What does being on the SEN register mean?

If your child is on the SEN register it means they have a special educational need. A special educational need is defined by the 2014 code of practice as:

• A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

• A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

   

  • has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

     

  • has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institution

     

• For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers. For a child under two years of age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind.

   

• At St Columba’s each child with SEN has an Individual Education Plan, which helps the child achieve small steps of learning. These IEPs are reviewed and updated regularly. A child may stay on an IEP for the whole of their schooling with us, or alternatively they may be removed from the SEN register and cease to be supported by an IEP when the need is no longer present.