Duties of educational settings

This page provides information on the duties of schools and local authorities to assess, identify, consider and provide for a child's additional needs and/or disability within an educational setting, the legislation attached to those duties, how to ensure that they are adhered to and what to do if you do not receive a good experience.

The Standards and Testing Agency (GOV.UK) publishes important guidance to schools about assessments and reporting arrangements. The range of special arrangements set out in the guidance applies to children in all schools. The Standards and Testing Agency is a Department of Education (DfE) organisation that is responsible for curriculum and associated assessments in all maintained schools in England.

Access arrangements for many qualifications e.g. GCSEs, BTECs and Functional Skills are administered by the Joint Council for Qualifications JCQ - Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments More details can be found online and these are updated every year. For summer exams e.g. GCSEs the deadline for applications for access arrangements is March. Modified papers (e.g. enlarged font) need to be requested by January.

Access arrangements will last for 26 months after application; therefore, many secondary schools will begin the process of application for candidates at the end of year 9 or the beginning of year 10, in preparation for GCSE exams in May/June of year 11.

The Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA) provide information on help in exams.

A key duty for certain settings is the duty to use their 'best endeavours' to secure special educational provision for all children or young people for whom they are responsible. This means doing everything that could reasonably be expected of it to meet the additional needs of its pupils.

Further information on the 'best endeavours' duty is given on the IPSEA website.

The governing bodies of all maintained schools and nursery schools and the proprietors of academies must publish a SEN information report. This report should be found on the school's website.

The report must contain details of:

  • how the school identifies children with SEN
  • how it makes provision for children with SEN and the facilities available to do this;
  • details of the special educational needs coordinator (SENCO); and, importantly
  • what arrangements the governing body themselves have for dealing with complaints from parents about their child's SEN provision.

This should include the name of the governor responsible for SEN matters on the governing body. (Full details of the items which it must include are found in Schedule 1 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014).

This report will therefore contain information which should help a parent check whether the governing body or proprietor is complying with its 'best endeavours' duty and to take steps to complain if they feel they are not doing so.

The Department for Education (DfE) has produced guidance for all schools, including academies and free schools, which outlines its duties towards preventing and tackling bullying in schools this link also contains information for parents and carers on Cyber Bullying.

What can I do if my child is being bullied?

In the first instance, ask to see a copy of the school's anti-bullying policy or behaviour policy. You can search for this on their website or ask the school for a copy.

Keep a record of all bullying incidents with names of children/young people/adults present, times, dates, location. Also keep records of all communication including telephone conversations and meetings with dates and times.

You should request a meeting with the class teacher, SENCO, head of year and any adults that the child has told about the bullying.

Questions to think about or ask

  • Ask how the school implements the anti-bullying policy and/or the behaviour policy.
  • Ask how they can ensure your child's safety in school and what support is in place.
  • Did your child tell anyone? Who was it and what was your child told would be done about it?
  • Agree all actions with timescales, with reference to feedback given.

If you don't think the situation has been resolved, ask for a meeting with the Headteacher. Take all records of communication with you and agree actions with timescales. If all the above has failed to improve the situation, write to the Headteacher stating you are making an official complaint. This needs to be made with the school and not the Local Authority. Details of the Complaints Policy, including an escalation process if required, should be found on the school's website.

Useful contacts

Reasonable adjustments are the changes a school, employer or someone providing a service must make so that disabled people can do something. Please visit the Local Offer for more information on the reasonable adjustments you would expect to be made for your child.

Please visit Surrey Local Offer for further information on ordinarily available provision.

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of Dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.

If your child shows difficulties with reading and writing, it is best practice to first rule out any other difficulties that could be contributing, such as poor hearing, eyesight problems or underlying health issues.

Once these have been ruled out or addressed and the difficulties still persist, you should talk to your child's school about what specialist educational support they can offer.

Further information can be found in the Surrey Literacy Difficulties Policy and Practice Guidance on the Local Offer website.

How to obtain a diagnosis

Most schools in Surrey should be able to carry out a Dyslexia screening which will give parents an indicator of whether a child may have Dyslexia. Schools can then implement provisions from their core offer in order to support the child's special educational needs. Surrey schools are not able to formally diagnose.

For a diagnostic assessment parents should seek support from a recognised and accredited Dyslexia centre, such as The Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre

Further information can be found on the British Dyslexia Association's website.

Even without a formal diagnosis the school should be able to identify the needs of the child and implement any provisions that would support them.

Statutory guidance about the support that pupils with medical conditions should receive at school can be found on the GOV.UK website

This information is for parents for when a school refuses or makes it difficult for a child with additional needs to be included on a school trip.

The SEN Code of Practice section 6.2 states that,

Every school is required to identify and address the SEN of the pupils that they support. Mainstream schools, which in this chapter includes maintained schools and academies that are not special schools, maintained nursery schools, 16 to19 academies, alternative provision academies and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), must:

  • use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people's SEN
  • ensure that children and young people with SEN engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEN
  • designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision – the SEN co-ordinator, or SENCO (this does not apply to 16 to 19 academies)
  • inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child
  • prepare an SEN information report (see 'Publishing information: SEN information report', paragraph 6.78 onwards) and their arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps being taken to prevent disabled children from being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to enable access to the school for disabled children and their accessibility plan showing how they plan to improve access progressively over time.

The Equality Act 2010

Under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for schools and local authorities (LA) to discriminate against disabled pupils. The Act includes duties to make sure disabled pupils are not treated less favourably than other pupils. Schools have to make reasonable adjustments where they are needed. Schools generally have to make sure that disabled pupils can play as full a part in school life as possible which includes going on school trips.

A school's duty to make reasonable adjustments is an anticipatory one. This means because in most cases disabled pupils will be known to the school or LA the need to arrange suitable support should be part of the longer-term planning for the pupil.

Reasonable adjustments

Where a School states that they are unable to include a disabled pupil on a trip, you as parents can make it clear that this is discrimination. The Act does not require a school to cancel a trip (or any other activities) but the Act does require a school to look at all the ways in which they can ensure that all pupils are given the same opportunities to participate.

Schools should work with yourselves as parents to learn what experiences you have had with regard to going on trips, e.g., strategies the school could use. Schools should also learn from other schools in these situations to come up with solutions that means that everyone is able to benefit from a trip or an activity.

Reasonable adjustments may include thinking about alternative trips to the ones previously arranged by the school, providing additional assistance, such as asking a learning assistant who supports the child in school to go with the child on the visit to enable the pupil to attend.

As parents you could offer to attend the trip if you are able, to be an extra person in ratios.

The Act does not override health and safety legislation. Schools may still need to undertake risk assessments to ensure all pupils attending the trip are safe.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission have produced guidance for schools detailing the duties of schools under the Act and there is guidance about reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils.