Glossary

An observation tool that helps to understand the causes of behaviour which may present as challenging, by recording what happened before, during and after the behaviour. It helps teachers, parents, and carers to track the behaviours of children and young people.

The act of changing practice or policies to make them suitable to meet a child or young person’s needs.

A symbol board that has a range of relevant vocabulary for a specific event or activity such as bubble play, doll play, snack time or getting dressed. 

A system that follows four stages, often referred to as a 'cycle': Assess, Plan, Do, Review. For further information about this cycle, often referred to as the 'graduated approach', see Chapter 6 of the SEND Code of Practice 2015. This cycle should not be considered a single process.

You start by breaking the task down into small steps. You teach a child or young person the last step first, working backwards from the goal. You complete all the steps except the last one. 

A process by which small individual pieces of a set of information are bound together to create a meaningful whole later in memory. 

This intervention is aimed primarily at improving the inclusion of children and young people with challenging behaviour, disability, or personal concerns within mainstream settings. It works by gathering peers in a circle of friendly support to help the child or young person with problem solving. This approach can also be widely used with pupils who are struggling to find support or friendship.  

A group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society. 

An intervention that aims to break down social situations that may have been confusing or upsetting for a child or young person. Using a comic strip with a young person can help them to understand more about the way they, and others communicate and why a misunderstanding occurred. 

When an individual influences the support and services received, or when groups of people get together to influence the way that services are designed, commissioned, and delivered. 

A common disorder affecting fine or gross motor coordination. Also sometimes known as dyspraxia.  

Groups of people experiencing circumstances that make it more challenging to access education or to make progress. Commonly identified groups include pupil premium, forces children, those who speak English and an additional language, asylum seekers, those with medical needs or SEND.  

When people with very different experiences of the world interact with one another, they will struggle to empathise with each other. This is likely to be exacerbated through differences in language use and comprehension. 

A strategy used in traditional classroom teaching to improve learner engagement and knowledge retention. It refers to the process of combining visual (image-based) and verbal (language-based) elements to convey information. 

Self-awareness and recognition of your own feelings and knowing how to manage them, such as the ability to stay calm when you feel angry or to reassure yourself when in doubt. It includes empathy, for example having sensitivity to the feelings of others. 

Opportunities for children or young people to be part of many different groups based on their readiness, interest, needs, or learning style. Groups are fluid. Groups are dynamically altered and disbanded when their purpose is served.  

It is a European Union (EU) law that came into effect on 25th May 2018. GDPR governs the way in which we can use, process, and store personal data (information about an identifiable, living person). 

A way of meeting needs through effective implementation of support before moving a child or young person onto higher levels of support by following the assess, plan, do and review cycles. 

The significant or direct changes that happen because of planning and intervention.  

The execution or practice of a plan or strategies.  

An approach that is used to develop positive social communication with people who have communication or social communication needs. 

An internal sensory system in which the physical and emotional states of the person are consciously or unconsciously noticed, recognised, and responded to. For example, a person notices their stomach is rumbling and they have a pulling sensation in their abdomen.

Information about education, health and care services, leisure activities and support groups in one place.

It has two main purposes: to provide clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the support and opportunities that are available. 

The process by which learners use knowledge of the task at hand, knowledge of learning strategies, and knowledge of themselves to plan their learning, monitor their progress towards a learning goal, and then evaluate the outcome. 

The unique ways people's brains work. While everyone's brain develops similarly, no two brains function just alike. Being neurodivergent means having a brain that works differently from the average or “neurotypical” person. 

A reasonable adjustment for people who require a level of language support beyond that provided by a reader. 

A universal approach to teaching and learning which influences whole school ethos, systems, and policy as well as everyday practice. It is also a targeted approach to support those children and young people who are most in need. 

Additional repeats of key learning or skills, provided to reinforce learning or memory.  

Providing temporary support for an inexperienced learner to help them to complete a task or acquire a skill, and then gradually withdrawing that support. 

Information on legal obligations and guidelines, the school's aims, objectives and vision, the roles and responsibilities of staff and arrangements for monitoring and evaluation. The SEN information report should tell you about how the SEN Policy is applied in practice. 

Support to self-regulate, including repeated movement ('stimming').

Access to:

• hobbies and favourite possessions
• quiet spaces
• outdoor space
• items such as noise cancelling headphones, caps, blankets
• proactive planning to support sensory overload or understimulation

Methods to provide guidance and directions for responding to various types of social situations. The stories are used to describe social situations specific to individuals and circumstances while promoting self-awareness, self-calming, and self-management. 

An observation tool that helps to understand the causes of behaviour which may present as challenging. It helps teachers, parents and carers to track the behaviours of children and young people. 

An approach based on valuing all means of communication equally. No single form of communication is valued above others and the aim is for individuals with communication difficulties to communicate in whichever way, or combination of ways, works for them. 

The vestibular system provides the sense of balance and the information about body position that allows rapid compensatory movements in response to both self-induced and externally generated forces. 

A perceptual processing condition that causes reading difficulties, headaches, and visual problems from exposure to patterns in text, such as lines of text. Visual stress is linked to dyslexia and similar visual learning difficulties. Sufferers experience print distortion and fatigue when reading.