There are new requirements for schools in preparing and reviewing their SEN policy. This should give rise to improvements in the quality of the arrangements they are providing to children, young people and their families with SEN.
The governing body is free to determine how often the SEN policy is reviewed. It requires the approval of the governing body to become an official policy.
Schools should take into account the SEN Code of Practice, that came into force on 1 September 2014, which provides advice on how schools can carry out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children’s special educational needs.
The code of practice applies to children and young people aged 0 to 25 in England. Schools can access useful information on revising their SEND policies and producing their SEN information reports here, whereas academies and free schools should be guided by Section 1(8) of the Academies Act 2010.
Further guidance has been developed to support schools on the implementation of the SEND reforms, some useful links are:
These guides are for:
For further information on SEND funding levels and to access the New Resource Ladder for Top Up funding for 2,3 & 4 year olds taking up their Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) with an EHCP (Appendix B), please visit here.
NASEN have developed specific guidance documents to support schools.
Waltham Forest Council has a web page for parents around SEND which you may find useful to refer to.
Waltham Forest has developed a 6 step personalised pathway which can be accessed by the child and their family. It follows a person centred approach so that the child/young person is at the centre of the process and their views and wishes are considered throughout.
The pathway has 6 steps listed below. Click on each one for further details.