What is SEND and what support is available?

What do we mean by 'special educational needs or disability' (SEND)?

Children and young people with SEND face barriers to learning, making it more challenging for them than for other children and young people of the same age. They may need different or additional support to help them thrive and reach their potential, and could have a range of needs that might change over time. The SEND Code of Practice categorises these needs into four broad areas.

1 Communication and interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have difficulty communicating with others. This may be because they have difficulty:

• saying what they want to
• understanding what is being said to them
• understanding or using social rules of communication

Each child's profile with SLCN is different, and their needs may change over time. They may have difficulty with one, some, or all aspects of speech, language, or social communication at different times in their lives.

2 Cognition and learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn more slowly than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. 

Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs. Moderate learning difficulties (MLD) or severe learning difficulties (SLD) may mean that children are likely to need support across all areas of the curriculum and may have associated difficulties with mobility and communication.

Profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) may mean children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment. 

Specific learning difficulties (SpLD) affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

3 Social, emotional, and mental health

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties that manifest in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. 

These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attachment disorder.

4 Sensory and/or physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. 

Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or habilitation support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties. 

Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.

Disability with or without special educational needs

A disability is a continuing physical or mental condition that makes it more difficult to carry out certain day-to-day activities. Children and young people with a disability may or may not have special educational needs. By the same token, not all children with special educational needs are disabled. 

A child or young person with a disability will only have special educational needs if the disability impacts their learning.

If you have concerns about your child or their progress, then you can talk to their:

• key worker (in nursery)
• class teacher (in primary school)
• form tutor or head of year (in secondary school)
• tutor (in college)

They will be able to offer advice and support in the first instance and may also speak to the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCO). You can also ask to speak with the SENDCO for further guidance.

Staff will work closely with you and your child to identify needs as soon as possible and to ensure appropriate support is put in place at the earliest opportunity.

At times, staff may seek advice from external professionals or other agencies who can offer additional support.

What to do if you think your child has special educational needs

Whether a child or young person has a disability and/or special educational needs, there are laws and guidance to help ensure that their needs are recognised and supported.

 If you have concerns about your child's progress:

• have you spoken to your child's school or setting about your concerns?
• does your child have an Individual Plan?

Who you should you speak to in school or setting

The first person to speak to is always your child's class teacher or form tutor.

You might want to do this at a parent consultation session or to make a separate appointment to see them. If you want to, you could ask for the meeting in writing or by email, setting out what you want to discuss.

After you have spoken to the key worker or class teacher, they may involve another teacher in the school, known as the SENCo.

The SENCo is responsible for day-to-day provision for pupils with special educational needs and provides professional advice to other teachers to help all pupils make progress. 

The centre manager, head teacher, and school governors also have legal responsibilities regarding children with special educational needs.

Who decides what SEN provision your child needs

Key workers or class teachers, supported by the senior leadership team and the SENCo, should make regular assessments of progress for all pupils. These should seek to identify pupils making less than expected progress, given their age and individual circumstances.

The school or setting should then decide if your child needs additional support. The school or setting should talk to you and your child about this.

If a young person is 16 or older, the school should involve them directly.

Sometimes you may be the first to realise that your child has special educational needs. If you think your child may need SEN support, you should talk to your child's key worker, teacher or the SENCo

If you are not happy with the support your child is receiving, you can ask to speak with the SENCo, headteacher, or centre manager.

Choosing the best school for your child with SEN

Every child is different, and schools vary in how they support additional needs. Visiting a range of schools can be a really helpful way to understand what is available and to see how different settings approach support. This can help you decide where your child is most likely to feel comfortable, included, and well supported.

Visit our schools and settings SEND information page for a list of all the schools in Oxfordshire, with a direct link to their SEND and inclusion policies.

The SENDIASS leaflet, Choosing a school (PDF format, 79 KB), also includes some questions you might like to ask during your visit. It helps to ask the same questions at each school. Our understanding if my child has SEND page includes some example questions you can ask.

If you are deciding which school to name in your child’s education, health and care (EHC) plan, the discussions you had with professionals during the planning process can help guide you. These professionals know your child well and can provide valuable insight into which setting best meets your child's needs. For many children, this will be the same local mainstream school they attended before the EHC plan was in place.

How a school or setting should help your child

All schools and settings must make 'reasonable adjustments' to support your child. They do this as part of a graduated approach to meeting needs.

Depending on your child's needs, this may include:

• differentiating tasks (for example, making tasks simpler or tailoring them to your child's ability)
• offering different ways of recording information (for example, labelling pictures, diagrams or flow charts)
• using multi-sensory activities
• breaking down learning into small, manageable steps
• helping your child to organise their written work by using writing frames
• allowing extra time to complete tasks
• keeping instructions short and clear
• constantly praising and encouraging the child for achievements made

Some children may work with a teaching assistant – before, during or at the end of a lesson. However, children should be encouraged to work independently whenever possible.

Your child or young person may have different types of observations and assessments to help inform the support they need to reach their learning, social and emotional potential.

Find more information about SEN support in mainstream schools.

How you can help your child cope with school

As your child has already been identified as having special educational needs, it is a good idea to ask to meet with the school's staff team and the SENDCO. You may already have a review meeting arranged to discuss your child's progress and support, but if not, you can contact your child’s teacher to request one.

You can explain at the meeting why you think your child needs more help. Perhaps you feel they are not making progress, are falling further behind, or just telling you and showing you that they are unhappy at school. You can ask to see evidence of the progress your child is making and talk through any changes you feel would support them.

The school might offer additional support or adapt how they teach your child. The school should always be able to show you what support your child is getting, how they are monitoring progress and who else is involved in planning their support, for example, an educational psychologist or a speech and language therapist.

Does your child need an EHC plan?

The special educational needs or disabilities of the great majority of children will be met effectively within mainstream settings through SEN support, without the local authority needing to make a statutory assessment. This statutory assessment is known as an education, health and care needs assessment (EHCNA).

In a very small number of cases, the local authority will need to make a statutory assessment of special educational needs and then consider whether to issue an EHCP. There are clear time frames set out for the stages of statutory assessment. The total length of the process should be no longer than 20 weeks. There is also a clear appeals process for parents and carers.

Find out more about education, health and care assessments and plans, including how to request an assessment.

Person-centred planning

Person-centred planning (PCP) is a way of working together and communicating positively with each other, always with the child or young person at the centre of the process.

The views, wishes and feelings of the child or young person will be at the heart of decision-making. PCP involves using a variety of tools and methods to develop the child's or young person's plan.

There are many different approaches to PCP, but they all centre on the child or young person’s views, wishes, feelings, aspirations and hopes for the future.