Support in School or College

If you have Special Educational Needs or a Disability, you should be given SEND support. This means help that is additional to or different from the support generally given to other students the same age as you. The purpose of SEND support is to help you to do your best. If your school thinks that you might need extra support, they should involve you and your parent or carer in deciding what support that might be.

There are lots of different types of SEND support, including:

• Extra help from a teacher or a learning support assistant
• Having access to different equipment
• Working in a small group
• Making sure you have understood things
• Having access to a base where you can work from or have quiet time

Who decides what support I should have?

Your school or college has a duty to identify students who have SEND. Teaching staff should work with the SENCO to assess each student’s needs, so that they give the right support. They should involve you and your parent or carer in this. Sometimes schools will seek advice from a specialist teacher or a health professional. They should talk to you and your parent or carer about this first.

Sometimes, your parent or carer might make school or college aware that you are struggling with something, or you might want to talk to school about things you are finding difficult yourself. If you or your parent or carer thinks you may need SEND support, you should talk to your teacher or to the SENCO.

If school or college decides that you need SEND support, they must tell you and your parent or carer. The school should talk with you about targets that will be set, what help will be provided to meet those targets and agree a date for progress to be reviewed. This should all be written in a SEND Support Plan, which is given to your parent or carer to sign and agree to. If you are 16 or older, the school should involve you directly.

School or college should review your progress, and the difference that the help you have been given has made, on the date agreed in the plan. You should be involved in the review and in planning the next step.

Your school or college has a duty to identify students who have SEND. Teaching staff should work with the SENCO to assess each student’s needs, so that they give the right support. They should involve you and your parent or carer in this. Sometimes schools will seek advice from a specialist teacher or a health professional. They should talk to you and your parent or carer about this first.

Sometimes, your parent or carer might make school or college aware that you are struggling with something, or you might want to talk to school about things you are finding difficult yourself. If you or your parent or carer thinks you may need SEND support, you should talk to your teacher or to the SENCO.

If school or college decides that you need SEND support, they must tell you and your parent or carer. The school should talk with you about targets that will be set, what help will be provided to meet those targets and agree a date for progress to be reviewed. This should all be written in a SEND Support Plan, which is given to your parent or carer to sign and agree to. If you are 16 or older, the school should involve you directly.

School or college should review your progress, and the difference that the help you have been given has made, on the date agreed in the plan. You should be involved in the review and in planning the next step.