Educational Terms
I
have tried to explain some of the terms used by professionals working in the
education system.
Annual review: the
review of a statement of special education needs which a LEA must make within
12 months of making the statement or, as the case may be, the previous review.
City Technology Collages: CTCs are independent all ability, non fee-paying
schools for pupils aged 11 - 18. Their purpose is to offer pupils of all
abilities in urban areas across
Connexions Service: The service provides a single point of access for all
13 - 19 year olds to help them prepare for the transition to work and adult
life.
Disapplication: removal or lifting of a program of study,
attainment target, assessment, or any other component of the National
Curriculum, or any combination of those including entire subjects or the entire
National Curriculum, (see also Modification below)
Early Education Practitioners: all the adults who work with children in the early
education settings, whatever their qualifications.
Early Learning Goals: expectations in each of the six areas of learning for
most of the children to reach by the end of the foundation stages.
Education Welfare Officer: person employed by the LEA to help parents and the LEA
to meet their respective statutory obligations in relation to school
attendance. Education Welfare Officers also carry out related functions such as
negotiating alternative education provision for excluded pupils. In some
LEA's Education Welfare Officers are known as Education Social Workers.
Early Years Action: when the early years education practitioner who works
day to day with the child or the SENCO identify that a child has special
educational needs together they provide interventions that are additional to
different from those provided as part of the setting's usual curriculum
offer strategies. An IEP will be devised.
Early Years Action Plus: when the early years education practitioner who works
day to day with the child and the SENCO are provided with advice or support
from outside specialists, so that alternative additional or different
strategies to those provided for the child through Early Years
Action can be put in place. A new IEP will usually be devised.
Early Years Development and Childcare
Partnerships: every LEA is
required to establish an early year’s development partnership to work
with them in reviewing the sufficiency of nursery education and preparing early
year’s development plans.
Foundation Stage: the foundation stage begins when the child reaches
the age of three. Many children attend an early education setting soon
after their third birthday. The foundation stage continues until the end
of the reception year and is consistent with the National Curriculum. It
prepares children for learning in year 1, when a program of study for key stage
1 are taught.
Graduated Approach: a model of action and intervention in schools and
early education settings to help children who have special educational
needs. The approach recognises that there is a continuum of special needs
and that, where necessary, increasing specialist expertise should be brought to
bear on the difficulties that a child may be experiencing.
Group Education Plan: where pupils in the same group, class or subject lesson
have common targets and hence, common strategies a group learning plan can be
drawn up rather than an IEP for each child.
Individual Education Plan: the IEP is a planning, teaching and reviewing
tool. It is a working document for all the teaching staff recording key
short - term targets and strategies for an individual pupil that are different
from or additional to those in place for the rest of the group or
class. The interventions will be provided Early Years Action, Early Years
Action Plus, School Action, School Action Plus and Statements of SEN.
Independent Parental Supporter: the person whom the LEA must identify when sending
the parents a final statement. The IPS, who should usually be identified
in cooperation with the parents, must be someone who can give the parents
information and advice about their child's special educational needs. He or she
may be appointed at the start of the assessment process and can then attend
meetings with parents and encourage parental participation throughout that
process. The IPS should normally be independent of the LEA and may be someone
from a voluntary organisation or parent partnership scheme.
Information Technology (IT): covers a range of microcomputers, both portable and
desktop, generic or integrated software packages, such as word processors,
spreadsheets, databases and communication programs, input devices such as
keyboards, overlays keyboards, specialist access switches, output devices such
as monitors, printers and plotters, storage devices such as CD-ROM, and
microelectronic controlled devices such as floor turtles.
Integration: educating children with special educational needs
together with children without special educational needs in mainstream schools
wherever possible and ensuring that the children with special educational needs
engage in the activities of the school together with children who do not have
special educational needs.
Learning Mentors: School staff, who works with teaching and pastoral
staff to assess, identify and work with those pupils who need extra help to
overcome barriers to learning inside and outside school. They are a single
point of contact for accessing specialist support services, such as the Social
Service, Youth Service, and Education Welfare Services etc.
