What is SEN Support?

Children and young people learn in different ways. Some need extra help for a short time, while others may need ongoing support.

SEN Support is help for children and young people who have learning needs or a disability and need support that is extra to, or different from, what is usually provided for others of the same age.

Support should be matched to your child’s individual needs and help them learn, take part and make progress. Their nursery, school or college should work with you and your child to agree the support and regularly check how well it is working.

What support should my child’s nursery, school or college provide?

Support should always begin with good-quality teaching that responds to your child’s needs. Some children and young people will also need more individual support.

Ordinarily Available Provision is the support that Barnet’s nurseries, schools and colleges are expected to provide as part of their everyday practice, including support for children and young people with special educational needs.

It includes good-quality teaching, adjustments and additional help matched to individual needs. Depending on your child’s needs, this could include:

• breaking instructions into smaller steps and allowing more time to respond
• using pictures, visual prompts or adapted learning materials
• providing learning breaks or access to a quieter space

Barnet’s Ordinarily Available Educational Provision document explains these expectations in more detail. It is a guide to planning support, rather than a checklist of things every child should receive. You can use it to discuss your child’s needs and the help available with their setting.

Click here to read Barnet's Ordinarily Available Provision document

Click here to find out more about what to expect from schools

How is support agreed and reviewed?

If you think your child needs extra help, speak to their teacher or the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). At college, contact the learning support team.

Staff should listen to your concerns and work with you and your child to understand their strengths, needs and what they want to achieve.

Support should follow four steps, known as assess, plan, do and review:

• Assess: understand your child’s needs and what is affecting their learning.
• Plan: agree the support, what it should help your child achieve and a review date.
• Do: put the agreed support in place.
• Review: check whether it is helping and agree any changes needed.

You and your child should be involved throughout. You should know what support is being provided, who is responsible and when progress will be reviewed.

What if my child needs more help?

If you are concerned that support is not helping, ask for a meeting to review it. Staff should discuss what has been tried, what difference it has made and what needs to change. They may seek specialist advice to help identify the right support.

For free, confidential and impartial advice about your child’s support and your options, contact Barnet SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS).

Click here to find out about Barnet SENDIASS