Assessing a child or young person for special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities

If a school or nursery decides your child has special educational needs, they should provide a written record of your child’s needs and the extra support in place. Sometimes this is called a SEN support plan.

SEN support can take many forms, including:

• A special learning programme for your child
• Extra help from a teacher or assistant
• Making or changing materials and equipment
• Observing your child in class or at break and keeping records
• Making sure your child has understood things by encouraging them to ask questions and to try something they find difficult
• Supporting your child with physical or personal care, such as eating, getting around school safely, using the toilet or dressing.

Who may help provide SEN support?

SEN support could include teaching differently or help from an extra adult. Sometimes your child or young person may get help from a specialist. This may include:

• Educational psychologists
• Child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
• Specialist teachers or SEND support services – such as teachers qualified to work with specific needs such as visual impairment, deafness, communication problems, etc.
• Therapists - such as speech therapists or occupational therapists

At this stage consideration may be given to providing an inclusion grant via SEN Inclusion Funding (SENIF), available to support the inclusion of children with SEND to access an early years setting. For school aged children attending a Bromley mainstream school, a Funded Inclusion Plan (FIP) can be granted.

Inclusion Support Advisory Team

The Inclusion Support Advisory Team (ISAT) provides an information and support service to SENCOs and Inclusion Leaders in mainstream primary and secondary schools to help with the inclusion of children and young people that have special education needs, a disability or additional needs but do not have an Education, Care and Health Plan.

Funded Inclusion Plan (FIP)

A FIP provides a source of time-limited, non-statutory top-up funding for school-age pupils currently receiving SEN Support who both attend Bromley mainstream schools and who live in Bromley. 

A FIP can provide additional resource to help a pupil by:

• reducing their barriers to learning, through targeted interventions 
• enabling them to access the curriculum at their stage of development
• helping them to make good progress from their individual starting points

Find out more about Funded Inclusion Plans

Reviewing the SEN support plan

The school will review the SEN support plan regularly with you and any professionals involved. The review will help identify the rate at which your child is progressing and if the amount and type of support needs to change.

Involving you and your child

You and your child are central to deciding what action to take, what you want it to achieve and whether it's working.

The school must:

• Work closely with you and your child to identify your child's needs and support take into account you and your child's concerns, views, agreed outcomes and next steps
• Include you in any decision to involve specialists
• Share details of the support plan with you and agree a review date
• Ask you and your child for your views when reviewing the SEN support plan.

Need more help?

Contact the Information, Advice and Support Service for free, impartial information, advice and support for parents and carers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Support is also offered to children and young people with SEND. They can also help provide information in a non-web format.