SEN support guide for professionals

The Special Education Needs and Disability Code of Practice 2015 (GOV.UK) is the statutory guidance that supports Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014. It tells local authorities, early years settings, schools, colleges, health and social care providers and others what they must and should do to identify, assess and provide for children and young people with Special Educational Needs or disabilities.

The SEND Code of Practice says:

All children and young people are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress so that they:

• achieve their best

• become confident individuals living fulfilling lives, and

• make a successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further or higher education or training (6.1)

Mainstream schools must:

• use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN

• ensure that children and young people with SEN engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEN

• designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision – the SEND co-ordinator, or SENDCO.

• inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child

• publish an SEN information report and their arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps being taken to prevent disabled children from being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to enable access to the school for disabled children and their accessibility plan showing how they plan to improve access progressively over time (6.2)

Mainstream schools should:

• Where a child is identified as having SEN, schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place. (6.44)

• When a child is identified has having SEN, the school should use a graduated approach.

Every child with special educational needs should have 'SEN support'. This means help that is additional to or different from the support generally given to most of the other children of the same age. The purpose of SEN support is to help children and young people achieve the outcomes or learning objectives set for them by the school in conjunction with parents and pupils themselves.

Sometimes the parent carer may be the first to be aware that their child has some special educational needs. If they think their child may need SEN support, they should talk to their child’s teacher or to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator. If they are not happy about the support their child has, they can ask to talk to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator or Headteacher.

This webpage has been designed to help any practitioner identify how conditions can affect a pupil and how support can be accessed with or without a diagnosis.

To access support the pupil's SEN needs will be identified and how they impact the pupil, whether this be at home or at school.

The support at level 1 needs to be implemented (put in place) before moving to support at level 2, followed by level 3 if needs are not being met by the support and finally level 4.

Universal services which are freely available to all. Support at this level includes education provision (childminder, nursery, pre-school, home tutor, school, college, university), health provision (GP, Health Visitor, School Nurse (core programme), Dentist, and other providers such as housing.

If a child or young person has SEN needs identified, one of the first places to look for information and support is the SEND local offer.

The SEND local offer is:

• information, advice, support, and services

• provided by education, health, Lancashire County Council (the local authority) and voluntary organisations

• local to Lancashire

• for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25

Education support

Where a child is identified as having SEN support needs, the graduated approach to support (step by step) should be implemented.

SEN support is the system by which schools should assess the needs of pupils, and then provide appropriate support. The system should follow four stages, often referred to as a 'cycle': Assess, Plan, Do, Review.

Assess: The class teacher or subject teacher (working with the SENDCO) is responsible for carrying out a clear assessment of a pupil’s needs, drawing on teacher assessments and experience of the pupil.

Plan: Where it is decided to provide a pupil with SEN Support, the parent carers must be notified. All teachers and support staff who work with a pupil should be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies that are required.

Do: The planned interventions (support) should then be put into place. The class or subject teacher should work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved and the SENDCO should support the class or subject teacher.

Review: Reviews should take place at least termly (three times a year) and inform the analysis of the child’s ongoing needs.

Information for education providers about the graduated approach can be found and via the support reference guide.

Emotional support

Children can struggle with their emotions, becoming very worried, upset, or angry, which can lead to difficulties regulating (managing) their emotional behaviour. More information can be found on the Local Offer health and wellbeing page

Parent carers may be unsure what is causing their child's behaviour, but it is important to identify when this behaviour needs more support. Children and young people don't need a diagnosis to access this support. Support can be found online at Mental Health Support Network provided by Chasing the Stigma | Hub of hope and includes Lancashire Mind, Kooth, Shout, Youth Zone and the Samaritans for those over 18.

Parent carers can sometimes struggle to manage their child's behaviour, but support can be found through talking to health practitioners, such as GP, Health Visitor or School Nurse, Key roles within children’s health services through education provision, including nursery, child minder, school, college or university Support at school.

