Local Offer - SEN Support

Your child’s difficulties must be assessed so that the right support can be provided. This should include, for example, asking you what you think, talking to professionals who work with your child (such as their teacher), and looking at records and other information. This needs to be reviewed regularly so that the support provided continues to meet your child’s needs. That might mean getting advice and further assessment from someone like an educational psychologist, a specialist teacher or a health professional.

Your school or other setting needs to agree, with your involvement, the outcomes that the SEN support is intended to achieve – in other words, how your child will benefit from any support they get – and you need to be involved with that. All those involved will need to have a say in deciding what kind of support will be provided, and decide a date by which they will review this so that they can check to see how well the support is working and whether the outcomes have been or are being achieved.

The setting will put the planned support into place. The teacher remains responsible for working with your child on a daily basis, but the SENCO and any support staff or specialist teaching staff involved in providing support should work closely to track your child’s progress and check that the support is being effective.

The support your child receives should be reviewed at the time agreed in the plan. You can then decide together if the support is having a positive impact, whether the outcomes have been, or are being, achieved and if or how any changes should be made.

SENCO stands for special educational needs coordinator. You might also hear of them referred to as a SENCDO (special educational needs and disabilities coordinator). 

The main role of the SENCO is to lead in coordinating special educational support for learners in their setting. The SENCO also provides professional guidance to colleagues and works closely with staff, parents and other agencies to that ensure learners receive the best support possible.

As a parent or carer, the SENCO should be your main point of contact if you have concerns regarding your child’s SEND.

The SEN register is a register of learners, in a particular setting, who have special educational needs (SEN). The register contains information on which learners receive support, and the type of support they require.

If your child has been added to the SEN register, their education setting must make you aware of this.

No. Once a special educational need has been identified, your child's setting should work to meet this need without delay.

This completely depends on your child’s need, however, the majority of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not need to attend a specialist school. A very small number of children have needs that can’t be met in a mainstream school so they attend a special school or specialist provision.

All children and young people who have SEND have the right to attend a mainstream education setting. Teachers should use inclusive High-Quality Teaching to ensure that every child has their learning needs met. They do this by making sure their lessons have been planned with all learning needs in mind, and adapting their teaching when needed.

The majority of children with SEND attend a mainstream setting where they receive additional support from specialist education and/or health services. The specialist services who work together with the child's school to ensure the environment is inclusive, and the learner's needs are identified and met. Find out more about specialist services.

Staff should use inclusive High-Quality Teaching (HQT) to ensure that everyone within the setting has their learning needs met. They do this by making sure their lessons have been planned with all children's learning needs in mind and adapting their way of teaching when needed.

If inclusive HQT alone is not sufficient, the setting will create a tailored SEN plan for your child. The SEN support process has been outlined on this page.

There are lots of different services which can support your child in their setting. The types of services who may become involved will depend entirely on your child’s needs. Some of these services may include the Speech and Language Service, the Behavioural Outreach Support Service (BOSS), the Educational Physiology (EP) Service or the Autism and Social Communication Education and Training Service (ASCETS). You can find out more about each of these services on our Education Support Services page.

If you're unhappy with the support your child is receiving, you should raise your concerns with your their key worker, class teacher or special educational needs coordinator (SENCO). You can request a meeting to discuss your concerns and find a resolution. 

You may also wish to gain independent information, advice or support from Doncaster's SENDIAS Service. The service is completely impartial and confidential, and they can advise you on SEN processes and, the law in relation to special educational needs and/or disabilities. 

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and the support stated in their EHCP isn't being followed, or is no longer suitable, then you may wish to also raise your concerns with the local authority. An emergency annual receive may be held to rectify any concerns.

Settings should be continuously working through the assess, plan, do, review cycle to allow them to monitor a learner's progress and make adjustments to the support they receive where necessary. This ensures the child's needs continue to be met. 

You should be invited to meet with your child's setting three times a year (once a term) to discuss their SEN support. These meetings should be in addition to regular meetings offered to all children, i.e. parents evenings. 

Yes, you have the right to home educate if you want to. As a parent/carer, you are responsible for ensuring that your child receives a suitable education. Education is compulsory, school is not.

