Check and challenge suggestions

What Schools Must do regarding SEND

Questions you could ask/ points you can check with your school

1.  Use their best endeavours to ensure that the child with Special Needs gets the support they need. (6.2)


  • Could teachers benefit from any training and support in: Quality First Teaching /Understanding SEN / specific conditions; Working with pupils and their families; best use of TA/LSA skills.

  • Could LSAs & staff like midday supervisors benefit from training in responding to SEND needs?

  • See NGA section ‘How do Governors Assess Quality of Teaching’.

  • Is the use and effectiveness of any support and sanctions properly recorded and regularly reviewed? 

  • Which groups of pupils are the highest and lowest performing, and why? Are pupils with SEN among the lower performing? 

  • The
    • NGA has published different guides to support schools to analyse school
    performance. See Knowledge
    Centre | National Governance Association (nga.org.uk)
  • Do school leaders have credible plans for addressing underperformance or less than expected progress? How will the school know that things are improving? 

  • For secondaries, is the school adequately engaged with the world of work and preparing their pupils for adult life?  Especially important for pupils with SEND for whom considerable planning and prep may be needed, especially from year 9 onwards. Remember the importance of person centred planning in EHCP Annual Reviews.

2.  Ensure that children with SEN engage with the activities of the school together with children who do not have SEN as far as possible. (6.2)
  • Are there pupils who are regularly out of class, working on their own?  Are their learning needs being met? What steps are being taken to re-integrate them or explore alternative provision?
  • What steps are taken to include pupils with SEND on school trips & after-school activities?
  • Are any pupils sent home at lunch time / prevented from engaging in break or lunch time activities?
  • Do risk assessments clearly demonstrate what support the school can offer to address the identified risks?  Is there evidence that this has been agreed with the parent and their views included?
  • Accessibility policy: what reasonable adjustments have been anticipated and are proposed?
  • Are systems in place to identify pupils showing persistent poor behaviour & possible underlying causes?
  • Are sanctions monitored to identify any inconsistency or potential discrimination (SEND)?

3.  Make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions. (6.11)
  • How many children at your school have medical needs / health care plans? Have these plans been agreed with the parents and, as far as possible, the pupil?
  • How is information about their health needs being coordinated with any SEN the child may have?
  • How are children with medical needs being included in activities and trips?  Remember Autism Spectrum Disorders are medical conditions. 
  • Consider the ‘unacceptable practice’ highlighted in the DfE ‘Guidance for Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions in School’ – is there evidence that this is happening in your school? 
  • For example, are parents of children with medical conditions being asked to come to school to toilet change their child?

4.  Take account of their statutory duties when administering the exclusions process

See annex A of
School Exclusions Guidance which outlines a series of questions you could ask school.

The governing body should receive information on the number of significant behaviour incidents in the school, including the number of times internal exclusion has been used, on a “routine basis”. 

When a child with SEN/D has been excluded, what support has been offered to help the child understand the situation and help them to manage their feelings and behaviour in a safer/more appropriate way?

Is the use of any internal exclusions having a positive impact on behaviour levels in school?  Check school is not using internal exclusions simply as a way to reduce formal exclusion. 

5.  Designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision: the SEN co-ordinator, or SENCO (6.2)
  • Has your SENco been trained or is currently receiving training? Would they benefit from further training, for example regarding specific conditions?
  • It is a key role.  Best practice and the SEND Code suggests a SENco will be most effective as part of Senior Leadership Team to be able to influence policy and procedure etc.  (SEND Code 6.87) If your SENco is not part of the Senior leadership team, why not?
  • Does your SENco have enough admin support and non-teaching time to fulfil their statutory role? SEND Code states that if a SENco is shared between schools, he/she ‘should not normally have a significant teaching commitment’ and the effectiveness of the role should be reviewed regularly (Code 6.93/4)

6.   Publish information on their website about the implementation of the governing body’s policy for pupils with SEN. (6.2)
  • Is your school SEN report easy to find on your school website?
  • Is it written in clear and accessible language? Remember many of your parents may have additional needs themselves.  Have you checked its accessibility with parents?
  • Is it reviewed annually?  Who is involved in the review process – are parents and/or pupils?
  • Does the school SEN Report address all the points from the SEND Code of Practice 6.79 – 6.83? What does the report say about supporting pupils in their transfer to and from other schools?

7.  Inform parents when they are making Special Educational Provision for their child.’ (6.2)
  • Can your school demonstrate that parents and children have participated as fully as possible in any decisions on issues of SEND for the child? 
  • No longer a legal requirement for an IEP but there is still a requirement to have a record of the SEN identified, the support plan agreed and impact of interventions.  Can you see some examples?
  • Have you spoken to any parents of pupils on the SEN register?  How regularly do they meet with school? Do they feel like ‘equal partners’ in their child’s education?NB importance of communication with parents and pupils when there is change to an agreed plan.

Celebrating partnership working between the school and parents

How has your school successfully demonstrated the impact of taking on board pupil & parent views?

How have they successfully involved parents of children with SEND in reviewing SEND or Accessibility Plans? 

See School to School Partnership website.  Some ideas shared by governors in previous training:

  • ‘You said… We did….’ In school newsletters or on a dedicated webpage space, or dedicated part of reception notice board.
  • ‘Spotlight on…..’ (following parent comments or requests for information around SEND).
  • Involvement of parents in videos posted on the school website eg offering ideas for helping pupils with their homework (whiteboard slides and voiceovers)
  • A parent council or forum or dedicated webpage for parents.
  • Section of Annual Report explaining what the school has done differently in response to parent involvement, including at strategic level.