Devon’s SEND Local Offer

SEND roles and responsibilities

SEND as a partnership

An aim of the Devon SEND Strategy is to encourage all schools to provide for children and young people with SEN within their own local area. The responsibilities for children with SEND in schools and colleges is through the responsibilities outlined in the Code of Practice.

In Devon, we will work in partnership to take joint responsibility for children and young people with SEND. This includes partnerships:

  • with parents, carers and the support network around children and young people
  • across education settings, support services and Local Authority services
  • across multi-agency services – education, health and care

This page outlines the roles and responsibilities agreed across the partnership across education:

Schools and settings

Teachers, SENCos, leaders and governors.

Local Authority

SEN 0-25 Team, SEN support services.

Every teacher is a teacher of SEN

Teachers will:

  1. Assess:
    • Learning environment
    • Grouping of children/young people
    • Teaching styles
    • Curriculum materials
    • Individual children and young people’s physical, sensory, cognitive barriers, social emotional needs and other relevant circumstances
    • Have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these
  2. Plan and do:
    • Know when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches that enable pupils to be taught effectively
    • Individualised or small group planning and support
    • Increased use of ICT resources
    • Staff collaboration and planning with specialists within the school setting and outside agencies
    • Individualised programmes in more than one curriculum area
    • Environmental adaptations
    • Individualised programmes in several areas including the curriculum and non-curriculum areas, for example:
      • behaviour
      • communication
      • participation and access
      • personal wellbeing
    • Additional small group and individual support including for non-curriculum activities
  3. Review
    • Very detailed planning and tracking

Taken from the SEN Code of Practice

6.36 Teachers are responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff.

6.37 High-quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching. Schools should regularly and carefully review the quality of teaching for all pupils, including those at risk of underachievement. This includes reviewing and, where necessary, improving, teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN most frequently encountered.

Every school should have a SENCo (or similar role in further education)

SENCos will:

  • respond to concerns and issues about SEN provision in school
  • lead on developing whole school SEN roles and responsibilities
  • ensure a graduated response is in place

Taken from the SEN Code of Practice

6.90 The key responsibilities of the SENCO may include:

  • overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN policy
  • co-ordinating provision for children with SEN
  • liaising with the relevant Designated Teacher where a looked after pupil has SEN
  • advising on the graduated approach to providing SEN support
  • advising on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet pupils’ needs effectively
  • liaising with parents of pupils with SEN
  • liaising with early years providers, other schools, educational psychologists, health and social care professionals, and independent or voluntary bodies
  • being a key point of contact with external agencies, especially the local authority and its support services
  • liaising with potential next providers of education to ensure a pupil and their parents are informed about options and a smooth transition is planned
  • working with the headteacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements
  • ensuring that the school keeps the records of all pupils with SEN up to date

Every setting should be inclusive for children and young people with SEN

Governors, school leaders and headteachers will:

  • ensure that to the best of their endeavours, the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has SEN
  • ensure that where the Headteacher or a nominated governor has been informed by the LA that a pupil has SEN, those needs are made known to all who are likely to teach or support that pupil
  • ensure that teachers are aware of the importance of identifying and providing for pupils who have SEN
  • ensure that a pupil with SEN or a disability or both joins in the activities of the school together with other pupils, so far as is reasonably practical and compatible with the child receiving the special educational provision their learning needs call for, the efficient education of the pupils with whom they are educated and the efficient use of resources
  • report to parents on the implementation of the school’s policy for pupils with SEN
  • have due regard to the statutory guidance within the current SEN Code of Practice when carrying out duties toward all pupils with SEN
  • ensure that school notifies parents of a decision by the school that SEN provision is being made for their child
  • Publish or provide information such as:
    • accessibility plans and admissions of disabled children
    • a SEN information report annually on their website
    • school arrangements for SEN to parents and governors
  • respond to concerns and issues about SEN provision in school
  • invest in whole school and targeted training for staff
  • ensure inclusive teaching and support is embedded throughout the school and that all teachers understand that they are responsible for pupils with SEN

Taken from the SEN Code of Practice page 17

xx. The duties cover discrimination in the provision of services and the provision of education, including admissions and exclusions. All providers must make reasonable adjustments to procedures, criteria and practices and by the provision of auxiliary aids and services. Most providers must also make reasonable adjustments by making physical alterations. Schools and local authority education functions are not covered by this last duty, but they must publish accessibility plans (and local authorities, accessibility strategies) setting out how they plan to increase access for disabled pupils to the curriculum, the physical environment and to information.

Governors should ensure that SEN is a whole school or college responsibility

Governors will:

  • appoint an SEN governor
  • know how many children and young people have SEN
  • know how much SEN funding is in the school
  • ensure budget is in place to arrange appropriate SEN provision
  • review SEN policy and keep up to date, publishing the policy on the school website
  • monitor progress of SEN children and young persons with SEN
  • ensure that all provision in EHCPs is in place
  • ensure school improvement considers SEN
  • appoint a SENCo who is a qualified teacher working with teachers and school leaders

Taken from the SEN Code of Practice page 17

xxi. School governing bodies and proprietors must also publish information about the arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps taken to prevent disabled children being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to assist access of disabled children, and their accessibility plans.

The Local Authority should lead on SEND

The Local Authority will:


Top
Devon County Council
Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon EX2 4QD
Our contact numbers