Around 70% of looked after children have some form of Special Educational Need (SEN). A significant amount of children may be undiagnosed when they begin to be looked after. During the process of putting a Personal Education Plan (PEP) in place for looked after children, the local authority should ensure that any undiagnosed special needs are addressed as soon as possible if they are identified through this process.
The school’s SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) team should work closely with the virtual school head as well as social workers, to ensure that local authorities have effective and joined-up processes for meeting a child’s needs.
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What is special educational provision?
Special educational provision is provision that is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils or students of the same age, which is designed to help children and young people with SEN or disabilities to access the National Curriculum at school or to study at college.
Supporting a foster child with SEN
Children with SEN often find it more difficult to cope within the educational environment than their peers, and it can hinder their ability to learn. Therefore, it is vital that foster carers have an understanding of how to identify and access the support required for the children that come into their care.
Foster carers can provide support by:
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Understanding that SEND can cover a wide range of learning difficulties and needs
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Looking out for signs a child may have an unidentified SEND
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Raising concerns quickly if you think a child may have a form of SEND
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Request an Education, Health and Care Assessment (EHC) if necessary. If you and the social worker disagree over the need for an assessment, speak to the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)
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Look into your ‘local offer’ for information on the support available in your local area
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Supporting a young person with their plans for college or an apprentice
Children and young people educated out of area
Where a child or young person being educated out of the local authority’s area is brought to the local authority’s attention as potentially having SEN, the home local authority (where the child normally lives) should decide whether to assess the child or young person and decide whether an EHC plan is required.
If the child or young person is placed by a local authority at an independent special school, non-maintained special school or independent specialist provider, the local authority must pay the appropriate costs.
What is the local offer?
All Local Authorities must publish a detailed summary of the services available to support children and young people with SEN and disabilities named the ‘Local Offer’. This should cover services for education, health and social care and should include information about services available in neighboring boroughs.
For more information, see section 4 of the SEND Code of Practice, which covers the Local Offer in detail, here. See also the Schedule 2 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Regulations 2014 which provides a common framework for the local offer, here.
