How do I know if my child has Special Educational Needs?
The SEN Code of Practice states that ‘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'.
We are first looking at whether the child has a 'learning difficulty or disability'. This does not mean that every child who struggles with learning their phonics or takes longer to learn to read or hold a pencil or catch a ball has SEN. All children learn at their own pace and at Freshford we give them time and space to develop in their own time. Some children will however be diagnosed with a learning difficulty or disability.
Secondly, we look at whether the provision needs to be 'different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age'. Again, this does not mean that if your child has some extra reading sessions with a TA, or different resources in a maths lessons or different spelling homework that they have SEN. Those things are all part of Quality First Teaching.