How schools and colleges support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Find out how schools and colleges work with you and your child to provide support with SEND.

Assessment and support

Children and young people are individuals. They make progress at different rates and learn in different ways. Your child’s school or college will let you know if they think your child has special educational needs.

To support your child, they will use the Assess, Plan, Do, Review process. This is also known as the graduated approach. Find out more about the graduated response in the government’s SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years old.

Help to learn

Teachers regularly assess children's progress. They use these assessments to help them organise lessons and choose different learning materials and activities (differentiation) to give every child the best possible chance of learning. This is known as Quality First Teaching (QFT).

Most children and young people with SEND can get the support they need from their school or college and specialist support teams, such as the Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service. This is known as SEN Support.

SEN support may include:

  • a special learning programme for your child
  • extra help from a teacher or an assistant
  • making or changing learning materials, or equipment
  • observing your child in class, at break time, and keeping records
  • making sure your child understands things by encouraging them to ask questions and try something they find difficult
  • supporting your child with physical or personal care, such as eating, dressing, going to the toilet and getting around the school safely
  • additional input from specialist services

A small number of children may not be able to get the level of support they need from SEN support. If this happens, your child may need an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) assessment.

About Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators (SENCO)

All schools in England follow the same law that explains how children with special educational needs and disabilities must be supported.

All infant, junior, primary and secondary schools have a Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO).

Secondary schools may have Inclusion Co-Ordinators and assistant SENCOs. Colleges also have staff who support students with additional needs. They also have learning support departments.

SENCOs and staff who support children oversee day-to-day SEN support. This includes:

  • helping to identify special educational needs
  • communicating with staff and professionals outside the school or college
  • reporting information on how children and young people are supported

Help with school trips

When it's safe and possible to do so, schools have a duty to support children with SEND so that they can go on school trips.