Learning Support Assistant (LSA): a widely used job title for an assistant providing
in-school support for pupils with special educational needs and/or
disabilities. An LSA will normally work with a particular pupil or pupils
providing close support to the individual pupil and assistance to those
responsible for teaching him/her. Some assistants specialising in SEN may
also be know by other titles other than LSA as these matters are decided
locally, LSA are one group of assistants coming from the broader DfES classification
of "teaching assistants".
Modification: amendment or alteration program of study, attainment
target, assessment, or any other component of the National Curriculum in order
to give the child access to that area of the Curriculum (see also Disapplication)
Named LEA Officer: the person from the LEA who liaises with the parent
over all the arrangements relating to statutory assessment and the making of a
statement. LEA's will inform parents of the person who is the Named Officer
when they issue a notice of a proposal to make a statutory assessment of a
child.
National Literacy and Numeracy
Strategies: the literacy and numeracy
strategies were introduced in September 1998 and 1999 respectively to raise
standards of literacy and mathematics. Primary schools are now teaching a
dedicated daily Literacy Hour and daily mathematics lesson. The kS3
Strategy is being introduced to raise standards in all school with KS3 pupils
through new teaching and learning programs for English, mathematics, ICT,
science and in the Foundation subjects.
Note in lieu: a note issued to the child's parents and school when,
following a statutory assessment, the LEA decides not to make a statement. The
note should describe the child's special educational needs, explain why the LEA
will not make a statement and make recommendations about appropriate provision
for the child. All the advice received during the assessment should be attached
to the note sent to the parents and, with their consent, should also be sent to
the school.
Parent Partnership Services: provide advice and information to parent whose
children have special educational needs. They provide neutral and factual
support on all aspects of the SEN framework to help parent play an active and
informed role in their child's education. Although funded by the local
education authority they provide a service to parents and are often either run
at arms length from the authority or by a voluntary organisation to ensure
parents have confidence in them.
Peripatetic teacher: or specialist, advisory, or support teacher. A
teacher with specific expertise who travels from school to school and is
employed by the LEA to give appropriate specialist advice and support to the
child and the school. Often he or she will teach children with special
educational needs on a sessional basis, usually when an individual school does
not justify the services of a full time teacher for the purpose.
Pupil Referral Unit: any school established and maintained by a local
authority which is specially organised for pupils who would not otherwise
receive suitable education because of illness exclusion or any other reason.
Responsible Person: the head teacher or the appropriate governor, that is
the chairman of the governing body unless the governing body have a designated
governor for the purpose, in the case of a nursery school, the responsible
person is the head teacher. The LEA must inform the responsible person
when they conclude that a pupil at a school has SEN. The responsible
person must then ensure that all who teach the child know about the child's
SEN.
School Action: when a class teacher or subject teacher identify that
a pupil has special educational need they provide interventions that are additional
to or different from those provided as part of the school's usual
differentiated curriculum offer strategies. An IEP will usually be
devised.
School Action Plus: when a class teacher and the SENCO are provided with
advice or support from outside specialists, so that alternative additional
or different strategies to those provided for the pupil through school
action can be put in place. The SENCO usually takes the lead although
day to day provision continues to be the responsibility of the class teacher or
subject teacher. A new IEP will usually be devised.
SEN: stands for special educational needs.
SENCO or SEN coordinator: a member of staff who has responsibility for
coordinating SEN provision within that school. In a small school the head
teacher or deputy may take on this role. In larger schools there may be
an SEN coordinating team.
SEN Tribunal: an independent body which has jurisdiction under
section 333 of the Education Act 1996 for determining appeals by parents
against LEA decisions on assessments and statements. The tribunal’s
decision will be binding on both parties to the appeal.
Speech and Language Therapy: speech and language therapy is a health care
profession, the role and aim of which is to enable adults and children with
speech, language and communication difficulties (and associated
difficulties with eating and swallowing) to reach their maximum communication
potential and achieve independence in all aspects of life.
Transition Plan: a plan devised following the year 9 annual reviews
and updated subsequent annual reviews. The plan is to draw together
information from a range of individuals within and beyond the school, in order
to plan coherently for the young person’s transition to adult life.