The Definition of SEN and Disabilities

The SEND Code of Practice says:-

5.32 Special educational provision should be matched to the child’s identified SEN. Children’s SEN are generally thought of in the following four broad areas of need and support – see Chapter 6, paragraph 6.28 onwards, for a fuller explanation:
• communication and interaction
• cognition and learning
• social, emotional and mental health
• sensory and/or physical needs

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:

• has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
• has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions"

Read the legislation Children and Families Act 2014. Chapter 6, Part 3 (20-21)

Special Educational Provision

Special Educational Provision is educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children or young people of the same age.

A child or young person may not necessarily have a learning difficulty but may still meet the definition SEN due to their disability.

Examples of special educational needs include:

• Speech, language and communication needs
• Behavioural, emotional and social difficulties
• Autistic spectrum conditions
• Specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Moderate learning difficulties
• Profound and multiple learning difficulties
• Multi-sensory impairment

What do we mean by disability?

A child or young person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial or long-term effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Children and young people with the most complex needs will require specialist services. They will require support with their health, education or physical, learning, emotional, social or behavioural development, due to disabilities.

Disabilities include:

• Multiple and complex health needs or chronic illness
• Sensory impairment such as hearing loss or visual impairment
• A significant and long term learning difficulty
• A physical disability
• Autistic spectrum disorder
• A severe communication disorder
• A significant developmental delay 

Is having English as a second language a special educational need?

No. Children do not have SEN just because the language used at home is different from the language used at school. 

The Ethnic Minority & Traveller Achievement Toolkit provides information and resources to schools to support pupils who are new to English and those who are more advanced bilingual learners. It also provides policy guidance, curriculum advice and good practice guidance for the traveller minority and refugee and asylum seekers.