For pupils who are struggling to attend school or college, Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) guidance and training is available for education providers. A guide has been co-produced with parent carers and will soon be available on the Local Offer.

Early help support

Children and young people can have their needs met by universal services (those that freely available), which include health providers, such as GP's, Health Visitors (Lancashire Healthy Young People and Families Service), School Nurses (Lancashire Healthy Young People and Families Service) and Dentists (NHS Dentists in Lancashire Taking New Patients) education providers, including nurseries, child minder's, schools, colleges and universities, and other providers such as the Housing support.

Most children, young people and families will experience challenges in their lives that impact on their wellbeing. However, most families will be able to weather these challenges (are resilient to them) either without help from services, or with advice, guidance, and support from universal services, including empathy and understanding.

Some children, young people and families will need support from people who know them well and have established relationships with them to meet some challenges where advice and guidance has not been enough to help the family achieve change or where a child or young person needs additional support to help them to thrive.

Support can be accessed at level 2 with or without a diagnosis and is for when Children and Young People (CYP) have additional needs which require some extra support. CYP and families can access services that are part of Lancashire’s SEND local offer.

Education support

Schools should continue to use the graduated approach and implement assess, plan, do, review cycles, putting in place strategies that are ordinarily available and found in the Teaching and Learning Toolkit: Ordinarily Available Provision (PDF 1.49 MB). The Toolkit is aimed at all educational providers and settings supporting children and young people aged 0-25 years within Lancashire.

The decision to involve specialists can be taken at any time and should always involve the pupil's parent carers.

Sometimes children may be late to talk and support may be required from Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service (Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust) to help them develop their skills.

Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO)

The designated social care officer (DSCO) provides a point of contact for parent carers, partner agencies and professionals to support queries and concerns relating to Early Help, Social Care and SEND services.

Designated Clinical Officers (DCO)

The Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) Service is a team of 3 health professionals working together across the whole of Lancashire, including Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. They support parents and professionals and provide a strategic role supporting NHS health services in the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014. The DCO's ensure coordinated and integrated services that reflect the voice of children and young people, the DCO service improves communication and links between health, education, and social care professionals.

Families can also access support from carer support groups.

Emotional support

Where more complex medical needs are suspected or development is delayed a referral can be made by a health practitioner Key roles within children’s health services to a paediatrician for assessment.

Children can lash out, curl up into a ball, rock back and forth, head bang or hide under a table for example – it is important to understand this behaviour is trying to tell us something – it does not mean the child is doing it on purpose or being naughty.

If parent carers or a practitioner feel concerned that the child's emotional behaviour is not improving and impacting on their wellbeing, behaviour, and development, then school can offer additional strategies to help improve emotional regulation, such a key worker to check in with the child during the day, nurture groups and a time out card.

For children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), support can be gained via self-referral to ADHD North West and for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) support can be gained from autism unlocked: Online autism support.

To access a higher level of Emotional Support via Child Action North West (CANW), an Early Help Assessment must be completed, with parental consent and a form Requesting support made to the Early Help Hub. Schools can also access Mental Health Service support via their Primary Mental Health Worker at Healthy Young Minds Information for professionals.

Practice based evidence suggests that anxieties experienced by individuals with autism spectrum disorder put them at increased risk of Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA).

It is essential that schools apply a graduated response to identified EBSA issues and implement Assess-Plan-Do-Review Cycles based on the Lancashire Multi-Agency Flowchart for Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) in the Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) guidance. Schools must also implement the Attend Framework and action plan to assess and support with factors contributing to school non-attendance.

Schools use of punitive and legal actions against non-attendance has also been noted as a barrier to effective intervention. Schools can, however, refer to the School Attendance Support Team which consists of 3 School Attendance Consultants (SACs) and 12 School Attendance Support Workers (SASWs). Schools should contact the business support team (number can be found on the schools portal where the call will be triaged and passed to the appropriate person.

For extra mental health support for family members see mental health support (Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board).

