A
Academy
A state funded school in England which receives its funding from and is owned and controlled by central government, not a local authority.
ADHD / ADD
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder / Attention Deficit Disorder.
ADOS
Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. ADOS is a standardised diagnostic test for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), published by Western Psychological Services (WPS) in 2000 and now available in 15 different languages.
Advice
Written reports from parents, teachers and other practitioners on a child’s special educational needs.
Annual Review
The process of ensuring that a Statement of Special Educational Needs or Education, Health and Care plan continues to describe the child’s needs and how they should be met through a meeting held once each year.
ASD or ASC
Autistic Spectrum Disorder or Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Assessment
Finding out what a child’s needs are, what they can do and struggle with, usually through observing them at home, school and settings and by talking with people who know the child well.
Apprenticeship
A paid job that includes training, leading to nationally recognised qualifications.
B
BESD
Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties.
C
CAMHS
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
CAF
Common Assessment Framework. A method of assessment which can be used by social services , health or education. It is non statutory, ie, it does not replace statutory assessments.
Care Plan
A record of the health and/or social care services being provided to a child or young person.
CCG
Clinical Commissioning Group
This is an NHS orgnisation which brings together local GP’s and health practitioners to take on commissioning responsibilities for local health services. A CCG plans and arranges the delivery of the health care provision for people in its area.
CDC
The CDC is a centre that offers multi-disciplinary assessment for children from birth until they start school at 4 years of age. The team sees pre-school children who may have a delay in their development or some other special need. Some difficulties are identified at birth, others become apparent or develop as a child grows. This may include additional needs in a number of areas, such as vision, hearing, speech, physical, and emotional development, and/or learning difficulties. Problems can be temporary and disappear as the child gets older, or they may be more permanent.
Referrals must be made in writing and supported by a medical practitioner.
The assessment usually lasts 2 days. During the assessment the child is seen by the team who assess the child's physical health, play skills, social skills, early learning skills, hearing, vision, speech, language, communication and movement. We can then recommend help to meet your child's individual needs and review those needs as necessary. Ongoing care may be provided to families by a number of different members of the team. This may be part of a group session or on an individual basis, and may take place in the child development centre (CDC), at home, or at any pre-school group.
Following the assessment a report is produced which will be discussed with you at a meeting soon after the assessment.
C&F Act (Children & Families Act 2014)
An Act which reforms legislation to introduce changes that affect how children and young people with special education needs and disabilities get the services and support they need.
Code or CoP (Code of Practice 2015)
The Code of Practice is a document designed to help families, schools, local authorities, health services and other organisations make effective decisions regarding children with special educational needs and disabilities. This contains statutory guidance on the Children and Families Act 2014.
Commissioning
When someone is paid to deliver a service.
Commissioners
The people responsible for contracts with service providers.
Co-production
Equal partnership working between service providers, those in receipt of the service and their families.
CSDPA
The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. This is one of the main acts of parliament that entitle disabled people to social care.
CP
Cerebal Palsy. Physical impairment that affects movement. Mobility problems may vary from barely noticeable to extremely severe. Those with CP may also have sight, hearing, speech, perception and learning difficulties. Between a quarter and a third of children and adolescents with CP are also affected by epilepsy.
D
DCT (Disability Childrens Team)
Children with disabilities social care team.
DfE
Department for Education
Direct Payments
Payments that allow you to choose and buy the services you need yourself, instead of getting them from the council. Direct payments may be available for health care, social care and for the special educational provision in an EHC plan.
Disagreement Resolution (Dis Res)
The dispute resolution service offered by a local authority to resolve disagreements between parents and the local authority NB. This is not always an independent service and it does not necessarily mean mediation which has a specific meaning (see M).
DLA
Disability Living Allowance.
DSP
Designated Special Provision Unit. Providing education, support and facilities for children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.
E
EA 1996
Education Act 1996
EFA
Education Funding Agency, An arm of the Department for Education. It allocates funding to local authorities for maintained schools and voluntary aided schools. It is also responsible for funding and monitoring academies.
Early Years
Birth to 5 years.
Early Years Provider
A provider of early education places for children under five. This can include state funded and private nurseries.
EHRC
Equality and Human Rights Commission.
