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A
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| Annual
Review |
The review of a Statement of
Special Educational Needs (SEN) which a Local Education Authority
(LEA) must make within 12 months of making the Statement.
The LA must check your child's progress and make sure the statement
continues to meet their Special Educational Needs. A review
must be held at least once a year, but can be done sooner if
necessary.
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| Assessment |
Assessment is a legal process
where the Local Authority will ask a number of professionals
to give their views on your child. The Local Authority will
ask for advice from the Educational Psychologist, your child's
school, you and any other professionals who are involved with
your child. |
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C
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| Code
of Practice |
This is produced by the Government
to guide schools and LEA's in how to help children with SEN.
Parents can get copies from the DCSF (their telephone number
can be found on the Useful Telephone
Numbers page). |
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E
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| Educational
Psychologist (Ed Psych) |
A person who has trained in psychology to understand
more about the way children think, learn and behave and who
may also be a qualified teacher. They can help find out why
some children are having more difficulties than others in school. |
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| Education
Social Worker (ESW) |
The
Education Social Worker's work by inviting schools to discuss children
whose irregular attendance is causing concern. They then make contact
with parents either by telephone, letter or home visit. Education
Social Workers will always work with parents and schools to try to
bring about improvements in the level of attendance and also the child's
well being at school.
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G
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| Grant-Maintained
School |
A
school where the parent and governors have voted to take it out of
local authority control. |
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I
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| Independent
Parental Supporter (IPS) |
A person
to whom all parents should have access, if they wish. The IPS
must be someone who can support parents, for example by attending
meetings, encouraging parental participation and helping the
parents/carers understand the SEN framework. Independent means
someone who is independent of the decision making process that
determines the type and level of support for a child with special
educational needs. IPS's will often be someone from a voluntary
organisation, a Parent Partnership Service, another parent or
a friend. |
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| Individual
Education Plan (IEP) |
Details of the additional help your child will receive,
the targets set and the arrangements for reviewing progress.
It is a working document for all teaching staff recording key
short-term targets and strategies for an individual pupil. IEP's
should be discussed with parents and the child and they should
be consulted as part of the review process. |
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| Independent
School |
These
are schools that are not maintained by a LEA. Some are run by charitable
trusts and organisations, particularly those catering for SEN. They
usually charge fees. Children with Statements can only go to Independent
Schools if they have been approved by the Secretary of State as being
suitable.
LEAs usually only place children in independent or non-maintained
schools if they have very specialist educational needs which cannot
be met within an LEA school. |
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L
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| Local
Education Authority (LEA) |
Local
Government responsible for making statutory assessments and maintaining
statements. They are part of your local council and fund maintained
schools. |
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M
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| Maintained
School |
A
state school, whether under local authority control; grant maintained,
voluntary school: maintained or grant-maintained special school. |
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| National
Curriculum |
This
is a statutory legal provision of what should be taught and setting
attainment targets for learning. All children are entitled to it.
It also sets out how performance will be assessed and reported. |
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N
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| Non-maintained
Special School |
A non-profit
making school which charges fees. Most non-maintained special schools
are run by charities or charitable trusts.
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S
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| SEN
Co-ordinator (SENCO) |
Teacher
in school or early education setting who has responsibility for co-ordinating
special educational needs (SEN) provision within that school.
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| Special
Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) |
An
independent body established under the 1996 Education Act that hears
appeals by parents against LEA decisions on assessments and Statements.
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| Special
School |
A
school which takes a small number of pupils and all those pupils have
Statements. The staff of special schools have additional specialised
training and skills to meet the learning and social needs of their
particular pupils.
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| Statement
of Special Educational Needs |
A
legal document that sets out your child's special educational needs
and all the extra help he or she would receive. |
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| Statutory
Assessment |
Statutory
Assessment is a formal procedure which involves the collection of
information from as many people as possible. Assessment works best
when all involved, parents, school staff, health and social services,
psychologists and other LEA staff work in partnership to secure the
best outcome for the child. |
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T
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| Time
Limits |
The
whole process, from the LEA proposing to make an assessment, to the
sending of the final Statement, should usually take no longer than
six months.
The LEA may take longer if other professionals do not submit their
report on time or if children and their parents do not keep appointments.
If there is to be a delay, this should be explained to the parent
or carer.
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