Barking and Dagenham SEND Local Offer
Schools must do their best to find out if your child has special educational needs and give them the support, they need to help them learn.
You can have your say about what support your child gets at school. You might be asked to go to a meeting with your child’s teacher to talk about this.
If your child is at school, the people in charge of making sure they are getting the support they need are their teachers and a special educational needs coordinator (SENCO).
In Barking and Dagenham, the majority of children who have SEN or are disabled, go to their local mainstream school. We are determined to offer the best possible education opportunities for all children, no matter what special educational needs they have. Children and young people with SEN or who are disabled and are resident or attend an education setting in Barking and Dagenham can access the full range of provision.
All children with SEND have the right to a mainstream education. The SEND Code of Practice 2015 requires all schools and settings to take a graduated approach in supporting pupils with SEND and take account of parents’ views.
If your child is receiving SEN Support or has a SEN Support Plan, you can submit your school application to e-admission for school places (ages 4 to 16). You can identify up to 6 schools and rank each in your order of preference. The School Admissions Team will process your applications.
If your child have an EHC Plan, your school place (mainstream (including additional resource classes) or special school) is allocated by the EHC Team following assessment and review of your child’s needs.
As part of the Barking and Dagenham SEND Local Offer, arrangements have been made for Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) in some of our mainstream schools. An ARP is provision, within a mainstream school, designed to provide specialist and targeted support for children with long term special educational needs. ARPs are additionally funded, which means that a school ARP receives additional resources.
They can offer:
If your child has not yet started school, your educational psychologist or other professional working with your child will make a recommendation to the Education, Health and Care (EHC) panel, who will consider the request.
If your child is already at school, and has an EHC plan, you need to discuss this with your child’s school. This could be through the statutory review of the EHC plan. If your child is undergoing assessment for an EHC plan, you will be able to discuss with your key worker and professionals working with your child.
As part of the Barking and Dagenham SEND Local Offer, arrangements have been made for specialist provision to meet the needs of our most complex children and young people.
Children and young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties, and severe learning difficulties in Barking and Dagenham can attend Trinity Special School.
Riverside Bridge is an inclusive school where every child is valued and supported to achieve as full and independent life as possible.
Pathways School is a school for young people who have social, emotional and mental health needs. Young people are placed at this school by the local authority.
For some children and young people, attendance at a special school in another local authority area is necessary because they will be able to have support from the specialist staff and facilities they need.
Alternative provision is where young people participate in education away from school (because of illness, exclusion or other reasons).
There are opportunities for young people to have an alternative good quality education allowing them to take the right qualifications, preventing them slipping behind, and supporting them to reintegrate successfully into school as soon as possible, where possible.
Find out more about the alternative provision for the young people of Barking and Dagenham at Mayesbrook Park School.