If your child attends a special school, you will need to seek permission from the local authority before you decide to take your child off of the school roll. 

Since April 2013, education settings have been funded according to a national framework. Settings have a duty to meet the needs of all the children and young people on their roll, including those with SEN.

Mainstream school and post 16 settings

The national threshold is approximately £10k per year made up of an element for core quality first teaching for every child and up to £6k for effective additional support for children with special educational needs. This threshold is the responsibility of the setting before a local authority (LA) considers providing additional top up funding, usually through a statutory plan.

In mainstream schools a 'notional budget' for SEN additional support is made up of formula factors linked to the children who are on the school's roll when the School Census is counted in October each year. It is not the case that every child identified as having SEN has £6k that must be spent on them individually.

Education settings should be flexible in the use of this funding as some children may need more or less support at different times. Additional interventions may best be delivered in small groups rather than creating an over -dependency on 1:1 adult support.

Early years settings

Early years settings receive place funding for eligible 2 ,3 and 4-year-olds. Early years settings can also claim a top-up amount, worth up to £353.40 per year, for any disadvantaged or looked after 3 and 4-year-olds in their setting. This additional funding is called Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) and is paid at 62p per hour on top of a child’s universal 15 hours funding. Settings can also request a yearly Disability Access Fund (DAF) payment of £828 for 3 and 4-years olds who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The LA's Early Years Inclusion Team (EYIT) provides advice, support and training to these settings. Early years mainstream settings, whether Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) or a school-based nursery setting, can also apply for the Early Intervention Allowance (EIA) where additional adult support may be required to enable a child to participate and access learning alongside their peers. The request is submitted to the Early Years Panel via the EYIT who can also advise on the criteria and monitoring arrangements.

Special schools and mainstream attached specialist resource bases

LA maintained special schools and specialist resources attached to mainstream schools are funded on a ‘place plus’ model. These settings are funded at £10k per agreed place available. The school also receives an additional top up amount for each child on roll, agreed between the LA and the individual school. In Doncaster maintained special schools, the top up funding ranges from around £5k for children with learning difficulties and additional needs to around £15k for children with the most profound and multiple learning difficulties.

Non-maintained special schools in and outside the Doncaster borough are also funded on the basis of a £10k per agreed place plus a top up which the provider negotiates with the placing local authority.

Independent special schools, located in and outside the Doncaster borough, are not subject to the national funding formula. The cost of these placements is usually higher than other special schools and is negotiated between the placing local authority and the provider.

Independent and non-maintained special schools, which are not part of the Department for Education’s approved list of providers (Section 41), are not bound by the same duty to admit a child if their setting is named in section I of a child’s EHCP.

The local authority has a duty to comply with a parental or young person's preference for a particular setting but must also ensure that it uses public resources as efficiently as possible in making a decision on the most appropriate education placement to meet needs. Please note that assessed and agreed transport costs are in addition to all place and additional support costs described above.

The majority of children with special educational needs (SEN) have their needs met within their local mainstream school. Each school has a designated Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), who has responsibility for co-ordinating special educational provision within the school. All local mainstream schools have funding within their school budget to meet the special educational needs of their children.

The Department for Education has set a minimum amount of approximately £10,000 per child for schools to use their own resources to meet core teaching and additional adult support costs. Above this threshold, schools can request the local authority to consider whether a statutory Education Health Care (EHC) needs assessment may be required or the need to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan.

The deployment of all available resources is the responsibility of the school's governing body and headteacher/ principal. It enables schools to deploy resources flexibly for provision that is additional to and different from that usually available to and required for all the children. Doncaster has published the following guidance: Core Principles - Descriptors Thresholds Document which sets out broadly what schools should provide and when this may need the Local Authority to provide further support. Mainstreams schools in Doncaster may reasonably be expected to make the following provision from within their own budgets for children with SEN but without an Education, Health and Care Plans.

