The SEN support your child will get in their setting will depend on their needs, but includes:

• a special learning programme for your child
• extra help from a teacher or a learning support assistant
• making or changing materials and equipment
• working with your child in a small group
• observing your child in class or at break and keeping records         
• helping your child to take part in the class activities
• making sure your child has understood things by encouraging them to ask questions and to try something they find difficult
• helping other children work with your child, or play with them at break time
• supporting your child with physical or personal care, such as eating, getting around school safely, toileting or dressing.

The school, post 16 provider (e.g. college), early years setting (e.g. nursery or childminder) or SEND co-ordinator will regularly review the plan with you and your child to ensure they are making progress and to enable them to make any necessary changes. This approach is called the Graduated Response and you can find out more about it and how it works in your child’s setting here Graduated Response (SEND Support in education provision)

All pre-school settings will be able to support children with special education needs or disabilities in some form as part of what is 'ordinarily available'. There may need to be discussions that take place to determine your child's needs and to help them get ready to start school.

You could also talk to your Health Visitor as they work with every child and parent / carer at various stages until the child is 5 years old. They can help to identify if your child might have an additional need and help you know where to go for extra help and advice.

The Education Services Early Years team works with early years and childcare settings in Worcestershire to ensure all children access high quality early years education and care to support individual children to achieve their maximum potential in learning and development. Education Services - Early years

In Worcestershire we have the Early Years Inclusion Process (EYIP) which will help achieve positive outcomes for children and their families, by ensuring needs are identified early and provision is in place to meet these needs. If you think your child needs some extra help to start school or nursery, speak to your GP, Health Visitor or early education worker (e.g. nursery or childminder) about the EYIP.

All post-16 students with additional or special educational needs or disabilities who attend post-16 education have a minimum entitlement to provision that is normally available, whichever school or college they attend. Under the SEND Code of Practice (0-25), further education colleges and other Post-16 Institutions have the following duties that they must follow:

• to co-operate with the local authority on arrangements for young people with SEND
• to offer a place to a young person if the institution is named in an educational health and care (EHC) plan
• to have regard to the SEND code of practice
• to do everything they can to secure the special educational provision that the young person needs

As well as this, there are the following duties under the 2010 equality act:

• colleges and institutions must not discriminate against, harass or victimise young people who are disabled
• they must make reasonable adjustments to prevent young people being placed at a significant disadvantage
• they must prevent discrimination, promote equal opportunities and good relationships

Ordinarily available for post 16 learners

Colleges and other post-16 providers have their own arrangements in place for meeting the needs of young people with SEND, but a range of provision should be available at an appropriate level to meet the young person's needs. This includes:

• a college must do its best to put appropriate support in place (SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years, 2014)
• young people should be supported to participate in discussions about their aspirations, their needs and the support that they think will help them best
• support should be aimed at promoting student independence and enabling the young person to make good progress towards employment and/or higher education, independent living, good health and participating in the community
• support should be evidence based
• colleges should be aware of effective practice in the sector and elsewhere, and personalise it for the individual
• they should keep the needs of the students with SEND under regular review
• for many learners, their needs will be met out of the institution's own SEND Support, as part of its approach to meeting those needs. Details should be published on college websites. For those with more complex needs, provision will be set out in an Educational and Health Care Plan

The Graduated Response within post 16 provision

Where a student has a learning difficulty or disability that calls for special educational provision, the college must discuss with students the type of appropriate support to put in place for them.

Colleges should take the "Assess, Plan, Do Review" cyclical approach to assessing need, planning and providing support. They should involve the student closely at all stages of the cycle and they should ensure that staff have the skills to do this effectively.

Special educational support might include, for example:

• assistive technology
• personal care (or access to it)
• specialist tuition
• note-takers
• interpreters
• one-to-one and small group learning support
• travel training
• accessible information such as symbol-based materials
• access to therapies (e.g. speech and language therapy)

Specialist help should be involved where the student’s needs are not being met by the setting, and if they still are not progressing with the support being provided the young person can be considered for an assessment for an EHC plan.

Where a young person is aged over 18 consideration must be given to whether or not the young person requires additional time (in comparison to the majority of others of the same age who do not have SEN) to complete their education or training.

Funding for SEN Support post 16

All mainstream colleges are provided with resources to support students with additional needs, including young people with SEN and disabilities. School and academy sixth forms, sixth form colleges, further education colleges and 16-19 academies receive an allocation based on a national funding formula for their core provision.

Colleges have additional funding for students with additional needs, including those with SEN. This funding is not ring-fenced and is included in their main allocation in a ‘single line’ budget. Colleges are expected to provide appropriate, high quality SEN support using all available resources.

It is usually when the student needs a level of support in excess of that Ordinarily Available that the Post 16 provider can either request Top Up Funding from the Local Authority directly or via a request for an EHC Needs Assessment. However, each case is looked at on merit, and if the setting, or the young person or their parent/carers believe that the setting is not able to provide the help and support which is needed, before any cycles of SEN Support have been completed, they would evidence this and a request for an EHC needs assessment can be made. In such cases, the local authority may consider it is necessary for special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan and it should carry out an EHC needs assessment.

The school, early years setting or post 16 providers can often give your child/young person help through SEN support. This means that they can put additional or different support in to place to meet their needs. Sometimes other professionals will give advice or support to help your child/young person learn.

Some children/ young people need more intensive and specialist help. If your child/young person does not make progress despite the SEN support provided, an application for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment might be the next step.