Early help support

Some families who have children with additional needs may benefit from some extra help to:

• Improve their child's education

• Improve their parenting skills and/or behaviour management of their child

• Meet a specific health or emotional need

• Improve their material situation

• Respond to a short-term crisis such as bereavement, or parental separation

No Early Help Assessment has to be completed to access support (unless the needs are complex or emotional support from CANW is required) but a form Requesting support can be used to request behaviour management support such as Stepping Stones Triple P or to access SEND activities and groups at CFW Neighbourhood Centres and Family Hubs.

Family Support can be requested direct from Home-Start UK. Every Home-Start volunteer is trained to help them work alongside families to overcome the challenges they are facing. Home-Start work with families to build on their strengths and give them the support that they want and need.

Additional advice and support is available from the SEND information, advice and support Team. Lancashire SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SEND IAS) is a statutory service which is run at ‘arm’s length’ from the Local Authority and provides free, confidential, impartial advice, guidance and support to parents of children with special educational needs and children and young people with SEND.

School holiday and short breaks provision for disabled children can be accessed by registering for Break Time short break activities.

Support and an education toolkit is available for children with SEND from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Support for victims of crime (including bullying) can be accessed by referring to Nest Lancashire for young people or Lancashire - Victim Support for adults. DWP Supporting Families Officers can help families find education and Employment via Cost of living support Drug and alcohol support services include We Are With You or Inspire Lancashire.

If despite level 2 support, the child continues to struggle at school or at home, a higher level of support may be required, which requires a specialist, co-ordinated approach to support.

Education support

Education establishments must continue to implement Assess, Plan, Do, Review Cycles to assess support needs. The SEND local offer can also provide additional support.

Children who are struggling in the early years and not yet attending nursery may need Portage, which is an educational home-visiting service for pre-school children who have significant special educational needs and disabilities. Schools may feel specialist support is required for older children from the SEND Specialist Teaching Service who are highly skilled and committed specialist teachers who have wide experience across all areas of special educational needs and disability (SEND).

Children and young people may benefit from an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment EHC plans if their needs are not being met despite level 2 and 3 support. If a EHCNA is being applied for then school can invite the allocated SEND Case Worker from the Inclusion Service to the TAF meeting.

Emotional support

Children who have accessed emotional support via CANW and have an Early Help Assessment in place but need more support may benefit from a referral to CAMHS at Tier (level) 3.

CAMHS support is a service for children, young people and families with significant, severe, complex or persistent emotional, mental health, psychological and/or relationship difficulties Children and Young People’s Psychological Services (Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust)

This could include:

• Anxiety/Mood disorders

• ADHD/ADD

• Self-Harm

• Eating disorders

• Obsessive Compulsive disorder

• Post traumatic Disorder

• Somatic Disorder

• Psychotic Disorders

• Severe behavioural problems (as part of any of the above).

For children where an undiagnosed neuro-developmental condition is suspected. A referral may be made by an education practitioner (SENDCo) to the neuro-development pathway (via CAMHS) for assessment.

For children struggling with emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) with no improvement, school representatives should request a problem-solving discussion with the EBSA multi-agency team EBSA guidance and ensure multi-agency support is in place via Early Help Assessment and Family Intensive Support from Child and Family Wellbeing service (See Early Help Level 3)

Early help support

Vulnerable children and their families with multiple needs or whose needs are more complex, such as children and families may benefit from level 3 early help. This may be for children and young people who:

• Have a disability resulting in complex needs

• Exhibit anti-social or challenging behaviour that increases risk for themselves and others

• Experience neglect

• Emotional/ behaviour difficulties experienced by the child/young person

• Parental conflict or poor family relationships

• Domestic abuse

• Poor parental Mental Health

• Have poor engagement with key services such as school and health

• Are not in education or work long-term

• Families involved in crime/misuse of drugs at a significant level

Prior to requesting services at Level 3 “Intensive Support”, practitioners are expected to have worked together with the child/young person and family to meet their Universal Plus needs using an Early Help Assessment and multi-agency meetings.

