What are special educational needs?

A child or young person has a Special Educational Need or Disability (SEND) if he or she has learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most other children of about the same age.  Many children will have special educational needs of some kind during their education. Our school can help most children overcome the barriers their difficulties present quickly and easily. A few children will need extra help for some or all of their time in school.

So SEND could mean that a child has:

• Learning difficulties – in acquiring basic skills in school
• Emotional and behavioural difficulties – making friends or relating to adults or behaving properly in school
• Specific learning difficulty – with reading, writing, number work or understanding information
• Sensory or physical needs - such as hearing or visual impairment, which might affect them in school
• Communication problems – in expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying
• Medical or health conditions – which may slow down a child’s progress and/or involves treatment that affects his or her education
• Physical impairment - substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities

It is important to remember that children make progress at different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. Teachers take account of this in the way they organise their lessons and teach. Children making slower progress or having particular difficulties in one area may be given extra help or different lessons to help them succeed.  You should not assume, just because your child is making slower progress than you expected or the teachers are providing different support, help or activities in class, that your child has special educational needs. 

As a school, when a child is highlighted as having a difficulty / barrier to learning they are assessed and progress monitored. Assessments take many forms from observations, discussions with the child and teacher, use of appropriate screeners and more formal assessment tools as detailed in the SEND policy. From the information obtained, support strategies and / or interventions are put in place. These are monitored and additional advice can be obtained with the consent of parents, if we feel that more individualised support is needed, utilising the Local Offer. 

A small number of our children at Birchington CE Primary School are at the early stages of learning English (EAL pupils).  Being EAL is not a special educational need in itself. We recognise that some children may be EAL and have a SEND.

Pupil progress is monitored three times a year at Birchington and data is formally shared with parents and carers and the class teacher.  Mrs Downs or the class teacher may contact you if we have a concern about any aspect of your child's development.  If you have any concerns, the school has a very open-door policy and staff will always meet with you to discuss any worries you have - no matter how small.

Special Education can be split into 4 main areas of need:

Cognition and Learning (C&L) – How children learn, retain and process information

Communication and Interaction (C&I) – Their understanding and use of speech and communication

Social, Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) – How they interact with others, how they feel about themselves and the world around them

Physical and Sensory (P&S) – A physical disability or a sensory need.

Your chid may have a number of needs and their primary need is the one which impacts upon them the most.

If your child needs additional support above and beyond that of ordinary classroom practise, they will be added to our SEND list. SEND stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. This will be discussed with you by the class teacher or Inclusion Leader.

They will have a Personal Plan. This is an in-school plan which shows your child’s need, their targets, the provision (extra support) they are receiving and the progress they are making. You will have a discussion about the plan with your child's class teacher at Parents Evening (3 times a year). We will ask you to sign these at each meeting.

Your child will also be named on a Provision Map. This is a whole class or whole year group plan which shows all of the provision (extra support) that is in place for that class/year group. This are also amended 3 times a year and your child's information is added to their Personal Plans.

EHCPs or Education Health Care Plans are a legal document that describes a child's special educational, health and social care needs. It explains the extra help that will meet those needs and how that help will support the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life. An application to Kent SEND needs to be made for this. An EHCP is for those who need even further additional support beyond which the school has provided in the Provision Map and Personal Plan and it will stay with them throughout their education, unless it is no longer needed, even when they move schools. If your child has an EHCP, you will be asked to attend 3 meetings a year and an Annual Review so that progress can be monitored and targets altered as necessary. These meetings will be with the Inclusion Leader and the Personal Plan will be discussed at these meetings.

If you have any questions about the EHCP process please arrange a meeting with Mrs Downs.

Schools are able to apply for additional funding (High Needs Funding) for children who require more money to support their education than is already allocated to them. This funding is currently agreed until August 2025. Kent SEND decide if any additional funding is given based on the school's application. The school will then allocate this funding (if granted) to areas which best support the child’s needs. This may be, for example, an adult to support them in the classroom, technology or equipment.