SEND support

Information about the support offered by schools to children with SEN, and about our SEND Support Plan

All educational settings, nurseries, schools, colleges and further education must make sure they meet the ‘reasonable’ special educational needs of children and young people they identify as needing extra support. Most educational settings should be able to meet the needs of the majority of children and young people with SEND. 

When a SEN has been identified, the education setting should start a cycle of actions to make sure they put effective support in place. This cycle is called the ‘Graduated Approach’ and involves four stages:

Assess

Teaching staff should work with the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) to assess your child’s needs, so they can give the right support. They should involve you in this process and, wherever possible, seek your child’s views. Sometimes schools will seek advice from a specialist teacher or a health professional. They should talk to you about this first.

Plan

If the school decides that your child needs SEN support they must tell you. The school should talk with you about the outcomes that will be set, what help will be provided and agree a date for progress to be reviewed. This is often done through a SEND Support Plan or a Co-ordinated Support Plan . 

Do

Our child’s teacher is usually responsible for the work that is done with your child, and should work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved. The school should tell you who is responsible for the support your child receives.

Review

The support your child receives should be reviewed by the date agreed in the plan. You can decide together with the teacher if any changes are necessary to the support plan.

SEN Support can take many forms which could include:

  • A specialised intervention programme 
  • New materials or equipment
  • Working with your child in a small group
  • Extra help from a teacher or learning support assistant(LSA)
  • Helping your child to take part in class activities
  • Supporting your child with physical or personal care (eating, getting around school, toileting or dressing).

SEN Support Plan

A SEN Support Plan will accurately identify and detail the learner’s educational need(s) and specify what support the school will put in place to ensure these needs are met. This should be reviewed on a termly basis in consultation with the parent and child. It should detail the outcomes they are seeking, the interventions and support to be put in place, the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour, and a clear date for review. 

A SEND plan should be considered by school when a child is needing more support than is needed by the majority of the children within the classroom despite quality first teaching being delivered. This should be a working document that is created by the class teacher (with the support of the SENDCo) and developed alongside parent/carers and the child or young person. The aim of a SEND Support Plan is to remove barriers to learning and to put effective educational provision in place. 

Many schools use a SEND Support Plan in Redcar and Cleveland. Some may call it an Independent Learning Plan (ILP), an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or Personal Learning Plan (PLP). They may also have a different format. It should include:

  • Short-term SMART targets set by teacher in collaboration with parent/carer and child
  • Teaching strategies/Interventions
  • Provision/support 
  • The  review date
  • Success and/or exit criteria 
  • Outcomes of the support and next steps

If a child has a SEND Support Plan, it is usual that they should be placed on the school’s SEND Register. Caregivers must be notified if learners are receiving special educational provision and are added to the SEN register. Schools should have a SEN registration form that they use to gather consent prior to placing the child onto the SEND register. 

Coordinated SEND support plans

For the small number of CYP whose needs are more complex and diverse, and for whom the SEND Support Plan has not achieved successful meeting of their needs, a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) will likely be helpful. This document describes the holistic needs of a child or young person, with considerable detail recorded to describe needs and strategies for how best to meet them.

Parents/carers will be central to this process; the child or young person’s voice will be heard to ensure that needs are understood and that approaches are sufficient and appropriate to meet them. It will be co-ordinated by the SENDCo.

The CSP will include contribution from relevant partner agencies and define agreed, measurable outcomes informed by shared dialogue and detailed consideration of all aspects of child or young person’s presentation of need. The CSP remains a working document, developed alongside the expanding understanding of need as well as their changing needs as they grow, change and mature.

For more information, you can contact SEN Services by calling 01642 304503 or 01642 304561 or by emailing SEN@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk

Alternatively, please visit Local Offer People's Information Network Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Services SEND Family Voice