Support services available include Children and Family Wellbeing Service. Family Intensive Support in the family home and community to prevent escalation of concerns. This support can be requested via a form Requesting support from Children's Services.

Family Intensive Support should be focussed on working with families, children and young people. Support for families should not be designed to “rescue” them from situations, but to help them to restore family life with evidence-based interventions that help them to make long term, lasting change that they are in control of.

Level 3 support can include Family group conferences for families facing difficult situations or decisions to ensure the well-being and care of children and young people. The conference gives an opportunity to come together and make safe, reasonable and sensible plans for the children.

Families may also need health care for children with life limiting illness Special Needs School Nursing (Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust) or services for children with profound and enduring disability Community Learning Disability Service (Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust). The service is provided by a team of highly skilled qualified nurses and health care assistants working as part of the Children’s Complex Needs Nursing Service alongside the Complex Packages of Care and Children’s Complex Care and Assessment Teams.

Targeted Youth Support (PDF 1.12MB) may be needed for young people and provides one-to-one support with a Targeted Youth Support Worker which can be from 4 to 12 weeks in duration. The support can be in school, college, the community or virtually.

For children who are getting into trouble in their community (anti-social behaviour) or are becoming more aggressive and violent then support can be requested from the police community safety / Early Action team (Lancashire Constabulary - Early Action).

Children’s Social Care has a responsibility to children in need under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. That is, children and young people whose development would be significantly impaired if services are not provided. This includes children and young people who have a long lasting and substantial disability, which limits their ability to carry out the tasks of daily living.

A social care referral/request for support is also appropriate where parent/carers need practical support and respite at home because of a disabled child or young person’s complex care needs.

In these situations, Children’s Social Care will work with families on a voluntary basis, often in partnership with other professionals, to improve the welfare of the children/young people and to prevent problems escalating to a point that statutory child protection intervention is needed.

Education support

Education establishments to continue implementing the graduated response and Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycles.

If a child is being assessed for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC plan) then a parent carer's needs assessment Carer's assessments should be done at the same time.

Children and young people who have a higher level of need and have an Education, Health and Care Plan in place, may meet the threshold for assessment by the Children with Disabilities Team if they have a profound disability.

Emotional support

Level 4 emotionally based school avoidance is where school attendance has fallen below 75%, and children and young are at risk of educational neglect, due to support not being effective.

Level 4 emotional support is provided by CAMHS as an in-patient, where children and young people have significant mental health needs.

Children's services support

Children’s Social Care has a responsibility to children in need under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, to support children who are unlikely to achieve a reasonable standard of health and development without the provision of services, children with significant impairment of function/learning and/or life limiting illness, children whose parents and wider family are unable to care for them and families with significant mental or physical health needs which may be significantly harmful to their children.

Support can be requested either by phoning 0300 123 6720 (parent carers) or by completing the Requesting support from Children's Services form (professionals). If you care for a disabled child under 18, you can request a parent carers needs assessment Carer's assessments These are also known as Children Act assessments. The assessment will normally be carried out by a social worker at a visit to the home of your child.

Child and Youth Justice Service is a multi-agency service that is co-ordinated by the local authority and overseen by the Youth Justice Board. This is a statutory partnership, and the team is made up of staff from social care and education, the police, the National Probation Service and local health services.

If you support a child or young person with a health condition, it can help for you to understand the condition, its triggers, signs, symptoms and treatments.

These can vary between individuals so you should also speak to the parent, carer or young person about how the condition affects them and their and resulting needs.

A to Z of conditions

For more information about health conditions see the NHS health A to Z.

The charity Contact, for families with disabled children, also has an A-Z of medical conditions on the Contact website. 

Local services

You can find out about local health services on the SEND local offer health and wellbeing page.

Impact on children and young people

Conditions can have affect on the following areas:

• learning and cognition

• emotional regulation

• behaviour management

• accessing the community

• health needs

• poor school attendance

Meeting the needs of children and young people with health conditions

See the sections on levels 1 to 4 for examples of support you could put in place and other available support.