It can be both confusing and frustrating to be part of a discussion when you don’t understand the language being used. This leaflet explains the terms and abbreviations used in special educational needs. It is designed to help parents and carers understand what is being discussed or written about, relating to their child’s special educational needs (SEN).
Definitions of terms relating to special educational needs
Annual Review:
The process of ensuring that a Statement of Special Educational Needs continues to describe the child’s needs and how they should be met through a meeting held once each year. Contact Wiltshire County Council if you would like a leaflet about the Annual Review System.
Assessment:
Finding out what a child can and cannot do by observing them at school and sometimes at home and by talking with people who know the child well
Assistant Education Officer (AEO):
A local authority officer who, in addition to supporting the education officer has responsibility for SEN casework
Carer:
A person who is looking after a child but isn't their birth parent.
Code of Practice:
A government document that schools, early years settings and local authorities follow when identifying children with SEN and meeting their needs.
Department for Education (DfE):
A national government department.
Differentiation:
The way in which the early years setting/school’s curriculum and teaching methods are adapted to meet the needs of a child.
Disagreement resolution (mediation):
Arrangements which all local authorities must provide to help prevent or resolve disagreements between parents/carers whose children have SEN and the local authority or school. These must include an independent service with trained mediators, designed to bring the different parties together in an informal way to try to resolve the disagreement through discussion.
In Wiltshire this service is called Wessex Mediation and you can contact them by telephoning 01823 336465.
District Inclusion Support Meeting (DISM):
A meeting (often held in a District Specialist Centre) to plan and co-ordinate services for children requiring intensive support in the Early Years.
District Specialist Centre (DSC):
A place offering intensive support from a range of services to children aged 0-5 years (previously known as Opportunity Groups).
Early Years:
Birth to five years
Early Years Action:
Collecting information about a child (0-5) who has special educational needs and requires help which is different from that provided as part of the usual curriculum, and designing a programme (often called an Individual Education Plan or IEP) for them. The programme will be drawn up by the early years practitioner/ teacher who works with the child and the SEN Co-ordinator (SENCO).
Early Years Action Plus:
Seeking advice or support from external specialist services for a child who cannot progress adequately on Early Years Action, and drawing up a new or revised programme to that provided at Early Years Action.
Early Years education settings:
All pre-school education provision, such as nursery classes and schools, day nurseries, playgroups, childminders and portage services.
Early Years Foundation Stage:
The framework which sets out standards and provides a flexible approach which supports learning and development until the end of the reception year at school.
Educational Psychologist (EP):
A professional employed by the local authority to assess a child’s Special Educational Needs and to give advice to schools and settings as to how the child’s needs can be met.
Education Officer (EO):
An officer of the local authority dealing with provision and placement of children with special educational needs, particularly those with a Statement or undergoing Statutory Assessment. See also Named Local Authority Officer and Assistant Education Officer.
Educational Welfare Officer (EWO):
An officer of the local authority dealing with young people who have irregular attendance or frequent absence from school. EWOs look at reasons for attendance problems and work with teams from Social Care to identify and support children involved in child protection procedures.
Enhanced Learning Provision:
An individualised and flexible programme of support put in place by all non-selective mainstream secondary schools in Wiltshire (from Sept 08), to meet the high level learning needs of the most needy pupils, who often have a combination of special educational needs.
Further Education (FE):
Full or part-time education for people over compulsory school age which does not take place in a school or university.
Graduated approach:
A model which recognises that children may need different levels of support at different stages in their early years or school lives.
Individual Education Plan:
A plan written by an early years practitioner/teacher/SENCO, outlining the way the child’s needs are being met, and setting SMART targets
Independent Parental Supporter (IPS):
Someone who can give support to parents/carers, for example, by going to meetings, encouraging parents to get involved and helping them to understand systems related to special educational needs. In Wiltshire IPSs are volunteers, trained by the Special Educational Needs Support Service (SENSS).
