Children with Special Educational Needs

Frequently asked questions

What school can my child go to?

Most children learn best by going to their local mainstream school with other local children. Occasionally, a child will need to go to a specialist educational provision further away.

Barking and Dagenham has 1 special school, a number of specialist additionally resourced provision in mainstream schools and other services to provide support for pupils with special educational needs. You can ask the Special Educational Needs Assessment and Review Team for more information about these provisions.

Nursery intervention and assessment centres

These centres are set up so young children with significant needs can have their needs assessed in an educational setting. This assessment takes place while the children are receiving special interventions to help them learn. Reports written by staff and other professionals contribute to the statutory assessment.

If a statutory assessment takes place, it does not necessarily lead to a Statement of Special Educational Needs. There are centres at:

Social, emotional and behavioural needs

There is a range of local authority provision for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural needs. Pupils going to these settings do not need a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Cognition and learning needs

We have arrangements for meeting the cognitive and learning needs of children and young people from Key Stage 1 to the end of Key Stage 4. All settings are within mainstream schools and provide opportunities for small teaching groups.

Communication and Interaction needs

We have 1 additionally resourced provision for primary aged pupils with speech and language needs, and for secondary school aged young people with autistic spectrum disorder.

Sensory, physical and medical needs

We have additionally resourced provision for children and young people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment from nursery age to the end of Key Stage 4. We do not have any provision in the borough for children and young people with visual impairment.

We use the Waltham Forest service (based at Joseph Clarke School) for advice and support for pupils in mainstream schools. Teachers from Joseph Clarke School visit the pupils in their schools in Barking and Dagenham. Children and young people with higher levels of need are educated outside the borough.

Most children with medical needs are educated in mainstream schools, supported by health-care plans where necessary. Home tuition provides short-term support for pupils with medical needs.

Trinity School

Trinity School caters for a broad range of needs, mainly severe learning difficulties, autism, and profound and multiple learning difficulties.

Contact

Jonathan Butler

Special Educational Needs Team

Town Hall

1 Town Square

Barking

IG11 7LU

Tel: 020 8227 3018

Fax: 020 8227 3307

Textphone: 020 8227 3180

Email: jonathan.butler@lbbd.gov.uk|