RCBC SEND Guidance Documents

The SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years placed a legal duty on schools and settings to publish information about the available extra support for children and young people. 

Schools (including mainstream, nurseries, and academies) must publish information on their websites about their arrangements for meeting the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). 

Schools and settings should also publish their Accessibility Policy on their website.

SEND Policy 

A SEND Policy should include:

• The arrangements/responsibilities the school has for meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND.
• Information including:
  • A brief statement referring to relevant local guidelines and national regulations, including any legal obligations.
  • The school or setting’s aims, objectives and vision.
  • The roles/responsibilities of staff and arrangements for monitoring/evaluation, including evidence used to show how progress has been achieved.
  • A list of groups, individuals and documents consulted when making the policy.
  • Cross references to other documents and links to other policies.

The SEND Policy should be signed by the Chair of Governors, Chair of the Academy Association or Chair of Committee.

The date the policy was agreed by the schools Governing Body or Academy Association should be included and it should include a date for the next review.

SEND Information Report

Along with a SEND Policy, the SEND regulations require schools to have a SEND Information Report which must be published on the school’s website and reviewed annually. The report should be bespoke to your school and needs to include information on the kinds of SEND for which provision is made – this is a statutory duty. The document should be updated following any changes as they occur throughout the school year and should be reflective of the practice and provision available in school. This should be updated annually on the Local Offer. At the end of summer term, a reminder will be sent out by the Local Offer Assistant to remind all schools to update their information report and update on school’s website. We have a link to all schools’ websites on the Local Offer. If support is needed, then please contact localoffer@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk

The language should be straight forward, jargon-free, and easily accessible to all. The SEN Code of Practice makes it clear that the SEN Information Report should be accessible to parents and pupils. This means that settings will have to consider how they publish the information to make it accessible to all. This may require the setting to be creative in the way information is published. 

The SEND Information Report must identify how the school will support a pupil with SEND and their emotional and social development; this should include the pastoral arrangements to help with issues such as bullying. 

The SEND Information report must include information about: 

• The kinds of SEND that are provided for.
• Policies for identifying children and young people with SEND including assessing their needs.
• The name and contact details of the SENDCo.
• Arrangements for consulting with the parents of children with SEND and involving them in their child’s education.
• Arrangements for consulting young people with SEND and involving them in their education.
• Arrangements for reviewing children and young people’s progress towards outcomes.
• Arrangements for supporting children and young people between phases of education, including preparing for adulthood.
• Approaches to teaching children and young people with SEND.
• Adaptations and reasonable adjustments that are made to the curriculum and the learning environment.
• The expertise, specialisms and training of staff to support children and young people with SEND.
• Training and professional development that school have recently undertaken such as Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity (PINS)
• Interventions and assessments that school offer.
• How school works with outside agencies.
• How school identifies SEN needs and acts on this information.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of provision made for children and young people with SEND.
• How children with SEND can engage in activities in the setting available to all.
• The support offered to improve social and emotional development, for example the pastoral arrangements.
• How the setting involves the support from other bodies, including health and social care.
• Arrangements for handling complaints.

What is the difference between a SEND Policy and a SEND Information Report?

A SEND policy and a SEND Information Report are 2 distinct documents.

A SEND Policy will include technical details whereas a SEND Information Report should be written for parents using clear, meaningful and helpful language.