Found out my DS is on SEN register via email?

A local secondary school has 45% of its new Y7 cohort on the SEN register, bet they wished they got an extra £6000 for each of those pupils!

Our SEND register includes a note to teachers to say if a child has access arrangements such as extra time or a device and some suggestions like ‘benefits from movement breaks’ or ‘provide a print out of information as finds note taking difficult’. Some will have a diagnosis such as dyslexia but others will be pupils who just need a bit of support in the classroom. There are lots of children on it (about 30% of our school) across the ability range. If a child no longer needs support or access arrangements and doesn’t have a diagnosis, we take them off it again. It is an internal admin thing to provide information to teachers and for when we get requests for data (stats on numbers with a diagnosis).

Funnily enough I've got it on my to do list to check whether my child is on the SEN register before the move to secondary. It's a different situation though where he has a specific physical condition but only needs occasional informal support so I've no idea whether there is any paperwork anywhere. I spoke to the Sendco before he started reception and we agreed we'd see how he got on and I haven't needed to speak to the Sendco since as he hasn't needed anything specific. Secondary definitely need to be aware of it though and because of the larger numbers of teachers I imagine it might be useful to have some sort of paper trail. Sorry that doesn't help with the details of your situation but maybe similar in that he may well be on the register without me having any communication about it.

Could he have been added at the start of Y1? Often schools just monitor on Reception. Could this communication have been the communication to you that he was on the SEND register or was it not written that way? I wonder if this letter just came out a bit prematurely, before the teacher or SENCO had communicated with you he'd been added to the register. I'm sure they'd be very happy to discuss it further.

Yes odd IMO.

I wouldn’t mind finding out my son had SEN by email if it was an individual email purely letting me know, but this is like a generic email to a group of parents you didn’t know you were part of.

I’d just email back saying ‘I had no idea my son has SEN, can you elaborate please’ etc

Conversations must have been had with you if they have mentioned the possibility of autism or adhd?

Good behaviour tokens and being a capable learner doesn't mean there aren't underlying issues or areas of learning that need additional support.

Being on the SEN register means that any difficulties a child has, diagnosis or not, are being addressed and supported.
These children need more than what the whole school provision offers, so they are given differentiation and reasonable adjustments to enable them to learn.

By all means ask for a chat about his needs, and what they are currently doing in school with him, but I don't think it's an all guns blazing scenario. As you were obviously made aware in an informal way at some point that they had some concerns.

I can't believe you're a senco with such poor understanding of SEN funding.

Id email senco and request a meeting. I'd want to know why I hadn't been told,what the concerns are and how they are supporting him? And what tge long term goal is.

Children do not get extra funding on the SEN register!! SEN funding in schools is hard to get and involves an EHCP with loads of paperwork. Then you don't always get 6000 pounds either it can vary!!

If they've spoken to you about concerns then that is probably the conversation. Plus they might just have put him on and are now letting you know.

Being on the SEN register or not isn't a big thing there are usually 4 or 5 in each class or more in some classes.

Obviously chat to class teacher or SENCO about what actual extra support he needs in school. Bear in mind there won't be any extra money for this!

It may mean as low as 'this child is on our watch list'. Schools sometimes don't realise it can be scary to get an email like you have, they probably think you are aware they are watching him based on previous conversations so don't think the email is a big deal.

My DD2 bounced on and off the SEN registers until covid in y10. When she returned to education in y12 she got an EHCP. The one page profiles her school used were good when teachers used them.

Children only receive funding if they have an EHCP in place.

One page profile is the lowest level so they believe your DS needs some help but not very much. They should obviously have met with you to discuss this and you should now ask for a meeting as a result.

If they've flagged him for autism and ADHD then something is tipping them off.

He can be advanced and well behaved and still struggle and have special needs. In fact a lot of kids with autism and ADHD are extremely bright.