Key Stages:
The different stages of education that a child passes through:
- Early Years Foundation Stage – age 0-5 (Early years setting, Nursery and Reception);
- Key Stage one – age 5-7 (Years 1 and 2);
- Key Stage two – age 7-11(Years 3,4, 5 and 6);
- Key Stage three – age 11-14 (Years 7, 8 and 9);
- Key Stage four – age 14-16 (Years 10 and 11);
- Key Stage five – age 16-18 (Sixth form)
Learning difficulties:
Problems or conditions which make learning harder for the individual than it is for most people.
Local Inclusion Support Meeting (LISM)
An individual planning meeting to help identify appropriate networks and plan for a child’s present and future needs in the Early Years, involving professionals and parents working together at a local level.
Local authority (LA):
A local government body that is responsible for providing education. For children with special educational needs the LA is responsible for carrying out Statutory Assessments and maintaining Statements.
Mainstream school:
An ordinary school which is for all children, not just those with special educational needs.
Maintained school:
A state school. This includes community, foundation and voluntary aided schools.
Named LA Officer:
The person from the local authority who will deal with a child’s case. This is the person that parents/carers and schools contact with specific queries about a child’s Statutory Assessment or Statement of Special Educational Needs. See also Education Officer and Assistant Education Officer.
National Curriculum:
The framework which sets out standards and appropriate levels of achievement for children’s education, as laid down by the DCSF.
Note in Lieu:
A document which the Local Authority may produce following Statutory Assessment. It describes a child’s special educational needs, explains why a Statement is not needed and sets out what help should be provided to support the child. The local authority will ask for the parent/carer’s agreement before sending this document to professionals, including the child’s school.
Occupational Therapist (OT):
A professional trained to give advice on equipment, adaptations and activities to support the learning/ social development of people with physical, emotional or behavioural difficulties.
Paediatrician (community):
A doctor who specialises in children’s diseases and may be responsible for the continuing care of children with special educational needs both before school entry and in special and mainstream schools.
Parent Partnership Service (known as SENSS in Wiltshire):
A service which provides information and support to parents/carers whose children have special educational needs.
Pastoral Support Plan (PSP):
A plan drawn up by a school to support a child at serious risk of disaffection or exclusion. If a PSP is being written for a child who has special educational needs it should not replace their Individual Education Plan.
‘P’ Levels:
Performance levels used to assess a child who is not yet working within the National Curriculum levels of attainment.
Provision:
The extra or different help given to children with special educational needs.
Provision mapping:
A way of identifying the range of provision available to all pupils in a school, which is additional to and different from the school’s differentiated curriculum. It can be used as part of the planning process for a child with additional needs.
Portage:
Home-based educational support for pre-school children with special educational needs.
School Action:
Collecting information about a child who has special educational needs and requires help which is different from that provided as part of the usual curriculum, and designing a programme (often called an Individual Education Plan or IEP) for them. The programme will be designed by teachers who work with the child and the SENCO.
School Action Plus:
Seeking advice or support from external specialist services for a child who cannot progress adequately on School Action, and drawing up a new or revised programme to that provided at School Action.
‘SMART’ targets:
Targets which are Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Timed. This is what targets for individual children should be like.
Special Educational Needs (SEN):
The needs of children who have a learning difficulty, which means that they require special educational provision to be made for them. Children who have a learning difficulty find it harder to learn than the majority of children of the same age, or they have a disability which prevents or hinders them from accessing the education provided for other children.
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO):
The person responsible for the planning of special educational needs within school or early years settings.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST):
An independent body that hears appeals against decisions made by the local authority on Statutory Assessments and Statements.
Resource Base:
Based within a mainstream school providing a specialist additional SEN support.
In Wiltshire there are centres for the following areas of SEN:
- Complex Needs (Primary); Hearing Impairment (Primary and Secondary)
- Speech and Language Difficulties (Primary)
- Physical Difficulties (Primary and Secondary)
- Social and Communication Difficulties/Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Primary)
Special School:
A school which is specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils with special educational needs
Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD):
Learning difficulties in specific areas, such as dyslexia or dyspraxia.
