New SEN Code of Practice

The new SEN Code of Practice came into effect this month. Click here to view the full version.

Children with special educational needs or disabilities will mainly be supported in their learning in school. This used to be called "School Action" and "School Action Plus" Where children on "School Action Plus" may have a higher level of support and Interventions in place often including External agencies such as the Educational Psychologist, the Community Pediatrician, Speech and Language Therapy services or the Special Educational Needs Support Service (SENSS). We still have a graduated response to the individual children's needs but under the new legislation this is known as "In school Support" In cases where a child's needs are more profound and other agencies and meeting regularly to implement interventions and support, there may be an "Education Health and Care Plan".  These plans replace the existing Statement of Special Educational Needs and are far more child and family focused.

There are four areas of need identified in the Code of Practice;

Cognition and Learning

Support for learning difficulties may be required when children and young people learn at a slower pace than their peers, even with appropriate differentiation. Learning difficulties cover a wide range of needs, including moderate learning difficulties (MLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD), where children are likely to need support in all areas of the curriculum and associated difficulties with mobility and communication, through to profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), where 98 children are likely to have severe and complex learning difficulties as well as a physical disability or sensory impairment. 6.31 Specific learning difficulties (SpLD), affect one or more specific aspects of learning. This encompasses a range of conditions such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.

Communication and Interaction

Children and young people with speech, language and communication needs
(SLCN) have difficulty in communicating with others. This may be because they have
difficulty saying what they want to, understanding what is being said to them or they
do not understand or use social rules of communication. The profile for every child
with SLCN is different and their needs may change over time. They may have
difficulty with one, some or all of the different aspects of speech, language or social
communication at different times of their lives.

Children and young people with ASD, including Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism,
are likely to have particular difficulties with social interaction. They may also
experience difficulties with language, communication and imagination, which can
impact on how they relate to others.

Social Emotional and Mental Health

Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder. 6.33 Schools and colleges should have clear processes to support children and young people, including how they will manage the effect of any disruptive behaviour so it does not adversely affect other pupils. The Department for Education publishes guidance on managing pupils’ mental health and behaviour difficulties in schools – see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link.

Sensory and or Physical needs

Some children and young people require special educational provision because they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of the educational facilities generally provided. These difficulties can be age related and may fluctuate over time. Many children and young people with vision impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI) or a multi-sensory impairment (MSI) will require specialist support and/or equipment to access their learning, or habilitation support. Children and young people with an MSI have a combination of vision and hearing difficulties. Information on how to provide services for deafblind children and young people is available through the Social Care for Deafblind Children and Adults guidance published by the Department of Health (see the References section under Chapter 6 for a link). 6.35 Some children and young people with a physical disability (PD) require additional ongoing support and equipment to access all the opportunities available to their peers.