Care and support

Statutory Assessment of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

The DfES Code of Practice gives guidance to schools about the way in which they should monitor the progress of children and assess any difficulties in their learning at ‘School Action’ stage. This involves the class teachers working with SEN Co-ordinators and other specialist staff across the school in drawing up programmes of work for groups of children or, when necessary, on an individual basis. Parents should be kept informed of concerns and progress at all stages and Individual Education Plans drawn up for their children as necessary.

If the internal actions of the school do not solve the child’s problems then the school can call on external staff to assist in further assessment and/or intervention. This is known as the ‘School Action Plus’ stage of the Code of Practice and can involve educational psychologists, specialist advisory teachers, education welfare officers, staff from Education Support Centres and others as appropriate.

If a child still does not make sufficient progress after a period of further intervention, on the advice of professionals involved with the child, the school can request a statutory assessment under the terms of the 1996 Education Act. These requests can only be made with the agreement of parents/carers and will be considered by a panel of CSF officers and headteachers which meets on a regular basis.

A statutory assessment, which is usually only necessary in a small number of cases (about 500 children across Hertfordshire each year) involves following a set of legal procedures and gathering evidence from medical, educational, social care and other staff as appropriate.

At the end of the statutory assessment, a decision is made as to whether a Statement of Special Educational Needs is needed. This is a legal document which describes the child’s needs and appropriate provision to meet them. It must be formally reviewed on at least an annual basis. If parents are unhappy with what it says, they have the right of appeal to the SEN Tribunal.

The links below will take you to the online parental request form, followed by factsheets and other guidance relating to statutory assessment and statementing.