I think my child might have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)

There may be times when your child seems to be having difficulty in learning a new skill or developing in a particular area.

As a parent you will want to know whether this is something you should be concerned about. It is important to remember that all children develop at different times.

If you think your child may have special educational needs talk to their teacher or contact the ‘SEN co-ordinator’, or ‘SENCO’ at your child’s school or nursery.

If your child is not at school or nursery speak to your GP or a Family Support Worker at your local children centre.

What is Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND)?

A child or young person has special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) if he or she has learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for him or her to learn than most other children and young people of about the same age.

Special educational needs could mean that a child or young person has:

Learning difficulties - in acquiring basic skills in an early years setting, school or college
Social, emotional or mental health difficulties - making friends or relating to adults or behaving properly in an early years setting, school or college
Specific learning difficulty - with reading, writing, number work or understanding information
Sensory or physical needs - such as hearing impairment, visual impairment
communication problems - in expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying
Medical or health conditions - which may slow down a child’s or young person's progress and/or involves treatment that affects his or her education

Definition of special educational needs and disabilities under the law

Section 20 of the Children and Families Act 2014 states that a child or young person has Special Educational Needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

For further information go to the UK Government legislation website.

The Equality Act 2010 definition of disability is that a person has a disability if:

A physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on a persons ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities

For further information go to the UK Governments legislation website.

Who to talk to

If you think your child may have special educational needs, contact the ‘SEN co-ordinator’, or ‘SENCO’ in your child’s school or nursery.

If your child is not at school or nursery speak to your GP, Health Visitor or a Family Support Worker at your local childrens centre.

You can also ask us for an assessment. Visit our Education, Health and Care Needs assessment page to find out more.

For further information please go to our web pages:

How can I be sure my child will not be discriminated against?

The Disability Discrimination Act states that education providers are not allowed to discriminate against disabled children or students by treating them less favourably without justification.

They must make reasonable adjustments so that disabled pupils are not put at a substantial disadvantage.

Schools are required to produce accessibility plans and provide information in their annual reports regarding arrangements for disabled pupils.

Visit the UK Governments legisaltion website to find out more.

Read the UK Government easy read guide on The Equality Act (PDF document).

What should I expect from my child's nursery, school or college?

Every education setting must do everything they can to make sure children or young person with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support they need. Every setting must publish information about how it supports children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities; this is known as their Local Offer.

Visit our directory to view each educational settings Local Offer information.

Ordinarily Available Provision

These guidance documents describes the provision that should be ordinarily available in mainstream schools, early years settings and SEND support settings in the Wokingham borough.

They have been developed in collaboration with a range of professionals and partners.

Read the:

Further support information

Find out about the support from the council and specialist education provision by going to:

What is the difference between a Summary of Assessment and an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

At the end of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment the EHC panel decides whether to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or a Summary of Assessment.

The Summary of Assessment is similar to an Education, Health and Care plan in that it still contains information directly drawn from the advice that the professionals who assessed your child provided. It will therefore include recommended strategies that will help your child access the curriculum. It is however not a ’ statutory’ plan as all the provision can be made from the resources which are normally available to schools and colleges

For information on what an Education, Health and Care plan contains go to the IPSEA website.

How are nurseries, schools and colleges funded to meet the SEND needs of their pupils?

Funding for nurseries and pre schools

If a child needs extra support a nursery or pre-school can make an application to the council for early years inclusion funding (EYIF).

Before applying for the EYI funding a setting has to have evidence of strategies that have already been used to support the child's needs. EYIF is only available to children receiving the free childcare entitlement and will only cover support required for the funded hours that the child attends for.

Funding for academies and free schools

Funding to academies and free schools is made direct to them by central government.

Maintained schools and nurseries

The funding available to maintained schools comes into the local authority as the Dedicated Schools’ Grant (DSG).

If a child needs extra support a maintained school and nursery can request extra funding from their local school cluster group. They can use this to pay for additional resources to support a child's learning.

For information about how funding is allocated read the Funding to support Learners who have Special Educational Needs (PDF document).

Funding for colleges

Colleges are expected to meet the special educational needs of a wide range of students from within their core funding, providing appropriate, high quality SEN support.

Colleges can receive top-up funding for a student without the need for an Education. Health and Care plan until a young person is 19 and beyond via the Education Funding Agency.

Education Health and Care Plans

If a child or young person needs more support than the SEN school based plan a parent, nursery, school or college can ask us to carry out an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. Young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years can also ask for an EHC needs assessment.

An Education, Health and Care Plan provides additional funding for the child or young person.

Read the Funding to support Learners who have Special Educational Needs (PDF document) to find out more about how funding is allocated.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Capital funding for pupils with EHC Plans

In 2018, the Department for Education provided all Local Authorities (LA) additional funding capital that LAs could use in developing or expanding education provision for children with additional needs.

You can find out how we are using that money below:

Related information

Further information

Please take a look at these sections for more information:

Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice provides guidance on how children with SEN can be helped by their parents/carers, pre-school settings, schools, further education colleges, sixth form colleges, 16-19 academies and the Local Authority (LA).

A guide for parents and carers (PDF document) has been produced to describe how the new special educational needs and disability system supports children and young people with SEN or disabilities and parents/carers.

Useful website

Useful websites and resources which go into more details about the SEND reforms:

Go to the Mencap website to download easy read guides on the changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system for parents and children and young people with learning disabilities
The Council for Disabled Children have produced a legal handbook with information on the rights of disabled children and their families
The IPSEA website has helpful information and resources on SEN and disability law
Special needs jungle