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Government advice and guideance (for parents) document extract

A new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) report has been published by the government (August 2014). More details can be found on the Department for Education’s website.

They have also published a guide for parents and carers in relation to this new document. I have posted an extract (pages 7 and 8) of this report below.

The word ‘dyslexia’ does not appear in this document. It is also likely that many children with dyslexia will not qualify for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. However, it is quite clear that children and young people with SEN (Special Educational Needs) with learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children and young people, must not be ‘disadvantaged compared with other children and young people‘ of the same age (page 8). Furthermore, rather than waiting until the learner has failed, there is a duty to ‘think in advance about what disabled children and young people might need.

page 1 sen doc (extract)page 2 SEN extract

Many schools will be producing information (such as a Special Educational Needs and Disability policy) which explains the new SEND guide and how the school will communicate information and support to parents. Ask your school for their policy. (Ask them to print it out rather than offering you an electronic version to make it easier to study and comment on.)

There is also something called a Local Offer. This is a document listing available support and contacts for anyone involved with SEND … it could have been more clearly entitled: What SEND support and services are on offer locally.  Your school (or local education department) will be able to direct you to the Local Offer listings for your area.

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