Skip to main content

The role of Educational Settings

Page last updated

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 sets out the duties of education settings when identifying SEND and providing support for this.

These settings include:

  • Early Years Settings

  • Schools

  • Further Education Providers

Treating people equally means treating them according to their needs. All learners are unique and all are entitled to an education that enables them to make progress. This mean they can:

  • Achieve their best

  • Become confident individuals

  • Make a successful transition into adulthood

Mainstream settings will support most learners with SEND by making reasonable adjustments. These should remove or reduce barriers to learning. They will use specific parts of their budget to create provision that is additional to or different from that made for other learners in that setting. This is known as 'Notional SEN funding'. Some pupils also receive this through 'Pupil Premium funding'.

Settings must use their best efforts in not only identifying young people with SEND but also in providing support for them. The support that is ordinarily available must be set out and published by the educational setting and placed on its website. 

Workforce Development Programme 

Settings are expected to ensure that the workforce is adequately trained to support all young people. This includes those who may have SEND, and those in vulnerable groups. 

Below are some recommended SEND awareness training programmes for the whole setting workforce: 

  • Autism Education Trust (AET) programme Level 1

  • STEPS or PROACT-SCIPr behaviour de-escalation programmes

  • MindEd e-learning portal

Attainment and Progress Data Analysis

Settings are expected to routinely collect and monitor data on the attainment and progress of all young people. This includes learning in literacy, numeracy and other subject areas. It also includes wider life skills such as:

  • Communication

  • Mental health

  • Well-being

  • Independence

When young people are not making progress in line with their peers, settings should investigate the reasons and take actions. Settings should contact and involve parents and carers. Parents and carers can expect to be listened to as 'experts on their own child or young person'. 

Routine data that the setting might refer to includes:

  • The Two-Year-Old Integrated Checks

  • The Foundation Stage Profile

  • The setting's own whole-school progress tracking data

Targeted Catch-Up

Children who are not making expected developmental or learning progress don't always have special educational needs. This is particularly if they are performing only a little below peers. They may have fallen behind for any number of reasons. With appropriate input, they should be expected to catch-up in time. In some situations, it will be appropriate to seek wider family support for the family. If so, an Early Help Assessment Tool (EHAT) is suitable [External Link].

Settings are expected to arrange appropriate 'catch-up' actions. This is known as targeted provision. 'Catch-up' actions can address areas relating to both learning or nurturing. The actions taken should address a small number of specific outcomes for the young person and delivered over a limited period. If necessary, they may be in stepped stages. 'Before' and 'after' measurements must be taken at each stage. This is to check that the actions have been effective and that the child is making progress. 

Where the young person is in a vulnerable group it is expected that settings provide a joined up response. This that their needs are correctly identified and appropriate responses made. Vulnerable groups may include:

  • Free School Meals

  • Child Looked After

  • English as an Additional Language

Some settings use their Pupil Premium Funding to buy nationally recognised programmes. See this briefing for more information from the Department of Education on effective teaching of disadvantaged groups [External Link].

Effective Communication Systems

Expectations around communication should be agreed between the school and home. Some things to consider are:

  • The use of emails

  • Communication booklets

  • Phone calls

  • The protocols for family-centred meetings.

The setting's arrangements need to be flexible enough to adapt to the needs of different families. 

Where there are other agencies involved with the young person and their family, it is important to ensure one person is acting as a Lead Professional. They should coordinate the support and avoid duplication.