Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Legally a child has special educational needs if they have a "learning difficulty" which calls for "special educational provision" to be made for them. 

A “learning difficulty” is where a child:

• Has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of their age;
• Has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the LEA; or
• Is under compulsory school age and falls within the definition above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.

Children do not have a learning difficulty just because their home language is different from one taught in school. Religion is also not considered to be a SEN. 
 

In England and Wales the government has adopted an approach to SEN support which is seen as a graduated response to meet these needs. There are three levels of support a child can receive:

1. School Action (SA)
2. School Action Plus (SA+)

(Together these two levels are often referred to as the “School Based stages")

3. A Statement of SEN – issued following a Statutory Assessment of a child’s SEN.

If your child has or probably has Special Educational Needs then please read and refer to the resources in this section which look at the ways in which they should be supported in school.