Talk about your child's progress and wellbeing

1 Who to talk to about your child's progress

Children and young people in childcare or education

Talk to the child or young person's key worker or teacher if you're worried they may have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

All educational settings have a member of staff with responsibility for SEND. This Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) will work with you to ensure they receive special support. 

There are a number of things the educational setting can do to support children and young people with SEND. For example, it can:

• offer a specific learning programme, called a differentiated curriculum
• adapt its resources or equipment to meet their needs
• provide additional 1:1 or small group support via a member of staff, such as a teacher, learning support assistant, or senior leadership or pastoral staff
• provide additional groups tailored to their needs, such as Lego therapy, counselling or narrative therapy
• observe them and keep records of any notable incidents
• encourage peers to support them
• provide or support their personal care needs, including toileting, dressing or eating
• create a development plan, sometimes known as the graduated approach, which is continually reviewed
• request support from outside agencies, such as:
  • the Learning and Behaviour Advisory Team (LBAT)
  • the Social Communication Team (SCT)
  • Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) assistants.

If you do not feel comfortable talking to the child or young person's school, or would like to talk to someone impartial about how to move forward, contact the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIAS).

Children or young people not in childcare or education

If the child or young person is not in an educational setting we advise you talk to the SENDIAS about how to meet his or her needs.

You can also talk to the SEN Assessment Team (SENAT) if you are considering requesting an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (ENCNA).

If the child or young person is home educated, please talk to the Elective Home Education Team.

2 Who to talk to about your child's wellbeing

If you are worried about the child or young person's health and wellbeing there are lots of different services that are there to help.

You should start by talking to:

• their doctor
• their health visitor
• their optician
• their school nurse
• their social worker, if applicable
• someone at their children and family centre
• their Find it Out centre.

These services can refer you to other services for more help, if needed.

Further information on health and wellbeing is available on Local Offer.