Education and learning
Schools and colleges
Special educational needs - placement in mainstream schools
Welcome To Wirral
Special Education Needs (SEN)
Children have Special Educational Needs (SEN) when special arrangements have to be made for them to learn successfully. This may be because the child has more difficulty in learning than other pupils of the same age or that the child has a disability that means that they cannot make use of the facilities and resources normally available in schools and require additional help. Mostpupils with SEN are educated in mainstream schools with support provided by the school itself but some pupils requiring a higher level of support may need to attend a special school.
Each primary and secondary school in Wirral has a teacher who has a particular responsibility for Special Educational Needs within the school. This teacher is usually called the Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). The SENCO helps children with SEN, sometimes by helping the child’s own class or subject teachers to plan and prepare work and sometimes by providing or arranging additional teaching, perhaps individually or in a small group.
Wirral encourages schools and other early years settings to identify Special Educational Needs as early as possible so that children can receive the extra help they need. All schools are provided with additional resources to help children with SEN. Schools must follow a staged approach for pupils with SEN which is laid down in the DfES publication:’Special Educational Needs Code of Practice’. The Authority’s procedures for SEN are set out in the Wirral SEN Handbook available on the Wirral Learning Grid.
How can I get more information?
If you think your child may have special educational needs you can get further information from the Headteacher or SENCO of your child’s present school or from the Special Education and Transport Section in the Children and Yound People's Department.
Tel: (0151) 606 2000
Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Plan 2008 - 09
You can comment on the Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Plan by contacting: John Williamson, Inclusion Project Officer.
Telephone: 0151 346 6616
e-mail: johnwilliamson@wirral.gov.uk