the governing body or proprietor of every maintained school, maintained nursery school and Academy school (other than a special school that is established in a hospital) must include in a report containing SEN information is set out in Schedule 1.”

  

The SEND information report should be updated annually with any changes occurring during the year.  

If SEND Support is not sufficient to meet a child’s educational needs, they may need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)  A parent or school can ask the local authority for an EHC Needs Assessment to see whether they are eligible for an EHCP.  If the young person is over the age of 16 they can request one themselves.

Legislation and law:  these are the 2 main documents that govern Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

SEND code of practice:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25        Guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0 to 25, from 1 September 2014.   
The code states that a school has a duty to support all pupils and to provide help for pupils who are not meeting the required standards for a pupil of that age even if it is only in one or two areas.

Children and Families Act 2014   (Full Act of law)

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/part/3

________________________________________________________________________

SEND Advice from British Dyslexia Association:

Assessing your child’s needs        You should talk to your child’s teacher or the school’s SENCo about your concerns. Alternatively, if a teacher or SENCo has concerns they should contact you to discuss you child’s difficulties and the appropriate support to put in place. If the young person is over the age of 16 they should be fully involved in designing their own SEN support and provision.

The SENCo should spend time with your child to work out what kind of extra support they might need. Every child’s SEN Support needs are different, depending on what kind of difficulties they have and how serious these are. If necessary, other specialists, such as an educational psychologist, may be involved.

Planning SEN Support     You and your child’s educational setting, for example, preschool/school or college need to agree how your child will benefit from any SEN Support they get. You should be fully involved in discussions about the support that should be put in place for your child. If your child is 16 or over, they should be involved in this process.

Putting the plan into action    Your child’s educational setting will put the planned support into place. Their teacher remains responsible for working with your child on a daily basis. However, the SENCo and any support staff or specialist teaching staff involved in providing support should work closely to track your child’s progress and check that the support is working.

Review the outcomes of the support      The SEN Support should be reviewed at the time agreed in the initial plan. Teachers and parents should work together to decide whether the support is having a positive impact, whether the agreed outcomes are being met and if any changes need to be made.

Other Support & Information – Parents

If you need more help, contact our Helpline or SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Information, Advice and Support Service) in your area.

The SENDIASS offers free, confidential and impartial information, guidance, advice and support.  It is available to all children, young people and parents and carers of children and young people.

Northants (IASS) – 01604 3640772   Email: contact@iassnorthants.co.uk

Milton Keynes – 01908 254 518     Email:  mksendiass@milton-keynes.gov.uk

Bucks – 01296 383 754    Email: sendiass@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

_________________________________________________________________________

Empowered Parents  –  Supporting a young person with dyslexia and getting the services they are entitled to.  Published by the British Dyslexia Association.

https://cdn.bdadyslexia.org.uk/documents/Empowered-Parents.pdf?mtime-20200324144644

______________________________________________________________________

NBDA Parent Forum and meetings for members.

If you are interested in joining our parent closed forum, please go to our Facebook page and click on the link for ‘Groups’ and select ‘NDA Parent’ group where you can make an application to join.  

If you would like to have an informal confidential chat about you or your child’s situation, or arrange a diagnostic assessment/private dyslexia related tuition for your child or young person, please either contact our helpline 01604 328 075 or email us at info@nbda.org.uk  and one of our specialist team would be happy to discuss things with you.