If your child finds it harder to learn than other children of the same age or if your child has particular special needs, the school will provide the appropriate level of support.

In January 2002 the government is bringing in some changes to the provision for children with Special Educational Needs. This does not mean that the school will be changing the support for your child. It only means that the way we keep a register of the needs of your child will be slightly different and the 5 stages that were used previously have been replaced by two levels of support - School Action and School Action Plus.

We will continue to recognise your child's needs and  to provide help and support either in the classroom, in a small group or in a one-to-one situation. This support may only be needed for a short while to help your child catch up or learn ways of coping with specific difficulties. In certain cases, the support will be on-going and may involve the advice of other professionals.

If your child's teacher is concerned about your child's learning difficulties they will help your child in class and monitor progress. You may be invited to talk to the teacher and the SEN co-ordinator about it.

 School Support :- If the teacher continues to be concerned about your child's progress, the SEN co-ordinator will assess your child's learning difficulty and, together with the teacher, plan the special help being provided in the classroom. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) may be drawn up for your child which will be reviewed each term. You will be consulted and kept informed about your child's progress.

School Support Plus :- If the child does not make as much progress as expected, the school will ask for specialist advice or help from outside the school - for example, this may be from a specialist Teacher, an Educational Psychologist or a Speech and Language Therapist. The advice from the outside specialist will be used when drawing up the child's Individual Education Plan. You will be invited to talk to the specialist and your views will also be taken into consideration when planning the IEP.

If your child makes progress with the support provided, they may be moved within the register or removed from it.

If the child continues to struggle and there are obvious difficulties, the Headteacher may decide to ask the LEA to make a Statutory Assessment. The child will need to have significant learning needs for this process to be started.  The SEN co-ordinator will discuss the situation with you and reports and examples of the child's work will be sent forward to the LEA for consideration. This may lead to a Statement of Educational Needs. This is a document setting out a child's needs and specifying the extra help the child should get.

If a Statement is issued, the LEA and the school must immediately make the provision set out within it.

If you have any questions about the new Code of Practice or about your child's special  educational needs, please contact the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) at the school.  

Mrs Gill Thompson  SENCO

Here is a guide to some of the terms that you may hear :

C.D.C         Child Development Centre - a centre where a pre-school child's

                     needs can be assessed by various professionals

C.O.P         Code of Practice - Guidance for schools and local education authorities

                    about the practical help they can give to children with special educational

                    needs.

DfES           Department for Education and Skills

E.B.D        Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

E.P.            Educational Psychologist

H.I              Hearing Impairment

H.L.S.S       Herefordshire Learning Support Service

I.E.P           Individual Education Plan

Inclusion    Children are entitled to be educated in their local school whatever their  needs

L.E.A            Local Education Authority

L.S.A          Learning Support Assistant

Mainstream school- an ordinary school which caters for some children

                    with special educational needs.

M.L.D        Moderate Learning Difficulties

M.B.S.S      Medical and Behavioural Support Service

OFSTED    Office for Standards in Education - School Inspections

O.T.            Occupational Therapist

P.R.U          Pupil Referral Unit

S.E.C          Special Education Centre

S.E.N           Special Educational Needs

SENCo       Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

S.A.L.T      Speech and Language Therapist

S.L.D             Severe Learning Difficulties

S.M.O        Senior Medical Officer

Sp.L.D        Specific Learning Difficulties  (dyslexia and related difficulties)

S.S.A           Special Support Assistant

Statutory Assessment - A very detailed  multi-professional examination of 

                   a child's special needs. This is carried out by the LEA and may

                   lead to a statement.

T.A.           Teaching  Assistant

V.I              Visual Impairment