Who do I talk to about SEND?
Initially, please speak to your child’s class teacher. They are the person at school who knows your child best. If you would like to speak to Mrs Downs, our Inclusion Leader, please make an appointment via the school office or email Mrs Downs: aen@birchington.kent.sch.uk.
I think my child should be on the SEN register. Will this give them more support?
As a school we use the strategies outlined in The Mainstream Core standards to support the inclusion of all children. The school is bound by a definition of Special Educational Needs as set out by the legal framework, the SEN Code of Practice (2014). A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which
calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers.
Being SEN or being placed on a school’s SEN register is not because a child receives a diagnosis of a condition – it must be because educational provision is consistently different for them to enable them to make progress in their areas of difficulty. Parents must remember that if their child has a health condition or diagnosis, that this probably falls under the 2010 Equality Act and means that any school or educational provider must make reasonable adjustments for them, whether they are SEN or not.
We support children as their needs arise and teachers adapt work and their teaching delivery as necessary, maintaining interventions for those children that need something additional. Being SEN or not SEN does not change this.
If your child moves onto the SEN register, they will be classed as ‘SEN support’ and their teacher will identify long term outcomes for them to work towards.
I think my child is dyslexic - what can I do?
The British Dyslexia Association says, 'Dyslexia is a neurological difference and can have a significant impact during education, in the workplace and in everyday life. As each person is unique, so is everyone’s experience of dyslexia. It can range from mild to severe, and it can co-occur with other learning differences. It usually runs in families and is a life-long condition. It is a specific learning difficulty.'
We can only screen for dyslexia, and this will provide an overview of your child’s strengths and areas for development. Screening reports are then shared with teachers so they are aware of how to support your child through Quality First Teaching in the classroom. Therefore, we can screen your child for a possible dyslexic profile and to help us identify possible interventions, but this is not the same as a dyslexia diagnosis. We cannot diagnose dyslexia in our school. This would need to be an independent certified assessor.
It is an educational diagnosis that is life-long and results from high levels of psychometric testing that staff in primary schools are not qualified to use. A diagnosis is recognised under the Disability Discrimination Act (2010), permits an older child to have access arrangements at secondary school and adaptations in the workplace. This is private and comes at a cost. Assessors look for a discrepancy between a child’s general ability (like their IQ) and a child’s literacy skills.
Our teachers have dyslexia awareness training and can make adaptations to their teaching so that your child can access the curriculum like their peers. Very often, good strategies for dyslexic children are good for all children. Our focus is always on good teaching and good interventions, rather than the label.
More information about supporting your child with dyslexia can be found here.
I think my child has autism. What can we do?
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition. Therefore, any diagnosis of autism is a life-long health diagnosis and is not educational. There is no ‘test’ for autism. Instead, a paediatrician will collate evidence about a child’s social communication skills, repetitive or restrictive interests and sensory differences so that a judgement against particular health criteria can be made.
As a school we are able to make a referral for an assessment with parents’ consent, however the referral process can take up to 3 years.
If a child is displaying traits of autism, our teachers will implement appropriate support strategies even if your child has not received a diagnosis.
More information about supporting your child with autism can be found here.
I think my child has ADHD. what can we do?
As above, this is a health diagnosis. This is a behavioural disorder. The same principles apply – school can make a referral. Children with this need may display inattentive or hyperactive/ impulsive behaviour that is significantly different from the majority of the peer group and across different environments, to refer. Children usually cannot be referred until they are 6.
There is no test for ADHD. Instead, information is collated from home/school and a certain ‘threshold’ must be met when comparing parent and school scores – and the child is observed in clinic.
More information about supporting your chid with ADHD can be found here.
I think my child has some speech and language difficulties. What can we do?
We can run a speech link or language link screener. This identifies the speech sounds that the child might be muddling/substituting, or which areas of language (e.g. instructional, vocabulary, concepts, pronouns etc) they are weaker with. It helps us determine how severe a problem there may be, but it is a computer-based snapshot, and it is important to talk to you as a parent and glean information from the teacher.
It can also help us identify additional interventions your child may need, which will also provide evidence to help us make a referral to the NHS speech and language therapy team, if intervention does not have impact.
Some children experience a speech or language delay – the difficulty is likely to resolve itself or ‘catch up’ or could be a disorder, which is where more specialist intervention may be needed.
We know that children with speech and language difficulties may go on to have difficulties with learning, particularly literacy, though this is not always the case.
More information about supporting your child with speech and language difficulties can be found here.
I think my child needs a 1:1
Very few of our children need 1:1 support to make good progress. The vast majority of children learn when teaching is responsive to their needs and work is well differentiated. Class TAs are used to help scaffold children’s learning if they find things more tricky. Sometimes, 1:1 support can also lead to dependency on an adult (I can only learn when an adult sits next to me) and we all want your child to be an independent learner.
In some situations, we may need to apply for funding to provide a child with some key person/1:1 support. This is called High Needs Funding, and is for children that require bespoke approaches. Applications for this high level of support are stringent and require lots of plan/do/review, evidence and proof of what is spent already on a child’s support.
Please note that an EHCP does not ‘come with’ funding attached or a certain number of hours of 1:1 TA support. This happened in the old system of ‘statements of SEN’, but is not the case now.
I think my child needs an EHCP. What should I do?
This is an Educational Health Care Plan. This used to be called a Statement of SEN. An EHCP is a legal document owned by the Local Authority. It sets out a child’s needs, the provision needed to meet those needs, and the school placement. The criteria for an EHCP are stringent.
There is further information about EHCP on this website: https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/special-educational-needs/education-health-and-care-plans/what-happens-during-a-needs-assessment
On this web page there is also information about the ‘pathway’ and timelines, but the whole process, from request to ‘decision to issue’ the plan is 20 weeks. Sometimes, if there is a lack of evidence, the process stops at 6 weeks. If a parent is unhappy about a decision, they can appeal to the Local Authority.
A school can also make a request for an EHCP but need to be sure that they have sufficient plan/do/review (3 rounds of Provision Plans) and evidence of what has been in place (high levels of provision) not working. Schools also need to take an EHCP request to their local LIFT meeting so that specialists can determine if anything more can be done, before an EHCP is requested.
Can the school refer my child for a diagnosis?
Yes, the school can refer your child for a diagnosis of ADHD, ASD or other referrals needed such as Speech and Language. These referrals are completed by the Inclusion Leader with support of the class teachers.