If your child has special educational needs, you may have been put in touch with their school鈥檚 Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).
To find out more about what a SENCO does, and how they can support you and your child, we spoke to SENCO Lisa Frankham鈥
Lisa Frankham (SENCO) Hello, my name is Lisa Frankham, and I am a SENCO.
VO: WHAT DOES SENCO STAND FOR?
Lisa Frankham: SENCO stands for Special Educational Needs Coordinator. However, in some schools you may hear a SENCO referred to as a SENDCO so that stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator.
VO: WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A SENCO?
Lisa Frankham: A SENCO is a qualified teacher; and their responsibility is to lead the schools provision for special educational needs and the support offered to students with SEND. Examples of special educational needs are autism, dyslexia and ADHD. The SENCO works really closely with other staff within the school, and also parents and external professionals to develop, implement and monitor individual support and learning plans for students with special educational needs.
VO: HOW CAN A SENCO HELP MY CHILD?
Lisa Frankham: A SENCO can help your child by putting in place a plan which lays out the support, resources, and strategies that will help your child with their special educational needs. A plan like this is sometimes called a Personal Learning Plan, it can also be referred to as Pupil Passport, but some schools may have a different name for it鈥︹.
鈥︹ In primary schools, your child's personal learning plan is shared with the SENCO and their class teacher. However, in secondary schools the SENCO shares it with more people. They share it with their form teacher and also their subject specialist teachers to make sure that all activities and lessons are accessible for your child.
If a SENCO feels that the school requires more resources to support your child, they may request a more in-depth assessment of your child's needs. This is called an education, health and care needs assessment or an EHC Needs Assessment.
VO: WHAT QUESTIONS MIGHT YOU WANT TO ASK A SENCO?
Lisa Frankham: So, personally I would always ask the school for a copy of their SEN policy; as that鈥檚 going to give you the best overview of how the school approach supporting students with Special Educational Needs.
As a parent, I would also want to know that the interventions and strategies that are put in place are working, so how is your child being assessed? How often are they being assessed? And how is that going to be fed back to you as a parent?
If your child is part of any transition, such as moving from primary school to secondary school, you may want to ask your SENCO what support is in place to help with that transitional period.
What does SENCO stand for?
You may come across different names for a SENCO, depending on where you live:
- In England and Northern Ireland, SENCO stands for Special Educational Needs Coordinator.
- Or your school may have a SENDCO, which stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator.
- In Wales, a SENCO is called an Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCO). Special educational needs are referred to as Additional Learning Needs (ALN).
- In Scotland, the equivalent to SEN is Additional Support Needs (ASN), and the teacher is called an Additional Support Needs teacher.
What is the role of a SENCO?
A SENCO is a qualified teacher who鈥檚 responsible for leading the school鈥檚 provision for special educational needs and the support offered to students with SEN (special educational needs) 鈥 which can be disorders like autism, dyslexia and ADHD.
The SENCO works closely with other staff within the school, parents and external professionals to develop, implement and monitor individual support and learning plans for students with special educational needs.
How can a SENCO help my child?
A SENCO can put a plan in place which outlines the support, resources and strategies that will help your child with their special educational needs. This plan is sometimes called a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) or a Pupil Passport, though schools in different parts of the UK may have a different name for it.
In primary schools, your child鈥檚 PLP is shared with the SENCO, and their class teacher. In secondary schools the SENCO shares it with more people, including their form teacher and their subject specialist teachers, to make sure all activities and lessons are accessible for your child.
If a SENCO feels that a school requires more resources to support your child, they may request a more in-depth assessment of your child鈥檚 needs:
- in England, this is called an Education, Health and Care needs plan (EHC plan).
- in Wales it鈥檚 called an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
- in Northern Ireland the equivalent plan is a Statement of Special Educational Needs.
- in Scotland it鈥檚 known as a Coordinated Support Plan (CSP).
Five questions you might want to ask a SENCO
The most important thing is to understand how the SENCO will interact with your child, and how any information will be fed back to you. You could ask things like:
1. How is my child being assessed?
2. How often are they being assessed?
3. How is that going to be fed back to me as a parent?
4. Can I have a copy of the school鈥檚 SEN policy (to get an overview of how the school supports students with SEN)?
5. What support is in place to help with transitions (like moving from primary to secondary school)?
What鈥檚 next?
Finally, make sure you know how to contact the school and the SENCO if you have any concerns or questions about your child. Use these 大象传媒 Bitesize Parents鈥 Toolkit resources for further advice on managing your child鈥檚 SEND.
Watch our film for guidance on what to do while waiting to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
The 大象传媒 has more information in this mental wellbeing collection as well as links to useful organisations on the 大象传媒 Action Line.
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