EBSA
Emotionally Based School Avoidance is the term used to describe children or young people who struggle to access the school setting or their educational offer due to anxiety. This is often linked to having unmet or unrecognised needs.
EYFS
The Early Years Foundation Stage. A statutory framework which covers children both in pre-school settings and in reception classes up to their fifth birthday.
EHC needs assessment
An assessment of the education, health care and social care needs of a child or young person conducted by a local authority under the Children and Families Act 2014.
EHCP
An education, health and care plan as defined in section 37 (2) of the Children and Families Act 2014.
EHA
Early Help Assessment – formerly known as a CAF.
EP
Educational Psychologist. A professional employed by the local authority to assess a child’s special educational needs and to give advice to school settings on how these needs can be met.
EqA or EQA
The Equality Act 2010
F
Further Education - FE
Full or part-time education for people over compulsory school age. The FE sector in England includes further education colleges, sixth form colleges, specialist colleges and adult education institutes. It does not include universities.
Free School
A type of Academy.
G
GDD
Global Developmental Delay
Graduated Response
– where a pupil is identified as having SEN, schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective provision in place. This SEN support should take the form of a four-part cycle (assess, plan, do, review) to help gain a better understanding of the pupil’s needs and tailor support accordingly. Schools must show evidence of a graduated response whereby they have sought advice, put appropriate interventions in place and evaluated progress before requesting additional or alternative provision through an EHC assessment.
H
HI
Hearing Impairment
Healthwatch England
Healthwatch England is an independent consumer champion, gathering and representing the views of the public about health and social care services in England. It operates both at a national and local level.
Home Authority
This usually means the local authority in which a child or young person is ordinarily resident (and which therefore has the responsibility to the child or young person under the Children and Families Act 2014).
I
Inclusion
When anyone, regardless of impairment is welcomed and supported to be involved. Inclusion should mean disabled and non-disabled people are supported to take part in activities together.
Independent School
A school that is not maintained by a local authority.
IS - Independent Supporters
A person recruited locally by a voluntary or community sector organisation to help families going through an EHC needs assessment and the process of developing an EHC plan.
IEP
Individual Education Plan. A plan which sets out the support a child is receiving in their school or other setting. There is no longer a specific requirement for children with SEN to have a plan called an IEP under the Code but children with SEN may still have IEPs.
J
Joint Commissioning
Working collaboratively across agencies to assess need, identify resources available, plan how to use resources and arrange service delivery. This also involves reviewing the services and reassessing need, with the aim of improving outcomes.
JSNA - Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
Assessment of the current and future health and social care needs of the local community.
K
Key worker
A trained individual who provides personalised support, co- ordination and/or advocacy for disabled children and young people and their families.
L
Local Authority
A local authority in England. The local council responsible for managing services in your area.
Local Area
The local area includes the local authority, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), public health, NHS England for specialist services, early years settings, schools and further education providers. Local Areas in England are subject to inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Ofsted in terms of their effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
LDA's
A learning difficulty assessment under section 139A Learning and Skills Act 2000. An assessment made to determine what additional support young people with learning difficulties need in order to access education beyond school. From September 2014, these will be replaced by Education, Health and Care Plans. All LDA’s will be replaced by 2017.
LSA
Learning Support Assistant, also sometimes called Teaching Assistant (“TA”).
Legislation
Laws.
Learning Difficulties
Problems or conditions which make learning harder than it is for most people.
Local Offer
A directory/ website outlining the provision available in the Local Area for SEND.
Local Healthwatch
The local version of Healthwatch England in a particular area.
LSS – Learning Support Services
An inclusion support service available to schools consisting of specialist teachers who offer consultancy, advice and training around many aspects of learning needs.
M
Mainstream School
A school which is for all children, not just those with special educational needs.
Mediation
Where a trained person helps to sort out any area of conflict, A method of seeking to resolve disagreements by going to an independent mediator. Mediation must be offered to a parent or young person in relation to an EHC Plan. Mediation is not compulsory for the parent or young person but they will need to consider mediation before appealing the education parts of an EHC plan in most cases.
Maintained School
Schools in England that are maintained by a local authority – any community, foundation or voluntary school, community special or foundation special school.
