Frequently Asked Questions

The Local Authority (LA) must review your child’s Statement of Special Educational Needs at least every year (every six months for children under five). Early or interim reviews can be called if necessary.
The Annual Review is a meeting, normally held in your child’s School or Early Years Setting. Everyone who is involved with your child is invited to attend or send written comments. The meeting will:
- Record any changes in your child’s circumstances
- Consider your child’s progress and whether the - Statement is still appropriate for your child’s needs
- Set new targets for the next year to be used to update the Individual Education Plan (IEP)
It is an important opportunity for you and your child to share your views with the School/Setting and the LA.

The Head Teacher will invite you, your child whenever possible, people who have worked with your child, professionals who have been involved, a representative of the LA and anyone else you, or the Head Teacher, feels would be able to give
helpful information or advice. Some people who are invited may not attend.

All the people invited to the meeting will be asked for a report. Copies of reports should be sent out 2 weeks before the meeting. It will be helpful if you could complete the form which asks for your views and return it to school/setting. If
possible, your child’s views should also be represented.

Your child's progress will be discussed and information shared. You can ask questions or ask for an explanation if you are unclear about anything that is said. You will be asked for your views, which will be taken into account and recorded.

Year 5/6: The Y5 Annual Review should be held, if possible, in the summer term, so transfer to Secondary School can be discussed.
The SENCO of the Secondary School may be invited to attend the Y5 and Y6 Reviews. The LA Local Inclusion Officer usually attends the Y5 Review.

A Transition Review is held in Year 9 to make recommendations and plans for your child's move into adult life, involving the Connexions Service.

A report of the meeting, summing up what was said and making recommendations is sent to the LA, along with all the reports that were submitted. Everyone who went to the meeting, or sent a report will be sent a copy. The LA will contact you to tell you if they agree with the recommendations.
If there are changes in provision or placement, the LA will consult you about amending the Statement.

Statutory Assessment is a thorough and careful process, where all the people who are involved with your child will be asked to write a detailed report about your child's special educational needs and the help that they may need.

For most children with Special Educational Needs, extra help is available in school. However, for a few children with the most severe, complex and long term needs, who are not making adequate progress, a request may be made to the Local Authority (LA) for a Statutory Assessment.

A request for a Statutory Assessment can be made to the LA in writing by: Parents/Carers, School or Early Years Setting, other professionals. Schools/settings and parents should work closely together when putting forward a request.

The LA will ask the school/setting for information about your child's needs and the extra help they are providing. You will also be consulted and can provide information.
You will be given the name of a Caseworker at the LA, who can give you information.
A Panel at the LA will decide, within 6 weeks of receiving the request, whether a Statutory Assessment is appropriate. They will inform you promptly of their decision

The LA may decide:
EITHER
- Your child's needs can be met by the school/setting, with their existing budget, so the request will be refused. You have the right to appeal against this decision.
OR
- A Statutory Assessment is needed and the LA will go ahead with collecting information and reports.

- Parents/Carers
- School or Setting
- Educational Psychologist
- School Doctor
- Social Services
- Anyone else who is working with your child

The LA will send you a long form to fill in - you know your child better than anyone else and it is very important that you pass on the information you have.
You can ask Parent Partnership to help you with this.
You can include reports from anyone you feel has relevant information.

The LA have 10 weeks to gather information and decide whether or not to issue a Statement.

The LA will either issue a Proposed Statement or a Note in Lieu. You will be told about their decision and what this means for your child.

- The SENCO or the Head Teacher at your child's school/ setting
- The Caseworker or Local Inclusion Officer at Derbyshire LA / The Assistant Admin Officer
- Inclusion & Assessment Officer at Derby City LA
- Derby & Derbyshire Parent Partnership Service

A Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) is a six part legal document that sets out your child's needs and all the special help he or she should have.

Before the Local Authority (LA) sends you a 'Final Statement' for your child, they will send you a 'Proposed Statement'. The LA will also send you a letter telling you how you can give your views on the proposed statement before it is finalised.

A school is not named in part 4 of the proposed statement. This gives you the opportunity to say which school you prefer. The LA must agree as long as they are satisfied that your preferred school is suitable for your child's age, ability and special educational needs and that the education of the other children in the school will not be affected. The school named will appear on the final statement.

Usually the LA must make the final statement within 8 weeks of the proposed statement. If you have agreed with the proposed statement you will be sent a signed and final copy to keep. Your child's school and those involved in the assessment process will also receive a copy.

If you disagree with what is in the final statement you should first ask your caseworker / assistant admin officer at the LA for an explanation. Parent Partnership may also be able to help you. If you are still not happy you have the right to appeal to the SEN Tribunal against
the contents of :
- PART 2 - Details of all your child's special educational needs.
- PART 3 - The help which the LA considers will meet your child's needs.
- PART 4 - Where your child should go to school.

A Note in Lieu may be written in place of a statement for your child. It is not a legal document. It will describe your child’s educational needs, the reasons a statement has not been written and suggestions about meeting your child’s needs. It will also describe your child's other needs and how they will be supported. Copies of all the reports received will be sent to you with the Note in Lieu. Your permission will be sought for this to be distributed to your child's school / setting.
If you think that the decision to issue a Note in Lieu is wrong, speak to your LA caseworker / assistant admin officer who will advise you of the most appropriate action. Parent Partnership may also be able to help you. You also have the right to appeal to the SEN Tribunal.

