Annual Review: A meeting held once a year to look at a child’s statement or EHC Plan, to record the child’s progress and plan for the year ahead.
Clinical Commissioning Group: An NHS organisation which brings together local GPs and health professionals to plan and fund health services for people in its area.
Educational Psychologist: A professional employed by the local authority to assess a child’s special educational needs and to give advice to schools as to how the child’s needs can be met.
EHC Needs Assessment: A legal process carried out by the LA to determine a child or young person’s educational, health care and social care needs. It is the first step towards getting an EHC plan.
EHC Plan: A legally binding document issued by the LA describing a child or young person’s education, health and social care needs and the support that will be given to them. Replaces statements of SEN.
LA: Local Authority – the local council.
Mainstream school: An ordinary school that provides education for children of all abilities, including those with SEND.
Mental Capacity Act: A law which sets out what happens when a person over the age of 16 does not have the ability to understand information and be able to use that to make a particular decision.
SENCO: Special Educational Needs Coordinator – a qualified teacher in a school or nursery who has responsibility for co-ordinating SEN provision.
SEND: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
Special school: A school that makes specialist provision for pupils with SEND who have a statement or an EHC plan.
Statement of SEN: A legally binding document drawn up by the Local Authority which describes a child’s special educational needs and the extra help they should receive. If your child attends a special school or Integrated Resource, they will almost certainly have a statement. Statements have now been replaced with EHC plans; from April 2018 all children who had a Statement of SEN will have had that transferred to an Education, Health and Care Plan.