SEN Support
Last updated:About SEN Support
Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support is the name given to the special educational provision that is delivered within a mainstream school – that which is different from or additional to what is typically available for children and young people.
It describes support that goes beyond quality first teaching, and as such can include intervention programmes, targeted assistance from TAs or LSAs, and the potential involvement of external agencies.
SEN Support is also the name given to the category/status of learners in receipt of such provision, as distinct from those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). On the Department for Education’s school census return, those pupils at SEN Support would be given a K code.
Levels of support
Universal support
Universal support, quality first teaching for all in the classroom.
Record of concern
Quality First Teaching, high expectations of students, will need differentiation according to their need.
May or may not have a diagnosis.
May have small group interventions such as lexia, nurture.
Needs met mainly within the classroom through high quality teaching.
SEN Support
Has higher need of support, mostly met with QFT, but will also have one to one possibly bespoke interventions.
May have external agency support and additional funding and some LSA support in lessons.
EHC
High level of complex needs, statutory provision.
Additional funding.
Mostly met with QFT in lessons but will have additional support.
Good practice
SEN Support is therefore a broad concept, capturing a wide range of type, depth and complexity of special educational needs.
Buckinghamshire Council’s SEN Toolkit aims to provide information, guidance and resources to help assist schools with the delivery of SEN Support to the children and young people who present with these special educational needs.
Good practice in terms of SEN Support within schools should include:
- Quality First Teaching
- Making reasonable adjustments where necessary
- Keeping expectations high and achievable
- Securing excellence in support and provision for vulnerable groups of pupils
- Strong teaching and learning
- Well-designed curricula
- Adjusting the pace of lessons to reflect how children and young people are learning
- Differentiating language and tasks to support learning
- Completing accurate assessment and identification – supported through moderation tasks
- Having clear routes to gain specialist external support such as CYP Therapies (speech and language therapy, occupational therapy) and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).