The school must tell you when they start giving extra or different help to your child because they have special needs. This help could be a different way of teaching or help from an extra adult, perhaps in a small group, or it could be the use of some special equipment. This stage is called School Action.
Your child's teacher is responsible for working with them and may write an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for them and discuss this with you. The IEP should say:
- What special help has been given
- How often your child will receive the help
- Who will provide the help
- What your child’s targets are
- How and when your child’s progress will be reviewed
- What help you could give your child at home
Not all schools will write an IEP but they should always be able to tell you what help they are giving your child and what progress they are making.

If your child does not make enough progress at School Action, the school's special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) may decide to ask for help from people outside the school. This could be a speech therapist, a specialist teacher or an educational psychologist.
This sort of help is called School Action Plus.
The SENCO should keep you informed about how your child is getting on and should include you in any discussions about the help that is being provided.
Remember that your views are very important at every stage of the graduated approach.

If your child makes good progress at School Action or School Action Plus then they may need a reduced level of support or they may no longer need special help or an IEP. The class teacher should continue to monitor their progress. By using different teaching styles, books or worksheets and grouping children according to their learning needs, the class teacher makes sure that all children are supported in their learning. This is known as differentiation.
If your child still does not seem to be making enough progress or needs a lot more extra help, the SENCO may ask the Local Authority (LA) to make a more detailed assessment of their needs based on specialist advice. This Statutory Assessment may lead to the LA writing a Statement of Special Educational Needs.This would describe all your child's needs and all the special help they need.

The National Curriculum is in place to make sure that all children receive the same education and standard of teaching in all schools.

The National Curriculum must be taught to all children aged 5-16 in all Local Authority schools. It sets out the knowledge, skills and understanding needed in each subject. It provides standards to measure how well children are doing, to help teachers plan future learning.
The National Curriculum is broken down into four key stages and the Foundation Stage for younger children. To help teachers know exactly how a child is progressing, levels can be broken down into;
A - fully achieved
B - almost there
C - working on

The Foundation Stage is designed specifically for children aged 3-5 years.
There are six areas of learning covering children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. A child's development is assessed throughout the Foundation Stage. A record of development across all of these areas provides a picture of the whole child at the end of the Foundation Stage.

Key Stage 1 (KS1) is the level of the National Curriculum taught to children in Reception to Year 2 (Age 4-7). National tests (SATs) are taken at the end of Year 2. Children are expected to attain Level 2.

Key Stage 2 (KS2) is the level of the National Curriculum taught to children in Year 3 to Year 6 (Age 7-11). National tests (SATs) are taken at the end of Year 6. Children are expected to attain Level 4.

Key Stage 3 (KS3) is the level of the National Curriculum taught to children in Year 7 to Year 9 (Age 11-14). National tests (SATs) are taken at the end of Year 9. Children are expected to attain Level 5 or 6.

Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the level of the National Curriculum taught to children in Year 10 and Year 11 (Age 14-16). National tests (GCSEs) are taken at the end of Year 11.

Schools can meet a wide range of Special Needs. Parents/carers have a right to request a Statutory Assessment. Schools and Parent Partnership can tell you more about this. If a request is turned down you can appeal to the SENDIST (The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal).

• Download : Statutory Assessment (143kb)

The DDA defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment which is substantial and long term, preventing a person taking part in normal day to day activities”. A disability is not always the same as a Special Educational Need.

The Law says that schools must make “reasonable adjustments” so that disabled children are not treated less favourably than others. This happens when a school treats a child differently because of their disability, and it can’t justify the treatment.
Schools must make reasonable adjustments to fit a pupil’s needs and to ensure disabled pupils are not at a disadvantage.

If you know, or think your child is disabled it is a good idea to tell the school. It is a particularly good idea if your child has a disability that is not obvious. If the school does not know that your child is disabled, it may not be able to help.

The Government defines the responsibility as being held by “the responsible body”. Responsibility is held by the Governors in most schools and owners in private schools.

This will be different in every case and may not cost a lot of money. It can often be a change in attitude.

- Getting into and around a building
- Being able to take part in all school activities
- Giving all children the same opportunity

- Ask your school or setting for the Accessibility Plan or Disability Equality Scheme
- Talk to the Headteacher
- Talk to a Governor
- talk to your Local Inclusion Officer
The Parent Partnership Service can guide you through all of this.
After trying these you could:
- Contact the Mediation Service on 0161 480 5234
- Appeal to the Special Needs & Disability Tribunal (SENDIST)- 0870 606 5750
Further information from:
- derbyshire.gov.uk/accessibility/strategy
- Equality & Human Rights Commission
- Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) SEN Booklet

The P scales were designed to provide a way of assessing children aged 5-16 who are working below level 1 of the National Curriculum. They will help teachers in planning future targets and will help them to review the progress of these children.
They will also give parents and carers a clear idea of their child’s progress.

The P scales break down into small achievable steps the important skills, knowledge and understanding which a child needs before moving on to work at the National Curriculum levels. There are P scales for:
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Science
- PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education)
- ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
The P scales use eight levels, P1—P8. They can be used in Primary, Secondary and Special Schools for children who may or may not have a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Class Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Support Service Teachers and SENCOs will use the P scales.

The P scales will be used as guidance and support when planning a programme of work for individual children and to identify progress and achievement.