Schools should have the following in place:

• An Individual Plan such as an SEN Support Plan or an Individual/ group Provision Map may be in place for each child with SEN at SEN Support.
• The arrangement of class or teaching groups, for the whole or part of the school day, should take into account the needs of children with SEN.
• Access to specialist services provided by the Local Authority under agreement with the school, such as the Engagement and Behavior Support Service or the Educational Psychology Service.
• School policies and programmes that enable children with SEN to be as fully included within the social and academic life of the school as possible.
• Additional learning support to assist children with health or self-care needs, where these relate to children’s needs.
• The provision of specialist resources to enable children with SEN to access the curriculum. Updated 4 April 2016
• The provision of smaller items of equipment to enable individual children to access the curriculum.
• Close liaison with parents/carers to support the child with SEN, including their involvement in the design of their SEN Support Plans.
• Access to specialist facilities to enable curriculum materials and resources to be adapted for children with significant visual impairment.
• Radio aids for children with significant hearing impairment, when recommended by the Local Authority's specialist teacher.
• Reasonable adjustments to the physical environment of the school. Research shows that additional support should enable a child or young person to be as independent as possible and only in exceptional situations would a child need high levels of 1:1 adult support across the day.

Doncaster local authority (LA) funds a range of specialist services from its High Needs Block budget to meet the needs of children with special educational needs (SEN).

These services are available whether or not a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). All services work in close partnership with families and other agencies including health and social care.

• Specialist teachers and other key workers provide support for early years children with SEN. This includes the Portage Service for children in the home and the Early Years Inclusion Team for children in early years settings.
• Specialist teachers and support staff a) for children with a visual impairment (VI) and b) for children with hearing impairment (HI) provide advice and resources to education settings to enable these children to access an appropriately differentiated curriculum alongside their peers.
• Specialist teachers and support staff in the LA's Autism Social Communication Education and Training Service (ASCETS), provide advice to education settings to enable children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), to participate in the social life of the setting and access an appropriately differentiated curriculum. The LA also funds outreach workers from Stone Hill and Coppice Special Schools with expertise in meeting the needs of children with social communication needs and associated barriers to learning.
• Specialist outreach workers to advise settings on the safe moving and handling of children and to enable children with a physical impairment and/or significant medical need to access the curriculum and participate in learning alongside their peers.
• Support from outreach workers from Pennine View and North Ridge special schools, to advise schools on differentiating the curriculum, effective strategies and targeted interventions designed to support children with learning difficulties or social, emotional and mental health needs and/ or challenging behaviors. Schools can access funding from the High Needs Block to meet exceptional needs such as complex medical needs but no SEN, or if they can evidence a disproportionate SEN profile compared to their notional SEN budget. The local authority provides specialist services for education settings from resources other than the High Needs Block, including the Behaviour Outreach Support Service and the Educational Psychology Service. Guidance and training is also provided on the effective deployment and monitoring of SEN resources in schools.

If a child is assessed by the local authority (LA) as requiring more resources than the education setting can reasonably provide, the LA may allocate additional funding from its High Needs Block, part of the Dedicated Schools Grant. Since April 2013, Doncaster has used a banding system for allocating High Needs funding attached to an EHCP.

The banding system and the SEN Descriptors were reviewed through consultation with schools in April 2015 to reflect the SEND Reforms and allow for more flexibility if a Personal Budget is agreed as part of an EHCP.

Table 1- Funding Bands for Mainstream Settings where a Statement of SEN is still in place or a first final EHCP was issued prior to April 2015.

Bands (above £10k for SEN and Alternative Provision)	Top Up (indicative per child) Note: Primary Schools receive an additional £500
High Needs Band A - Mainstream	£4,000
High Needs Band B - Mainstream	£5,500
High Needs Band C - Mainstream	£7,500
Individual Package	Individually determined

Table 2- Funding Bands for EHCPs issued after April 2015 in a mainstream setting

Bands (above £10k for SEN and Alternative Provision)	Top Up (indicative per child)
High Needs Band A - Mainstream	A1 - £1,000 A2 - £2,000 A3 - £3,000 A4 - £4,000
High Needs Band B - Mainstream	B5 - £5,000 B6 - £6,000
High Needs Band C - Mainstream	C7 - £7,000 C8 - £8,000
Individual Package	Individually determined

All funding allocations are reviewed as part of the statutory annual review process.