Blackpool Council - Special Educational Needs

Special Educational Needs

Blackpool Children's Service Authority has a responsibility for making sure the needs of children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities are met.

Many children have special educational needs at some time during their school life. For some, those needs may be short-term whilst others may be long-term.

The SEN Code of Practice 2001 sets out guidance to Local Authorities and schools for identifying, assessing and making provision for children with special educational needs. All Blackpool schools and early years settings are expected to comply with this guidance.

If your child is very young, health professionals may already be involved with you and your child in assessing his/her needs and may therefore request further assessments by, for example, therapists/educational psychologists and specialist early years advisory staff of the local authority.

If your child is already attending school, the school through its normal assessment and monitoring arrangements will seek some time with you to talk about your child’s needs. Schools may wish to make additional provision for your child under School Action or School Action Plus.

This will mean that your child will have an targeted learning plan, sometimes referred to as an IEP. Meetings to revise this plan will be set up by school usually each term and you will be invited to these meetings.

Blackpool schools receive delegated SEN funds to make provision for most children with special educational needs. However, there are some children who have severe and complex needs that require a much higher level of support. These children are likely to require a Statement of special educational needs and will undergo a statutory assessment in order to determine the special provision needed.

The majority of children with Statements have their needs met in mainstream schools with enhanced support. However, there are some children who have needs that require specialised equipment, facilities or resources that can only be provided in a special school.

For more advice about the special education needs of your child, first contact your child’s school – class teacher/Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO)/Headteacher and governors of the school.

The Local Authority also provides advice and guidance from teams of Specialist Advisory staff including Early Years Specialists. The school will normally call upon these services when a child is receiving provision at School Action Plus. In addition to these services a Parent Partnership service is available which you can access by calling 0845 6014284.

You can find more useful information using the links to other pages on our website listed below:

Special Educational Needs - Statutory Assessment

Special Educational Needs - Statements and Reviews

Special Educational Needs - Educational Psychology

Special Educational Needs - Sensory and Hearing Impairment

Special Educational Needs - Complex and Severe Learning Difficulties

Special Educational Needs - Special Support Assistant Co-ordination.

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