Special and additional educational needs

 
 

Special Educational Needs

This page is designed to give you information about Westminster City Council's arrangements for children with Special Educational Needs.

Nationally, about 20% of children may have some form of special educational needs at some time. For the vast majority of children, the mainstream school will meet such needs, with outside help if necessary.

All mainstream schools must have a Special Educational Needs policy and a Special Educational Needs Coordinator. Your child's school will be able to give you information about their arrangements.

There are no hard and fast categories of special educational needs.  It is recognised that each child is unique and each LEA should reflect the particular circumstances of the child.  LEA's recognise that there is a wide spectrum of special educational needs that are frequently interrelated, although there are also specific needs that usually relate to particular types of impairment.  Children will have needs and requirements that by and large fall into at least one of four areas, although many children will have interrelated needs.  These needs can impact considerably on the child's ability to function, learn and succeed should be taken into account.

The areas of needs are:

  • Communication and Interaction
  • Cognition and Learning
  • Behaviour, emotional and social development
  • Sensory and / or physical

In only a small minority of cases will a child have special educational needs of a severity or complexity that requires the City Council to become involved, The City Council, as far as possible, aims to educate children with special educational needs in mainstream schools, although some pupils may need a special school placement.

The policy for SEN is available on request and sets out the principles, practices and procedures.

We hope that the information on this page will assist you in understanding which help, advice and support is available in Westminster. However, if you have any queries or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Special Educational Needs team, who are based at the address below:

1st Floor
4 Frampton Street
London NW8 8LF

Telephone: 020 7641 5351
Fax: 020 7641 7609