Holy Trinity

What does SEN mean?

Special Educational Needs covers a wide spectrum and applies to children who experience learning difficulties, have social or emotional problems, as well as those who have medical needs, suffer sensory impairment or are disabled.  A pupil is identified as having Special Educational Needs if they are finding it harder than other pupils to make progress. Some pupils will only receive support for SEN in school for a short time, others may receive support for their entire time in education. Children with SEN are likely to need some extra or different support from other children of their age, and there are lots of different ways that teachers can offer this to ensure that all children are able to access the education system.
 
If you are at all concerned about a difficulty your child is having, please speak to your child's class teacher. You may also wish to make an appointment via the school office 01706 378061 to speak to the SENCO, Mrs Helen Earnshaw to see how we can help and support you and your family. Rochdale also have their own SEND advice line for families and hub sessions which you may find useful.

What are the different types of SEN in school?

The term SEN covers lots of different difficulties children may have. There are considered to be four main types of SEN. Many children identified as having SEN will have more than one of these types of need:

• Cognition and Learning - children with cognition and learning needs may have a specific learning difference such as dyslexia, they may have a global developmental delay which affects their cognitive development, or they may have difficulties with working memory, affecting their ability to learn new information and skills.
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health - children with SEMH needs may find it difficult to regulate their emotions, or may have difficulties with their mental health. They may present with challenging behaviours, or find social situations difficult.
• Communication and Interaction - children with communication and interaction needs may have specific speech and language difficulties. Many Autistic children also have communication and interaction needs.
• Physical and Sensory - this encompasses those with physical disabilities, and those who have sensory needs such as sensory avoiding or sensory seeking behaviours. 

SEN Support Plan:

Once a special educational need or disability has been identified, an SEN Support Plan (Pupil Profile) can be put in place. Here is an outline of the stages that you can expect

1. Assess - The first step is to work out what kind of support the child would benefit from.
2. Plan - Once a child needs have been identified staff should work with the child to see what they want to achieve and what support will be needed to achieve these outcomes.
3. Do - Staff should put support plans into practice.
4. Review - The support should be reviewed by the child and those around them to see if it is working. If it is then this support plan can be continued. If not arrangements may change depending on the identified issues.

This cycle is what is known as a 'graduated approach' and allows everyone involved to have input and decide what is and isn't working. The Pupil Profile can then be altered to see if that works better and allows the child to make more progress.