SEN parents- what do you want the school to do?

List from my experiences:

1. Be clear and honest with parents. Don't tie everything up with euphemistic phrases so the message gets lost
2. Listen if a parent says they are concerned (my DD's dyspraxia and associated difficulties would have been picked up about 4 years earlier if this had happened)
3. Share results of any SEN testing in a way that the parents understand the results (my other DD's issues would have been clearer 4 years earlier if this had happened - 'below average' turned out to be a lot worse than I realised)
4. Follow the EHCP if one is gained

I would like schools to:
Not misrepresent the law &/or statutory duties either intentionally or through ignorance.
Comply with the law and their statutory duties.
Not partake in parental blame.
Not dismiss parental concerns because a child presents differently at school compared to home.
Do what they say they are going to do without parents having to chase.

Questions you could ask as a SEN governor:
If you don’t already know, how many and % of DC with EHCPs are on roll? How many and % of are coded as K/on the SEN register? Broken down by sex, ethnic minority, FSM and year group. If you don’t already know, how do these statistics compare to other schools locally?
What are the attendance stats for DC with SEN compared to those without? Once you know the overview, you can dig into trends, sub-cohorts, reasons for absences, etc.
What is the suspension rate for DC with SEN compared to those without?once you know this you can look at trends, support, effectiveness of support, etc.
What is the progress and attainment for DC with SEN compared to those without? Once you know this, you can ask further questions such as is the gap narrowing or widening?
Are parents (and pupils where appropriate) involved in co-production?
Is the SEND policy and information available and up to date?
Is the accessibility plan available and up to date? Once you know it is up to date, you can ask questions around the actions needed to improve accessibility around the school.
What training and resources are available for staff? Once you know this you can ask about effectiveness.
How are ECTs supported?
Since you are talking about primary, is the SENCO on site full-time? If not, how often are they on site. If they have a teaching load (likely) what is it? Do they already hold the NASENCO/NPQSENCO?
What external agencies does the school use? With asking about effectiveness as a follow up.
Do they use any alternative provisions? If they do, as above, follow up with questions around monitoring effectiveness.
How often are SEN support plans (whatever the school calls them) reviewed and amended?
Do teachers have access to SEN support plans and EHCPs?
Are supply staff given sufficient information?
How does the school communicate with parents of DC with SEN? And how do they monitor the effectiveness of said communication?
How does the school support transition for DC with SEN?
Are DC with SEN accessing extra-curricular activities and trips?
What is parental engagement at school events like from parents of DC with SEN? How does this compare to looking at parental engagement of those without SEN? What can be done to improve parental engagement (and not in a way that blames parents)?

Your job is strategic, not operational, so you need to be thinking about the above questions, and how SEN intersects with other areas- so for example, have the school broken their attainment data and their behaviour and attendance data down by SEN and other protected group? Have you looked at the new Ofsted guidance (which is big on inclusion, and attendance- which are often linked) and does the school have a SIP working to these and any other criteria they think are important?

Have you planned a visit? I would do a visit with the SENCO and you can then look at the processes and systems they have in place, and you can see if they match up- so if they are telling you everyone gets the right intervention to ensure progression, but the data shows otherwise, there is your accountability issue to address.

We've also made a few SEN recommendations off the back of complaints, whether upheld or not. Does the school do a parent voice survey? Our SENCO put some comms things in place based on feedback from this and at SEN coffee mornings. We also found working towards the Equaliteach equalities award very useful.

It's really important you step back and don't give operational advice or act as an informal complaints channel for parents. This can be very hard! I'm a governor who chairs the relevant committee as well but am incredibly circumspect about anything which could be seen as advocating for a specific child, including my own.

Please don’t feel overwhelmed. Your role is to support, advise and be a “critical friend.”
Some Governing boards have monitoring systems in place so ideally you would meet with the SENCO termly. You should set a clear purpose and let the SENCO know in advance what you’d like to discuss. Monitoring could be part of this looking at resources, displays books etc.

You could get a free NASEN membership and might find useful info there. There are other Governor info sites. Your LA might have specific information too.

https://nasen.org.uk/resources/questions-governorstrustees-ask-about-send

For the school not to lie! They will sit in meetings with the LA and say that "can do" all these things to enable inclusion but when it comes to it it's just a reduced timetable and "that's all we can do in mainstream"

I would really have liked the opportunity to meet other SEND parents. It's such a lonely, alienating experience.