Speech & Language Therapist:
A professional trained to give specialist assessments, advice and treatment for children with communication difficulties.
Statement of Special Educational Needs:
A legal document that sets out a child’s needs and the extra help he/she should get.
Statutory Assessment:
A very detailed assessment of a child’s special educational needs. It includes parental, educational, psychological and medical advice and also the advice of any other professional involved with the child. It may lead to a Statement of Educational Needs. Contact Wiltshire County Council if you would like a leaflet about Statutory Assessments.
Transition Inclusion Support Meeting (TISM):
A meeting held for children who require additional support during the transition to school, to plan a flexible and individual programme of transition into school life. It will involve parents/ carers as well as professionals who have been involved with the child, and representatives from the child’s new school.
Transition plan:
A plan drawn up during the Year 9 Annual Review of a Statement. It should take account of the views of the young person, his/her parents and all the professionals involved with the young person. It must involve the Connexions Personal Adviser. The plan sets out the steps that need to be taken to move from school to adult life.
Abbreviation List
The following list contains abbreviations that you may see written in relation to a child’s Special Educational Needs. Those marked with a * have been explained earlier.
| ADD | Attention Deficit Disorder |
|---|---|
| ADHD | Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder |
| *AEO | Assistant Education Officer |
| ASD | Autistic Spectrum Disorder |
| ask | Advice on services to kids |
| BESD | Behavioural, Emotional and Social Development |
| BSL | British Sign Language |
| BSS | Behaviour Support Service |
| CAF | Common Assessment Framework |
| *CoP | Code of Practice |
| DCE | Department for Children & Education (Wiltshire Council) |
| *DISM | District Inclusion Support Meeting |
| EA | Equality Act |
| ENT | Ear, Nose and Throat |
| *EO | Education Officer |
| EOTAS | Education Other Than at School |
| *EP | Educational Psychologist |
| *EWO | Education Welfare Officer |
| *EY | Early Years |
| *FE | Further Education |
| GP | General Practitioner (your family doctor) |
| HI | Hearing Impairment |
| IEP | Individual Education Plan |
| *IPS | Independent Parental Supporter |
| *LA | Local Authority |
| LISM | Local Inclusion Support Meeting |
| MDSA | Mid-Day Supervisory Assistant |
| MLD | Moderate Learning Difficulties |
| NAS | National Autistic Society |
| *NC | National Curriculum |
| NHS | National Health Service |
| *OT | Occupational Therapist |
| PMLD | Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties |
| PSHE | Personal, Social and Health Education |
| *PSP | Pastoral Support Plan |
| *SALT | Speech and Language Therapist |
| SCD | Social Communication Disorder |
| *SEN | Special Educational Needs |
| *SENCO | Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator |
| *SENDIST | Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal |
| SLD | Severe Learning Difficulties |
| *SpLD | Specific Learning Difficulties |
| TA | Teaching Assistant |
| TAC | Teach Around the Child |
| TISM | Transition Inclusion Support Meeting |
| TR | Transition Review |
| VI | Visual Impairment |
If you require copies of leaflets about SEN, or further information about any aspect of your child's special educational needs, please contact Wiltshire Council or the Parent Partnership Service (SENSS) at the addresses given on the left.
Contact Details (LiveLink)
Multiple Contacts:
Parent Partnership Service
Postal Address:
ask
Elmsgate
Edington
Road
Steeple Ashton
BA14 6HP
Telephone: 08457 585072
Email: wc-apps@askwiltshire.org
Website: www.askwiltshire.org
Central SEN Service
Postal Address:
Central SEN Services
Wiltshire Council
Children
& Education Department
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 8JB
Email: centralsenservices@wiltshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 01225 718095
Fax: 01225 713145
eMail:
Telephone:
Out of hours:
Fax:
Postal Address:
In Person:
DX:
Last updated: 7 March 2012
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