What Legal Responsibilities Does A SENCo Have?
Douglas Silas looks at what the role of a SENCo involves from a legal perspective…
The goal of every SENCo will be to provide the best opportunities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities – something which will require them to have knowledge regarding the legal dimensions of their school’s SEND provision.
Examples of this include awareness of the law regarding disability discrimination or exclusions, the specifics of SEND funding and the processes involved with giving pupils statements of SEN and education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – including how to transfer from the former to the latter, as well as Annual Reviews. SENCos also have to know what schools need to provide for the vast majority of pupils with SEND on the school’s SEN register that do not have a statement/EHC plan.
If that were not enough, in addition, SENCos usually have teaching duties to fit in on a daily or weekly basis and are expected to represent the school at various seminars, meetings and hearings. Never mind 24/7 – the workload of the average SENCo is closer to 25/8!
While there is insufficient space here to detail everything a SENCo needs to know from a legal perspective about the above, I can try and provide an overview.
As with any other school employee, SENCos will regularly find themselves working with parents, governors, educational psychologists, therapists and external agencies (for example, health and social services). They can also expect to liaise with further education colleges, family support workers, youth groups, voluntary bodies and more besides.
The SENCO’s ‘bible’
The National Standards for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (1998), sets out four suggested areas of SEN coordination:
- Strategic direction/ development of SEN provision in school
- Teaching/learning
- Leading and managing staff
- Efficient/effective deployment of staff and resources
The key piece of SEN legislation that SENCos must be familiar with is Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The SENCo’s ‘bible’, however, is the ‘SEND Code of Practice’ [2015] (‘CoP’), which elaborates on their legal requirements and provides guidance on education of children with SEND.
A school will add a pupil to its SEN register if they believe she requires additional support to ensure she is making good academic progress. This is likely to occur when a pupil appears to have made little or no progress, after the school has already tried different teaching styles, changing her learning environment, bringing in additional help or changing the curriculum.
The SEND CoP recognises four different areas of need: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; social, emotional and mental health; and sensory and/or physical needs.
SENCos work alongside teachers to find ways of supporting and improving pupils’ learning whilst they are receiving school-based SEN support, ensuring that each pupil’s progress is regularly monitored and reviewed. If a pupil is shown not to have made adequate progress, the school should look at providing additional support for the pupil via external specialists or agencies. If that pupil has received SEN support with little or no success, it is SENCo’s responsibility to see whether she should be formally assessed for an EHCP.
What do we mean by ‘inclusion’?
Importantly, a SENCo is ultimately responsible for inclusion of SEND pupils in a mainstream school. ‘Inclusion’ in this sense refers to including all pupils – both with and without SEND – in the educational opportunities and activities available. It also promotes the principle of treating all pupils equally and fairly, whatever their educational needs may be.
SENCos also have to oversee and be involved in transition periods. In KS1 and KS2, this is more to do with helping to co-ordinate and plan educational opportunities for them, but when they move from KS3 to KS4, a SENCo must help pupils with SEND be aware of, and start to consider, their academic career options.
A SENCo has to work with the whole school to try and promote inclusion, which may be easier said than done! The varying needs of pupils with SEND will greatly affect how successfully they can (or indeed want) to be included in a mainstream class.
About the author
Douglas Silas is the principal of Douglas Silas Solicitors; for more information, visit SpecialEducational Needs.co.uk
