What is SEND?
The Special Educational Needs (SEND) Code of Practice: for 0 to 25 year olds (Statutory guidance for organisations which work with and support children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities), is the document which gives guidance on increasing options and improving provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs.
This definition appears at the beginning of the SEND Code of Practice:
A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they:
- have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or
- have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would so do if special educational provision was not made for them (Clause 20 Children and Families Bill).
At Kingfisher CE Academy we are aware that children are all different and make progress at different rates. We all have different ways in which we find it easiest to learn, remember and use information and skills. Our teachers take account of this in the way they organise and teach their lessons. Children making slower progress or having particular difficulties in one area may be given different resources or ways to learn or access support in a different way to help them succeed.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities could mean that a child has:
- Cognition and Learning needs - in acquiring basic skills in school. This also includes Specific Learning Difficulties, such as Dyslexia, which impact upon the development of reading, writing, number work or understanding information
- Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs - making friends, relating to adults or regulating their emotions and needs in school
- Physical and Sensory needs - such as hearing or visual impairment, which might affect them in school
- Communication and Interaction needs - in expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying
- Medical or health conditions - which fall under any of the above categories and may significantly impact upon a child's progress and/or involves treatment that affects their education.
