Special Educational Needs

In this section

Graduated Response

EHC Assessments

Annual Reviews

About the Wokingham SEN service

The Wokingham Special Educational Needs (SEN) Service undertakes the Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for children and young people between the ages of 0 - 25 years. It arranges the provision required to meet the needs identified on an EHC plan and organises the appropriate reviews of a child's or young person's progress.

SEN Service Contact Details

Telephone: 0118 974 6000
Email: sen@wokingham.gov.uk
Opening hours: Monday - Friday 09:00 - 17:00

Online information

As well as the information on this page, the other online locations listed below may be of use.

- Wokingham Local Offer: Special Educational Needs
- WSH website policies area: SEND policies

What support is there for a child or young person at School or Further Education settings?

Most children with SEN will have their needs met through appropriate support in school, including additional teaching help, more time to complete lessons, or different teaching methods. If a parent is concerned about how their child is coping however, more input may need to be given.

The first point of contact for a parent should be the child’s teacher, either during a parent-teacher evening, or at a specific appointment. Parents may also wish to discuss their concerns with the school Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). If they feel that their concerns are not being addressed, then they can contact the school head teacher, or the school governor with responsibility for SEN.

It is possible that a child’s teacher will identify concerns about their progress, and may approach a parent with these. They may also seek advice from the school SENCo about how best to help a child.

What happens next?

Through a discussion with the parent, SENCo and the child’s class teacher, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or provision map will be created. The IEP will relate directly to the child’s difficulties, and is a detailed plan of the targets that have been set and how the child will be helped to achieve these. Many children make sufficient progress with this help.

If a child is still struggling to make progress, then more advice and help may be sought from professionals outside of the school. This could be the Educational Psychology Service, or the Learning Support Service. They will support the school to make the necessary changes to help the child progress, and the advice they give will be written into a new IEP.

During this graduated response to the child’s needs, there will be regular meetings to review the IEP. These give parents, teachers and professionals the opportunity to discuss with how a child is progressing and what other strategies may help. Parents should be included in any discussions about their child, and their views will be considered in any decisions made about future SEN provision. SENCOs may wish to create a support document, also known as an SEN Support Plan (template in 'Useful Resources' below) to clearly outline the pupil's profile and the support being put in place.

What if there are still problems?

School may require additional interventions and resources to support the child or young person’s needs which cannot be met within their own budget. In these cases, school may have identified appropriate support; school can then demonstrate the progress made by the specific intervention in place and request the case be heard by their Cluster in order to receive Exceptional Needs Funding. If a child continues to  make little progress or is requiring a lot more help, then a parent or the child’s school can ask the Local Authority to carry out an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. Young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years may also request the LA to carry out an EHC needs assessment.

Referrals for Interventions and Services

Useful resources