Special Educational Needs (SEN)

In the school-based stages of the SEN framework (School Action and School Action Plus), the school is responsible for discussing your child’s progress with you.

A suggested series of steps you can take if you think your child is not getting the correct support under the SEN framework is given below:

• Speak to the school’s SENCO to find out the details of any support your child should be getting, and how it is provided.
• Ask for a meeting with the school head teacher to discuss your problems. In some schools, the SENCO is also the head teacher.
• Ask about the school’s formal complaints procedure and use it, if this is appropriate.
• Write to the school governors to explain your concerns.
• Speak to the authority: they should be able to arrange a meeting between you and the school and try to settle the disagreement.
• Refer your dispute to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST), or ask for mediation to try to resolve the dispute. You can do both of these at the same time. Contact details are given in the directory at the end of this guide.

During statutory assessment and when a statement is maintained, the local authority takes responsibility for communicating with you. If the authority makes a decision that you do not agree with, you should be able to speak to officers of the authority who will explain the decision. This applies when you disagree with the authority in the following areas:

• The authority decided not to make an assessment.
• The authority decided not to issue a statement.
• The authority issued a proposed or final statement and you disagree with the content.
• The authority amended a statement and you disagree with the amendments.
• The authority decided to stop maintaining a statement.

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