Education and SEND support

Your child’s teacher, the school SENCO and any other professional working with your child will meet you and your child to plan the support he or she needs. This plan is called a school SEN support plan. It will set out the extra help and support that your child will get. Your child might need this support only for a short time or for many years, depending on his or her needs.

This support may include:

• different ways of teaching certain things to your child following advice from a Specialist Teacher, Educational Psychologist or Therapist such as a Speech and Language Therapist
• some help from an adult (teaching assistant or parent helper)
• work in small groups
• use of special equipment such as a computer or a desk with a sloping top

They will describe the support that the school setting will be providing and review it with you and your child at least twice a year, probably every term. Following this period, if you and the school feel no progress has been made, an Education, Health and Care plan can be considered.

Download an example school SEN support plan (PDF).

If you have any concerns or would like to discuss interventions in your child’s support plan, please contact your child’s SENCO.

The school may think your child’s needs are more complex and need extra support which it cannot provide. In these cases, it might ask us to assess your child to see if they require an Education, Health and Care plan. This is called a referral.