While schools do not need to have a SEN register, the SEND Code of Practice does state that every school is “required to identify and address the SEN of the pupils that they support” (paragraph 6.2) and to record when they decide a child has SEN in the school records.
This is, to all intents and purposes, the SEN register – and it would be ludicrous not to keep this as a clear list or register.
Whatever we call the record, there are questions about how we identify when children have SEN and when they should be recorded as such.
There is no single clear answer. Children do not necessarily fit easily into categories. There is a wide variety of needs shown by different children at different stages of their development and education. This leads to inconsistency between schools and confusion for staff and parents, this is further exacerbated by differences in services available in different areas.
The Code of Practice tells us: “A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age.” (paragraph 6.15)
However, there are groups of pupils who require different or additional provision who do not necessarily have SEN – for example, Pupil Premium, English as an additional language (EAL), looked after and previously looked after children, children known to social care, and children with disabilities or medical needs.
There may be children within all these groups who also have SEN, but it is particularly important, of course, that schools do not equate these categories as being the same as SEN.
At the same time, schools need to continue to be aware and work to identify where these children do have SEN and provide appropriate and tailored support.
Any child with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is identified has having SEN and clearly should be recorded as such on the school records.
The question for most schools is about the children at SEN Support level (K Code) and when they need to be recorded as having SEN and included on the SEN register.
Four areas of need
The SEND Code of Practice identifies four areas of need:
- Communication and interaction needs.
- Cognition and learning needs.
- Social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH).
- Physical and sensory needs.
If a child requires provision “different from or additional to” that of their peers in any of these areas in order to access learning or engage in school, they should be identified with SEN.
Consequently, there will be children identified with SEN who are achieving at age-related expectations for learning, however they will have additional or different support for reasons other than cognition and learning.
Children with SEMH or physical and sensory needs who are achieving academically still need to be included on the SEN register to ensure all their needs are identified, considered and met.
Equally, assumptions about children from particular backgrounds, or in other cohorts of vulnerability, can mean that their SEN go unmet.
There are wide range of criteria used by different schools to place children on the SEN register, such as low attainment, diagnosis or support from outside agencies, or out-of-class interventions. But the reliance on single criteria to include or exclude a child from the register may mean that we miss their learning needs and fail to put in place the provision needed to support them.
Let’s now consider some of the criteria I listed above that schools might use when considering whether to place a student on the SEWN register.
Low attainment
The Code of Practice is clear (paragraph 6.23): “Slow progress and low attainment do not necessarily mean that a child has SEN and should not automatically lead to a pupil being recorded as having SEN.”
So not achieving age-related expectations should not automatically lead to placement on the SEN register. We need to consider the reasons for underachievement and respond to them. SEN is only one possible reason. An assumption of SEN can leave children’s real needs unmet.
Diagnosis
There is a view that any child with a diagnosis should be on the SEN register. But this misses the point of “different from or additional to”.
Quality first teaching – increasingly known in many local authorities as “ordinarily available provision” – must include a high level of differentiation. The needs of many children with diagnoses of autism, dyslexia, ADHD or various other needs can and should be met through good teaching with effective differentiation and adaptive teaching.
The definition of SEN should be needs-led and based on providing provision to meet children’s needs, and if this can be done without additional SEN provision then there is no need for a child to be on the SEN register just because they have a diagnosis.
Their placement on the register should reflect the provision required to support their learning and social interactions, not the “label” used to describe it.
Equally, there will be many children who will not have a diagnosis but require support and provision that is “different from or additional to” the rest of their cohort. Often the provision of this support can form a basis of a later diagnosis.
To exclude these children from the register on the basis that they do not have, or do not yet have, a diagnosis would be discriminatory and leave these children unsupported and effectively excluded from the support they need. This is particularly important given the waiting lists and difficulties of obtaining a diagnosis in many areas.
There is an additional risk that an SEN register could become the preserve of children whose parents are willing/able to pay for a diagnosis to the exclusion of those who do not.
So there should not be an equivalence between having or not having a diagnosis and being placed on the SEN register.
Inclusion on the register should be on basis of need and the support a child needs to access learning and progress which is “different from or additional to” that of their peers.
Interventions
Some schools use the rule that any child receiving an intervention should be included on the SEN register. This needs to be looked at differently.
First, interventions in school are more than attendance at an “intervention group” in or out of the classroom. An intervention may be part of the provision and support provided to a child on the SEN register, but the fact they are receiving intervention is not a reason to place them on the register in itself. This would undermine the importance of differentiation as integral to outstanding teaching and “ordinarily available provision”. A significant number of interventions, e.g. access to resources, wobble cushions, visual timetables, and word banks can and should be part of quality first teaching.
Further there are many reasons for children to attend intervention groups, both long and short-term. Many children do not have SEN but still need short boosters to support their learning.
A focus on interventions as a reason for placing a child on the SEN register can remove our focus from the daily in-class interventions and interactions which are used to support children with and without SEN.
It can place an inappropriate focus on intervention groups happening outside the classroom. These should only be a very small part of SEN support in school, and without linked support in class interventions can have a limited impact.
Outside agencies
Another rule of thumb used by some schools is a child should be on the SEN register if an outside agency is involved. This can lead to a catch 22 situation as often outside agencies will only become involved if the child is on the SEN register.
Equally, given the difficulties in many areas of accessing outside agency support, this can contribute to the postcode lottery for accessing SEN support. In some areas, speech and language, or physio support is only provided for EHCPs and statutory work. If outside agency involvement is the criteria for inclusion on the SEN register, we deny identification of need and support to children at SEN Support level.
Moreover, outside agency involvement can be short term for specific issues which are not affecting the child’s learning, progress or social interactions. In these cases it is questionable if the child needs to be included on the register.
The focus should be needs and how a child’s needs are supported with or without outside agency support. Certainly children should not be denied SEN support because they are not able to access outside agency support, particularly where there is a huge discrepancy between demand for and capacity within services.
We also need be aware of the demands of some parents who are willing to pay for therapies and other support for needs that are actually below the threshold for support from publicly funded services. In some cases, this is because services that should be available are not, but in others it can be due to a parental focus on needs that can in fact be met by inclusive teaching.
Final thoughts
The issue of SEN identification is complex and needs to focus on an individual’s needs including their ability to engage in and access learning and the social and physical environments of school.
We need to focus on the child’s need for provision “different from or additional to” that provided to their peers. This should be the guide for their placement (or not) on the SEN register.
More important than placing a child on the SEN register is the provision and support provided to them. Being on the register does not make a difference, how we respond to the child’s needs through high-quality provision and inclusive practice does.
The SEN register should be dynamic and frequently reviewed focusing on the needs of children with SEN at all levels. As a working document that also reflects that children’s needs change over time, children can and should come off the SEN register as well as being added to it.
An effective SEN register is a key document in school, but it needs to reflect the children as they are now – their needs and the support they require to succeed in school.
Key to this is ensuring that all staff know which children are on the register and how to support them. This needs to be reflected in the daily provision within all classes. The SEN register is only a list. Support for those with SEN goes much further than putting their name on a list.
- Sara Alston is an experienced SENCO and safeguarding lead who also works as a SEND, inclusion and safeguarding consultant and trainer. Visit www.seainclusion.co.uk, follow her @seainclusion. Find her previous articles and podcast appearances for Headteacher Update via www.headteacher-update,com/authors/sara-alston/
Further information & resources
- DfE: Statutory guidance: SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, 2014: www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25