SEND register

'Making higher quality teaching normally available to the whole class is likely to mean that fewer pupils will require such support. Such improvements in whole-class provision tend to be more cost effective and sustainable.' (SEN Code of Practice, 2015) 

The SEND Code of Practice (6.43) states 

'Where it is decided that a pupil does have SEN, the decision should be recorded in the school records and the pupil’s parents must be formally informed that special educational provision is being made' 

This means that most schools record this decision on a register known as the SEN register.  The SEN register is recorded on SIMS as E meaning the CYP has an Education, Health and Care Plan or K which means that the CYP has been identified as having an SEN need.  Some CYP also have N recorded against their name which can be ignored. 

To determine whether a child should go onto the SEN register, there are two questions to ask:

Does the CYP have a learning difficulty or disability?

A child or young person has a learning difficulty or disability if:

• they have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

• they have a disability which makes it difficult for them to use the facilities normally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or post-16 institutions.

Someone has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

Does that learning difficulty or disability call for special educational provision to be made?

Special educational provision is any educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children or young people of the same age. 

This is a wide definition, and could cover a wide range of things, for example:

having materials provided in a larger font

needing one-to-one support

communicating through sign language

needing small class sizes

Some children or young people may need additional support which is not a special educational provision; for example they might need certain treatments or medicines administered at school because of a medical condition they have. In order to be classed as having SEN, they must require support with education or training which is different from that given to other children or young people of the same age.

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then the child or young person has SEN.

A CYP who has an identified SEN will require staff to accurately record information to evidence the SEN support that has been provided over the pupil’s time in the school, as well as its impact. This is usually done in the form of a support plan or a provision map and will consist of targets and the provision from the school to support the CYP achieve those targets (see, Assess, Plan, Do, Review).