How different needs are supported in schools
Special educational needs are often first identified in school. If the school identify that your child has SEN, they will contact you to discuss with you what support to offer your child.
If you think your child has SEN, you should talk to your child's school. They will discuss any concerns you have, tell you what they think and explain to you what will happen next.
Extra support for your child
The school will tell you if they are making special educational provision for your child. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) at the school will arrange extra help (called SEN support) for those who need it.
SEN support is part of what is known as 'the graduated approach' and it means that the SENCO and teaching staff will:
- assess your child's difficulties
- identify the extra support your child needs
- put the support in place
- regularly check how well it is working so that they can change the amount or kind of support if they need to
The school can ask specialist support services, for example, educational psychology, behaviour support or speech and language therapy to carry out assessments and provide further advice and support if necessary.
Find out more about Special educational needs support and the graduated approach.
If your child has more complex needs they might need an Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessments and plans.
How different needs are supported in schools
We have a set of leaflets that explain how schools support children with different types of special educational needs, such as Autism, visual impairments, speech and language difficulties, social emotional and mental health difficulties. These can be downloaded at Making Changes Together in County Durham: SEND support.
Other sources of help
There are lots of other sources of information, advice and support you can access such as:
- Families Information Service: Useful SEND information for parents and carers
- Durham Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Information Advice and Support Service
- your doctor, or other local child health services
- charities and other organisations that offer information, advice and support - you should be able to find information about these on our Families Information Service: Local Offer site.
