Useful links
Just One Norfolk
Help, advice and information from pregnancy through parenthood.
Young Minds
Advice and support for young people, parents and carers.
IPSEA Independent
Free special educational needs (SEND) legal information and advice for young people, parents and carers.
Ormiston Families
Taking early preventative action to create safe, healthy and resilient families.
Department for Education
Information on education, children’s services, higher education, further education, apprenticeships and skills in England.
National Autistic Society (NAS)
Support, guidance & advice for young people, parents & carers.
NANSA
Advice and support for young people, parents and carers.
Contact
Supporting families, bringing families together and helping families take actions for others.
Special Needs Jungle
Parent-led information, resources and informed opinion about children & young people 0-25.
Family Action
Advice and support for families on challenging, complex and difficult issues.
Down’s Syndrome Association
Information & advice for people who have Down’s syndrome, and their parents and carers.
SEND Local Offer Norfolk
Information, support & resources for anyone in the life of a child or young person (0-25) who has special educational needs & disabilities (SEND).
Frequently asked questions
SEN (SEND) is an acronym for Special Educational Needs (and Disabilities).
The legal definition of Special Education Needs and Disabilities is set out in Section 20 of the Children’s and Families Act. Section 20 (1) defines a child, or young person has special educational needs if “he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.”
Section 20(2) then defines a child, or young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she
- Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
- Has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
The Equality Act 2010 section 6 states the legal definition of a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
What ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ mean
- ‘substantial’ is more than minor or trivial, e.g. it takes much longer than it usually would to complete a daily task like getting dressed
- ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more, e.g. a breathing condition that develops as a result of a lung infection
- ‘Physical impairment’ is a condition which limits the ability to move, coordinate or perform physical activities, such as difficulty seeing, hearing, moving
Some conditions are not counted as a disability and these are explained further in the guidance on conditions that aren’t covered by the disability definition.
- Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD);
- Autism
- Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADD/ADHD);
- Specific learning difficulties such as Dyslexia;
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder;
- Communication difficulties;
- Medical needs such as Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy;
- Mobility difficulties.
- Anxiety
This is not a definitive list, and consideration is made to the four broad areas of SEN
- Cognition & Learning
- Communication & Interaction
- Social, emotional & mental health difficulties
- Sensory and/or physical needs
The SEN register is an internal school record that lists all the children in the school who may need extra support with their learning. It helps the school to identify and support those children with special educational needs and helps the school to monitor what support they provide for each child.
A pupil on the SEN Register has a special educational need that requires special educational provision to be made for them. Children or young people not on the SEN Register have their learning needs met through whole school educational provision which includes differentiation and reasonable adjustments.
Only a school can decide whether a child should be placed on the SEN register and that decision will be based around whether they require a specific special educational needs provision. They will base this decision on what happens in the classroom but they will also consider information received from parents, carers and other educational and health professionals.
It should be focused around an individuals needs and their ability to engage in and access learning and the social and physical environments of school. With particular attention on the child’s need for provision ‘different from or additional to’ that provided to their peers. This should be the guide for their placement (or not) on the SEN register.
More important than placing a child on the SEN register is the provision and support provided to them. Being on the register does not make a difference; how a school responds to the child’s needs through high-quality provision and inclusive practice does.
“A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age.” (paragraph 6.15) SEN Code of Practice.
The SEND Code of Practice does state that every school is “required to identify and address the SEN of the pupils that they support” (paragraph 6.2) and to record when they decide a child has SEN in the school records.
No. The notional SEN budget is to be used for any child who the school considers may have SEN.
‘This SEN budget should be used towards the costs of fulfilling their duty to use their ‘best endeavours’ to secure that special educational provision for their pupils with SEN is made.’ The notional SEN budget for mainstream schools: operational guide 2024 to 2025 Updated 1 August 2024
The requirement to identify this budget is set out as follows:
(3) When making the determination under paragraph (1) the local authority must identify within each budget share an amount calculated by reference to the requirements, factors and criteria specified in Part 3 which are relevant to pupils with special educational needs; such amount must be calculated using a threshold sum of £6,000 per pupil below which the school will be expected to meet the additional costs of pupils with special educational needs from its budget share. (The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2022, regulation 11 (3))
SEN support is the extra help provided to a child or young person to enable them to learn and make progress in their learning alongside other pupils of the same age.
SEN Support comes in many different forms, it could be adaptive teaching methods, the use of different materials, one to one support, the use of different equipment or aids (ie wobble cushion, pencil grip etc), a quiet space, anything that is felt can support an individual child to access their education.
SEN support is tailored to each child or young person’s needs and should be agreed with parents or careers in a SEN support plan which is regularly reviewed.
To find out more about what is expected at SEN Support level in Norfolk please see the Norfolk County Councils Provision Expected at Sen Support document (PEASS).
No. A diagnosis is not required to receive SEN support in school or to apply for an EHC plan.
SEN support should be needs led.
An EHC Plan is an Education Health and Care plan which is for children and young people up to the age of 25 who need more support than is available at SEN support level.
An EHC Plan identifies what educational, health and social care needs a child or young person has and what provision is needed to support those needs.
No, EHC plan’s are needs based. To be eligible for an assessment for a EHC plan you need to prove that
- your child or young person has or may have special educational needs (SEN); and
- they may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan.
This is the legal test set out in section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA 2014)
Anyone can request an EHC plan if they feel the child or young person has a special educational need.
- A young person age 16 to 25 can request an assessment for themselves
- A Parent, whether the child attends school or not
- A Carer
- A representative from a school or other educational establishment
- A social worker
- A Doctor
- Health Visitors
- A teacher
- A nursery
- Early years practitioner
- A family friend
- A professional or organisation including Youth Offending team, probation, foster carer
A request should be done with the knowledge and agreement of the parent or the young person (where possible)
EBSA is emotional based school avoidance and is a term used for people who can not attend school (or other educational establishments) due to emotional factors, such as anxiety, trauma, and other negative feelings and can often lead to prolonged periods of absence. Also referred to as school refusal, school anxiety and emotionally based school non-attendance.
EBSA may result in a child or young person
- Avoiding or taking much longer to get dressed in the morning
- Refusing to leave the house
- Showing physical and emotional signs of distress
- Illness such as headache, stomach ache, exhausted
- Reluctant to attend school for whole week
- Being unable to attend school at all
Anxiety can sometimes be a SEN need if it negatively affects a child’s or young person’s ability to learn. If anxiety creates a long term or substantial negative effect on a child or young persons ability to engage with day-to-day activities it can also be considered a disability under the Equality Act 2010.
EBSA may also occur as a result of having Special Educational needs and or disabilities. These needs could be diagnosed or require assessment, medical conditions or mental health difficulties.
