Frequently asked questions

SEN is short for Special Educational Needs.

In law, a person has SEN if they

• have a learning difficulty or disability (this means a person has ‘significantly greater difficulty’ in learning than most others their age). 
• has a disability that prevents them making use of what’s on offer in a mainstream school. 

AND they need extra or different support from others their age. 

• The types of difficulties can  include:
  • Reading, writing, and understanding numbers.
  • Talking and listening.
  • Developing social skills.
  • Physical skills.
  • Emotional, mental health and behaviour.

All young people with SEN are entitled to extra support with learning at school or college. 

The law says says that someone has a disability if they have: ‘A physical or mental impairment, which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities’.

Long-term means it’s lasted a year or more. Substantial means it’s not minor. 

Someone may be considered disabled if they have difficulty walking, seeing, hearing or understanding. 

Someone with a long term health condition such as cystic fibrosis may also be considered as having a disability. 

There are differing views on disability and how it is talked about. One view is called the social model of disability. This view looks at how the world around us and society makes it difficult for some people to be active and independent.  

• If you’re finding things difficult at school one of the best things you can do is talk to someone about it. This could be a teacher, your parents or carer or another trusted adult.
• If you’re finding it hard to learn or socialise at school because of your Special Educational Needs or disability the school must help and support you.
• Talk to a trusted member of school staff, or you might find it easier to talk to a parent / carer or another trusted adult. 
• If you’re finding it hard to do this we might be able to help. Please contact us. 

•  If there’s a teacher or someone you feel OK talking to at school you could talk to them first. 
• You could ask to talk to the Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (the SENCO). This is the person in charge of organising help and support for all young people with SEND, whether you have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or not. 
• If you’re not feeling able to do this we might be able to help you, please contact us. 

• An Education, Health and Care Plan,  sometimes called an EHC Plan is a legal document.
• It sets out the support you should have to get the best out of school or college.
• An EHC Plan will say what school you should attend and what practical things the school can do to help you be successful.

You can ask the SEN 0-25 Team for an EHC needs assessment if it is before your 25th birthday and you think you might need one. Other people can ask for you too. This might be your parents or carers, your school or people who work with you, like doctors or teachers. 

This is quite a hard question to answer but here are some things for you to think about. 

• Some young people find school difficult. This may be because they do not understanding school work or feel they’re falling behind. Some, feel they don’t fit in socially and find it hard to make friends. There are many ways that school can feel like a difficult place to be. 
• If you feel this way it may be best to talk to someone about it. This could be your parents or a carer, a teacher or teaching assistant or another trusted adult. 
• If you don’t have someone you can talk to, we might be able to help. You can contact us by calling us or using our contact form. 
• It’s helpful for some young people to know more about why they find learning or socialising difficult. One way of finding out more is by having an assessment. There are assessments for different types of difficulties. 
• The most common assessments young people have are for Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Autism, ADHD. 
• You do not have to have a special educational needs assessment to get help and support in school. If you are finding things difficult in school the first thing to do is talk to someone so they can help you find out what support might help you manage school better.