Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice 2015 the governing body or proprietor of every maintained school, maintained nursery school and academy schools, must publish information for identifying, assessing and making provision for pupils with special education needs (SEN), regardless of whether they have an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan or not.
Whilst this duty does not apply to independent schools and nurseries or post-16 colleges, they are encouraged to provide details of the support available to pupils with SEN.
Every school must:
- Prepare a Schools SEN Information Report giving detailed information about their provision and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
- Review the SEN Information Report at least annually, and when there are significant changes needed, to ensure it is accurate and up to date.
- Publish the Schools SEN Information Report on the school website so that families and professionals can find it easily.
The SEN Information Report (SIR) sets out how a setting applies their SEN policy in practice and is different to the SEN Policy.
A SEN Policy contains information and detail about the school's mission, values, vision and aims for pupils with additional needs. It should include information about the laws and rules that affect the day-to-day processes related to students with additional needs.
We have set out below what should be included in the SEN report, however full details can be found in Schedule 1 of the SEND Regulations 2014 and Section 6.79 of the SEN Code of Practice. There is no requirement for settings to follow a particular template or format.
Schools should ensure the information includes:
- The kinds of special educational needs for which provision is made at the school.
- Information, in relation to mainstream schools and maintained nursery schools, about the school's policies for the identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs.
- Information about the school's policies for making provision for pupils with special educational needs whether or not pupils have EHC plans, including:
- how the school evaluates the effectiveness of its provision for special educational needs (SEN) students
- the school's arrangements for assessing and reviewing the progress of pupils with special educational needs
- the school's approach to teaching pupils with special educational needs
- how the school adapts the curriculum and learning environment for pupils with special educational needs
- additional support for learning that is available to pupils with special educational needs
- how the school enables pupils with special educational needs to engage in the activities of the school (including physical activities, school trips etc) together with children who do not have special educational needs
- support that is available for improving the emotional, mental health and social development of pupils with special educational needs
- In relation to mainstream schools and maintained nursery schools, the name and contact details of the SEN co-ordinator.
- Information about the expertise and training of staff in relation to children and young people with special educational needs and about how specialist expertise will be secured.
- Information about how equipment and facilities to support children and young people with special educational needs will be secured.
- The arrangements for consulting parents of children with special educational needs about, and involving such parents in, the education of their child.
- The arrangements for consulting young people with special educational needs about, and involving them in, their education.
- Any arrangements made by the governing body or the proprietor relating to the treatment of complaints from parents of pupils with special educational needs concerning the provision made at the school.
- How the governing body involves other bodies, including health and social services bodies, local authority support services and voluntary organisations, in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and in supporting the families of such pupils
- The contact details of support services for the parents of pupils with special educational needs, including those for arrangements made in accordance with section 32. Section 32 relates to mediation services that help resolve disagreements between parents and the local authority regarding SEN provisions.
- The school's arrangements for supporting pupils with special educational needs in a transfer between phases of education or in preparation for adulthood and independent living.
- Information on where Surrey's local offer is published: Surrey Local Offer
- Organise the information logically to make it easy for readers to follow. Include a contents page to help them find information quickly.
- Link to sources of information including Surrey's Local Offer, in particular highlight relevant policies and services. Also include a link to a school provision map and relevant policies.
- Simplify complex information with visuals like diagrams and charts and use photos or illustrations of key people, places, and equipment.
- As the primary audience for the report is parents and carers it's important to write it in plain English, using accessible language. Don't use jargon, spell out and explain any abbreviations under each new section.
- Provide specific up to date and relevant examples to illustrate how your setting implements its SEN policy.
- Involve and consult with parents/ carers and students with SEN in writing and reviewing the report.
- The report should be accessible for all readers, including those with a disability in line with the equalities act. It should also be available in a range of languages when this is requested.
- Ensure there is a printed version of the report available on request.
Whilst there are elements of the report that must be included in line with guidance, parents, this is also an opportunity to share information that carers and young people may want in addition to this.
Below are some suggestions of what you might want to consider including:
- What support is available in unstructured times?
- Who do I contact at school to talk about things?
- Will my child have a named support worker or more than one support worker?
- If my child cannot cope being in class all of the time, what will happen?
- How can the school meet the needs of my child who has specific need/s?
- What type of support does the school provide?
- How will the school support my child's emotional wellbeing?
- Will my child be taught in class with everyone else?
- How will my child be supported on school trips?