Guidance

CEAS information 13a: SENA process responsibilities

Updated 15 November 2022

Aim of SENA

1. The aim of Continuity of Education Allowance (Special Educational Needs Addition) (CEA(SENA)) is to contribute towards the additional costs associated with a specific support plan for an individual service child who has a level of Special Educational Needs (SEN) which cannot reasonably be met within the expected resources of a school.

Definitions

2. Before making an application for SENA, please consider very carefully whether the child/young person has special educational needs. For the purposes of SENA, SEN is defined as follows:

• A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education provision to be made.

• A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they have a significant greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or who have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for other children of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institution.

3. Most children/young people with SEN will have their needs met through good quality teaching and differentiation within the mainstream classroom alongside the rest of their peers. Having an identified SEN does not necessarily mean that a child/young person will require a personalised programme of intervention or tuition to ensure they achieve their potential.

4. Many children/young people with identified SEN are working within the average cognitive range and have functional literacy and numeracy skills which should enable them to access a broad and balanced curriculum with additional consideration and differentiation offered by the classroom teacher. Some children/young people may require a personalised, time restricted and targeted period of intervention to assist them to progress into the average range and obtain functional literacy and numeracy. It is also acknowledged that not all barriers to learning are of a cognitive nature and that some children/young people may benefit from support for presenting social, emotional and mental health needs. We expect that families would have sought professional guidance for these needs to inform the provision offered by the school.

The SENA application and approval process

Parent/families role and responsibilities:

5. It is essential that parents are conversant with JSP 752 Chapter 14 prior to the application for SENA. The parent holds the contract with the school they have chosen for their child/ young person. It is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that the provision being made for their child/young person is adequate and is allowing the child/young person to make progress in line with their peers. The parent has the right to request information on how the school are meeting the needs of their child/young person and what reasonable adjustments the school are making to ensure their child/young person’s needs are being catered for.

6. In relation to the SENA process, the parent should request that the member of staff responsible for co-ordinating learning support at the school completes the CEA(SENA) Application form (DCS Form 013 – CEA(SENA)) provided by CEAS in the appropriate detail. Guidance on the completion of DCS Form 013 – CEA(SENA) is provided within the application form itself. The completed CEA(SENA) Application form is returned to the parents who then check the detail, complete the section asking for their comments on the additional provision proposed, sign the form and return to DCS professionals for consideration. It can take up to 9 weeks for a SENA application to be reviewed and processed so forward planning is recommended. It is advised that you make your application for a SENA renewal at least a half term prior to the current SENA certificate expiring to avoid any lapse in funding.

7. CEAS will not accept documentation sent directly from the school. DCS staff will not contact schools directly and ask for additional evidence or information in support of a CEA(SENA) application. Therefore, it is essential that the documentation provided by the school is complete and accurately reflects the current presenting needs of the child/young person concerned.

8. It is the responsibility of parents to be instrumental in overseeing the support provided to their child/young person. It is a parent’s right to ask the school to account for the provision delivered and to provide evidence of what impact any provision has had on their child/young person’s progress and well-being.

Child/young person’s role and responsibilities:

9. The child/young person should have a voice in planning and reviewing any additional support they are receiving. The child’s voice should be recorded in a format which is most suitable to their needs.

10. It is very important that the child/young person feels involved in the provision and is an active participant. There is a section on the CEA(SENA) Application form for the child/young person to complete or we will accept any other preferred format. DCS professionals welcome and encourage children/young people to express their views and opinions on the education and additional provision they are receiving.

DCS’ role and responsibilities

11. DCS professionals sit on a panel to review SENA applications as they are received from families. DCS professionals involved in assessing the evidence submitted by schools in support of the SENA application, must read all the evidence presented, look at the context of the school (via the website), and assess whether the evidence is sufficiently robust with which to make a decision about agreeing, or not, to any SENA request.

12. DCS professionals are tasked to adhere to the military regulations, whilst having the needs of the child/young person as paramount. As a general rule, a child/young person at an independent boarding school should not be advantaged because they have more than would normally be found in a state school, to meet their SEN. This is with the understanding that Independent schools do not have to abide by the SEND Code of Practice (apart from the section 41 list), but as the Independent Schools Council states:

Independent schools should already have systems in place to identify SEN and provide SEN support. The Code sets out good practice and independent schools may therefore want to look at this to help them review the systems they already have in place.

13. DCS professionals will review the evidence presented on the CEA(SENA) Application form and any other supporting documentation provided by the school and ascertain if:

      a. The needs presented by the child/young person require remediation to allow them to achieve in the average cognitive range and obtain functional literacy and/or numeracy when compared to other children of the same age;
      b. The proposed programme of support matches the evidenced SEN of the child;
      c. There is evidence of a graduated response to the child/young person’s SEN by the school;
      d. Advice offered by specialist agencies in relation to the child/ young person’s presenting SEN has been considered in the planning of the support for the child;
      e. There is evidence of measurable outcomes of any prior support provided by the school to meet presenting SEN.

14. SENA applications will not be approved if insufficient or inappropriate evidence is provided. It is expected that schools will complete a personalised CEA(SENA) Application form for each child/young person focused on their current individual SEN. DCS professionals have access to all prior SENA applications and any documentation previously forwarded to CEAS.

15. SENA will not be awarded for study skills, developing higher order skills or preparation for examinations. It is considered that these should form part of normal classroom teaching and that all children/ young people will be taught these skills. However, it is accepted that some learners may require support with basic skills which, without remediation, could cause barriers for them in accessing these skills. Therefore, we would anticipate that any requests for SENA would present evidence identifying the barriers and present a plan to potentially overcome them which measures impact and outcomes.

School/College’s Role & Responsibilities

16. Upon parental request, schools will be asked to complete a CEA(SENA) Application form following the guidance within detailing the expectations and requirements of completion. Once school staff have completed the CEA(SENA) Application form, they should return it to the parent so that it can be used to process their SENA application.

17. The CEA(SENA) Application form is a school’s opportunity to share with DCS professionals the reasons behind the requirement for additional funding in support of the SEN currently presented by a child/young person. DCS professionals need to ensure due rigour and consistency in how SENA is considered and awarded. It is therefore important that school staff provide as much information as possible within the CEA(SENA) Application form.

18. Current school generated information is required to evidence the level and impact of a child/young person’s SEN. It is acknowledged that school staff have the experience and knowledge of individual children/young people and should be the best source of detailed information, collected over time, as to an individual child/ young person.

19. We would expect that any information presented by the school would demonstrate the reasonable adjustments the school makes for the individual and also displays how any proposed funding via SENA would provide something additional to or different from this provision. We also anticipate that any presenting needs can be evidenced over time and that there is indication of a graduated response to the presenting need. We also anticipate that the school would be able to evidence how they have supported the inclusion of the individual in accessing a broad and balanced curriculum alongside their peers.

20. If schools are re-applying for SENA, we would expect that current documentary evidence is presented to demonstrate the measurable impact of any previous intervention and how any next steps will further enhance the child/ young person’s learning and well-being.

21. We anticipate that all schools will demonstrate within the evidence they present for the SENA application how they are working with the duties outlined by the 2010 Equality Act, which requires all schools to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ when working with a child/ young person with special educational needs.