What is Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support?

SEN support is the specific help given to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to help them learn.

Watch our YouTube video for more information about SEN Support.

Who provides SEN Support

Mainstream schools provide SEN Support.

People who can help with SEN support in mainstream schools.

Who can get SEN Support

SEN Support is for all children and young people with SEND.

This is with or without an education, health and care (EHC) plan.

If you think your child or young person needs SEN Support

If you think your child or young person need SEN Support, you should talk to their school.

What to do if you have concerns about your child or young person's learning.

How does SEN Support work

Schools use the 'assess, plan, do, review' cycle to deliver SEN Support. This is to constantly review children and young people's needs. It means that as their needs change, the support they get can change with them. We also call this cycle the graduated approach.

This cycle happens once a term (three times a year). It can happen more often if needed.

Assess

The school gathers information about your child or young person's needs. They will:

• Ask for your views
• Listen to your child or young person
• Speak to specialists if needed

This helps them identify the child or young person's needs so that they can give them the right SEN Support.

Plan

You and the school will agree on:

• What support the school will give
• What goals your child will work towards

The school will write this into a SEN Support plan.

Do

The school puts the SEN Support in place, following the SEN Support plan. This could be:

• Extra help in class
• Small group work
• Special activities
• Adapted teaching methods
• Specific equipment and materials

They will try different types of SEN Support to learn what works best for your child or young person.

Review

You'll meet with the school to talk about what's working, what's not, and what needs to change.

The school will update the SEN Support plan to reflect what you have agreed.

Types of SEN Support

There are different levels of SEN Support.