MLD
Moderate learning difficulties – not a legal term but often used in relation to the description of a school, i.e. an MLD school.
N
National Curriculum
The framework which sets out standards and appropriate levels of achievement for children’s education. It also determines how performance will be assessed and reported. Children’s expected progress is currently determined by reference to standardised national curriculum “levels” which prescribe the expected attainment for pupils in each year group.
NEET
Not in Education, Training or Employment.
Networks
Groups of people that are interested in the same topic or area of work.
O
OFSTED
Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. This is the body which inspects and regulates services which care for children and young people and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages.
Outcomes
What children and young people achieve and how their lives improve. For example, going to college, learning new skills, living on their own or getting a job.
OT
Occupational Therapist. Trained to give advice on equipment, adaptations and activities to support the learning/social development of people with physical, emotional or behavioural difficulties.
OCD
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
ODD
Oppositional Defiance Disorder.
P
‘P’ levels / 'P' scales
Performance levels used to assess a child who is not yet working within the national curriculum levels of attainment.
Paediatrician
A doctor who specialises in children's health and may be responsible for the continuing care of children with SEN both before school entry and in special and mainstream schools.
PMLD
Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.
PB, Personal Budget
Money that is allocated to individuals to meet assessed needs in place of services that would otherwise be provided directly to the individual by statutory bodies. A Personal Budget is the notional amount of money which an LA has identified as necessary to secure the special educational provision in an EHC plan.
PCP
A provision, criteria or practice (relevant for indirect discrimination and the duty to make reasonable adjustments under the EqA).
Personalisation
Putting the person at the heart of decision making and enabling people to have choice and control over their lives and support. Person centred practices and personal budgets are part of this approach.
PRU
Pupil Referral Unit - for children who need to be educated out of school, often because they have been excluded.
PDD
Pervasive Developmental Disorder.
Portage
Home-based educational support for pre-school children with SEN.
Panel
A decision making body who meet to match criteria for services, ie short breaks, EHC assessment.
PfA
Preparation for Adulthood (14 -25).
Q
R
RB
Responsible body of a school. (Usually Board of Governors).
Resourced provision
SEN Unit Provision providing education, support and facilities for children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.
S
SEND
Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities.
SEN
Special Educational Needs.
SEND Tribunal
The First-tier Tribunal, Special Educational Needs and Disability – sometimes referred to by its former name “Sendist”.
SEP
Special Education Provision.
SLD
Severe learning difficulties – not a legal term but often used in relation to the description of a school, i.e. an SLD school.
SLT or SALT
Speech and Language Therapy, sometimes used to refer to the Speech and Language Therapist , trained to give specialist assessment and advice for children with communication difficulties.
SEND Reforms 2014
The SEND reforms aim to deliver a simpler, joined up, person centred system for the provision of education, health and social care for children and young people from age 0 - 25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
SENCO/SENDCO – Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator
The teacher with responsibility for the co-ordination and planning of special educational needs provision within school or early years setting. Every school has a Senco.
SEMH
Social Emotional and Mental Health Needs.
Special School
A school which is specifically organised to make special educational provision for pupils with SEND.
Specialist Provision
Specialist provision generally refers to support and services provided by specialists in education, health or social care following individual referral and specialist assessment.
Short Breaks
An opportunity for parents and carers of a disabled child to have a break from their caring arrangements, and for their child to have a positive and enjoyable experience.
Short breaks Statement
An Annual publication outlining the short breaks that A Local Authority offer.
Supported Internship
A structured study programme, based with an employer that is tailored to the individual needs of the young person which will equip them with the skills they need for the workplace.
T
TAC / TAF Meeting
Team around the child / family meeting.
Transition
When a young person moves from class to class, a different setting or children to adult services.
Traineeship
A programme for young people who want to work but who need extra help to gain an apprenticeship or a job. Traineeships will give young people the opportunity to develop the skills and workplace experience that employers require.
Tribunal
An independent body which hears appeals against decisions made by the local authority on statutory assessments and EHC Plans.
U
Universal Services
Services provided to all Children and Young people in the area.
V
VI
Visual Impairment.
W
X
Y
Z
We are constantly trying to keep this information as up to date and relevant as possible. If you notice anything missing, please contact us.