S

Safeguarding

The process of identifying children and young people who have suffered or who are likely to suffer significant harm, and then taking the appropriate steps to keep them safe.

School SEN Support

People who need extra specialist support but not an EHC plan. This may take the form of additional support from within the school or require the involvement of specialist staff or support services. The purpose of SEN support is to help children achieve the outcomes or learning objectives that have been set for them by the school.

SEND OAP Toolkit

The SEND Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP) Toolkit is a resource for schools and other education settings. It has provisions that should be available for children and young people with SEND.

SEND Code of Practice

It tells local providers and others what they must and should do to identify, assess and provide for children and young people with SEN or disabilities.

SEN Information Report

All schools must publish on their websites information about their policy and arrangements for supporting children with SEN.

SEMH

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH) needs are a type of special educational needs in which children and young people have severe difficulties in managing their emotions and behaviour. They often show inappropriate responses and feelings to situations.

SENDIASS

Special Education Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) offer free information, advice and support to parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs, and the young people themselves.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

A child or young person who has special educational needs may:

find it harder to learn than other people their age
face challenges that make it hard to go to school or college
need extra or different support to learn.

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO)

The SENCO is the person at a school who oversees making sure students who have special educational needs or disabilities get the support they need.

Special Educational Provision (SEP)

Special educational provision is a provision that is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils or students of the same age, which is designed to help children and young people with SEN or disabilities to access the National Curriculum at school or to study at college.

Special School

A school which is specifically organised to make special educational provision for pupils with SEN. Special schools maintained by the local authority comprise community special schools and foundation special schools, and independent special schools.

Specialist Services

Services provided by the local authority or health service to provide specialised services for children with acute or high-level needs.

Specific Learning Disabilities (SpLD)

An umbrella term used to cover a range of frequently co-occurring difficulties, usually dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, ADD and ADHD.

Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)

A wide range of difficulties related to all aspects of communication in children and young people. These can include difficulties with speech, understanding what others say, and using language socially.

Statutory Assessment

A process of the assessment referred to as education, health and care need assessment is conducted by the Local Authority for a child or young person 0-25. An EHC needs assessment is a detailed look at a child’s special educational needs (SEN) and the support her or she may need to learn.

How-to guides

Glossary