What to expect from Redbridge Schools
What to expect from Redbridge Schools
London Borough of Redbridge wants as many children as possible to go to their local mainstream school and all schools have a duty to identify and meet children’s additional or special needs. All schools have a teacher who supports children with special educational needs. This is the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). The SENCo will have had additional training to build their expertise. Parents/carers should always discuss their child’s additional or special needs with the child’s teacher or the SENCO in the first instance.
Identifying children’s additional needs
Sometimes, additional needs become apparent during the primary years (3-11) or even at secondary school (11-19). When a teacher or learning support assistant considers that a child may have special educational needs, they will look at how they can adapt their teaching and will check the child’s progress over time. If they think the child requires significantly different support they will discuss this with the SENCO.
How schools support children with SEND
Primary and Secondary Schools have well established arrangements for identifying and responding to special educational needs and disabilities, (SEND). Good class teaching plus extra help within the school/setting enables a child to make progress. Some mainstream schools have additional resources to help specific groups of pupils.
Funding to support children with SEND
Schools are allocated funding for pupils with identified special educational needs. The Local Authority expects this funding to be used to provide support within the school for those pupils who require it.
If a child needs more specialist support
Whilst we would expect that the needs of most children and young people will be met without the involvement of external specialists, we do provide specialist support services to our schools. If a child or young person does not make progress over time, the SENCo may ask one of the specialist services, e.g. the Educational Psychologists, for advice. They will assess the nature and level of difficulty and what helps the child or young person to learn and will provide the school and the parent with advice on the best ways to help.
EHC Plans
If the child or young person has significant special educational needs, it may become necessary to carry out an education, health and social care (EHC) assessment. For more about EHC Plans, click here. Any additional costs which may be triggered by an EHC Plan will be met from the Borough’s High Needs Budget.
Special Schools in Redbridge
As well as mainstream schools, we also have four special schools in the Borough. Children with an EHC Plan may be able to attend a special school if their needs cannot be met in a mainstream school.