It is fundamental that children in care have their needs assessed and identified as soon as possible by Lewisham’s special educational needs department to ensure suitable provisions are in place to support their education and promote their achievement.
A child or young person has special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
Special educational needs can be broadly categorised as:
- learning difficulties (specific, general, severe or profound)
- communication or language difficulties (speech and language, autism)
- behavioral difficulties (emotional, behavioral or social)
- physical and sensory difficulties (hearing, vision, physical, multi-sensory)
Children Looked After and Special Educational Needs – information provided by Lewisham’s SEN Department
Codes of Practice
- Where a child is looked after and is being assessed for SEN it is vital to take account of information set out in the care plan.
- The assessment must be carried out by the authority where the child lives (ordinarily resident), which may not be the same authority that looks after the child.
- The Annual Review of the EHC Plan should coincide with one of the child’s Care Plan statutory reviews.
- Social Workers, Virtual Schools and SEN should work closely together.
What about funding?
- Funding guidelines – Schools responsible for provision up to £6,000
- Virtual School can provide additional ‘top-up’ pupil premium funding if the spend is justified; schools must follow the usual application process.
SEN Provisions
Drumbeat (School and ASD Service)
Links:
- Autism – Understanding why school is closed
- EHC Plan – Moving from Secondary to a post-16 institution with an EHC Plan – Deadline 31st March 22
Please contact the relevant phase leader for more information.