My son was academically advanced, he too has autism. He had special educational needs because he needed additional support and understanding of his emotional and social difficulties. SEND doesn't mean "behind academically" it means requires a little more than the general provision in place.

If they've mentioned possible autism/adhd then they've mentioned SEN. It might be that he's requiring additional support socially if his behaviour and academic progress are OK.

Mine is in Y1, autistic with ADHD, exemplary behaviour, very academically able, but unable to hold a conversation. He has regular interventions (e.g. social skills group) where he, along with one or two other children who struggle, do activities with a couple of other children who don't have social difficulties. This might be some scaffolded play, or a board game, or a sports activity or something - activities which encourage communication, turn taking etc. It's helped him massively so far.

Make an appointment to speak to the SENCO, they should be happy to discuss what he's finding challenging and how they're supporting him.

We had quite similar with our child. The teacher at the time said he was getting some extra support with his english but never mentioned the SEN register we only found that out later.
I think sometimes teachers are afraid to say it directly as they are worried about parents reactions and so try and sugar coat it. I feedback to our school SENCO that actually we’re grateful of support and that it’s so much easier and clearer for all if just upfront and have open conversations.

They’ve talked to you previously about your DS potentially having ASD or ADHD and you’re surprised he’s under SEN? Odd.

SEN is not EHCP, it just means he’s on their radar and they may offer extra support.

The £6000 mentioned is a notional amount, it's included in school funding but doesn't specifically relate to the number of children with SEN- so, if a child with SEN joins the school, they don't receive an extra £6000 along with them! The amount received is based on a range of factors, deprivation index, basic level funding, low prior attainment funding etc. Each local authority will have a calculation they use to provide the notional amount, it is included in school financing but is not ring fenced for SEN pupils. In most local authorities, any funding for additional support through an EHCP however, assumes that schools will self fund the first £6000, which is where the misunderstanding that SEN children receive £6000 each comes from!

I wish all children on the SEN register got £6000! The notional £6000 per SEN child schools get is based on an algorithm that calculates how many children with SEND there could be in a school with those characteristics, demographic etc. What actually happens is that notional £6000 gets sucked up into the normal school budget.

Being on the SEN register (K code) does not mean they have a diagnosis of anything it just means they are needing some intervention at this point. Children can come and go on the SEN register, It is good news that they recognise that your child may need some extra help in some way.

They should do a review with you and have a support plan in place

I’m surprised that this can happen without you as a parent being involved every step of the way.

About 10 years ago a family member’s DC was at a private school who submitted a behavioural descriptors questionnaire that had not been shown to the parents first. The child development clinic paediatrician told the school off in no uncertain terms.

I would try to look at that any paper trail/record is good IF it turns out an EHCP is required and needs to be applied for later on. As long as the information had been sent safely and not breaking data communication guidance I wouldn't be concerned by this. And I agree with the poster above who said it shows that the school is on the ball: you hear so many horror stories of primary aged children not getting the support they need until suddenly transition to secondary is looming and then there is sheer panic to get the issues recognised/supported.

My DS was on the SEN register at secondary because he has tics and it was the easiest way for it to be communicated to all teachers that if he is moving in an odd way telling him to stop will be completely ineffective and they should just ignore. We only found out he was on the SEN register when they emailed me to tell me they were removing him from it.

It's not £6000 per child on the register at all. I'm also a sendco. We have 11 funded children and 45 on the SEN register. We get 11 blocks of £6000 plus their individual top ups. Then get another pot of money to be shared between the rest. It's not very much.

Being on the SEN register for the main part is for those children requiring support 'over and above' the average classroom offer.

he might be on ‘monitoring’ so technically listed on their register/software but obviously not diagnosed or with iep - this should have been made clearer to you whenever you spoke about their concerns

Did they really not mention it? I only ask as we have quite a few parents who cherry pick what is heard. I understand - we all want our children to not have challenges but sometimes it can cause miscommunication.