SEN Advice Ipswich
SEN Advice Ipswich
Every child has the right to an Education.
Your child may have special educational needs and our experts can help your child get the best possible start and get your child the additional support they need. Our dedicated legal team can provide SEN advice in Ipswich and help you with any issue relating to special educational needs.
What are Special Educational Needs?
SEN (Special educational needs) can amount to any difficulty a child or young person has in accessing education. Special educational needs can substantially impact how a person learns. If a child or young person has a learning difficulty, special educational provisions should be made.
Special educational needs (SEN) can have a substantial impact on:
- ability to understand
- behaviour
- concentration levels
- hearing and/or visual impairment
- physical ability
- reading
- social skills
- writing
If a child or young person has additional difficulties in accessing school or education and requires support beyond that typically made for young people of the same age, they likely have SEN needs.
If you are not sure whether your child or young person has educational needs, you should speak to our specialist solicitors. If you think that your child or young person needs additional support, our specialist solicitors will be happy to help and guide you through the process.
The Process
If you are caring for a child or young person and they are having difficulties in an educational setting, they may have special educational needs. If your child or young person has special educational needs, they should be given additional support to assist their learning.
The SENCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) and your child’s teacher will work together and decide what additional support your child may need. This is known as an Individual Education Plan. To meet your child’s special educational needs, your child’s teacher and SENCo are responsible for providing the support detailed in the Individual Educational Plan. This could include additional support staff or external experts. In some instances, the school will not identify that your child has SEN, or the child or young person’s needs simply cannot be met by the school. It is at this point that you should consider starting the application for an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP).
Parents should be aware that schools receive a budget, which is an amount of money known as the Delegated Budget. This is used to support children with special educational needs. This can often limit the amount of support that can be available for schools to deliver to children with SEN, unless the local authority issues an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
If the child needs more support than the school can provide, an Education, Health and Care Plan may be needed. These discussions should take place between the school and parents. There is no requirement for the school to complete the ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ cycle before seeking an EHC assessment.
We can offer SEN advice in Ipswich and surrounding areas and if need legal advice or guidance, please contact our specialist solicitors on 02920 291 704.