Your child may need extra or different kinds of support from the other pupils at school. It may be that he/she has a problem that you already know about, for instance, some difficulties with eyesight or hearing, or with getting about. For some children, being at school gives them challenges to do with getting on well with others, taking turns, playing outside, coping with the noise and activity they suddenly find all around them. For others, learning to read, to write and spell, or to do maths, as well as all the other subjects in the curriculum, may present difficulties at some time during their years at school.

If your child has special educational needs the school must tell you when they first start giving your child extra or different help from the other pupils. In schools this extra help is called School Action. The type of extra or different help your child is receiving will usually be written down in an Individual Education Plan (IEP). More information about Individual Education Plans is given on page 16, or on the Individual Education Plans section of this website.

The teacher or SENCO should keep letting you know how your child is progressing. They should consult your child and listen to your views. If your child does not make enough progress the teacher or SENCO should talk to you about seeking advice from people outside the school. This kind of help is called School Action Plus. The school may ask for help from, for example, a specialist teacher, a speech and language therapist, an educational psychologist or other health professionals. The advice from these outside specialists will then be written into the child's Individual Education Plan.

For a very small number of pupils, where special educational needs are most complex and long term, further assessment and help may be required. If your son/daughter is receiving School Action Plus and he/she still does not seem to be making enough progress or needs a lot more extra help, then the Headteacher, on the advice of the SENCO, should refer a child to the Local Education Authority (LEA) to consider whether a 'statutory assessment' is necessary. You can ask the LEA at any time to carry out a 'statutory assessment' of your son or daughter's special educational needs. The LEA will consider any request.

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice gives guidance to early education settings, state schools, LEAs and anybody else that helps to identify, assess and provide help for children with special educational needs. It sets out the processes and procedures that all these organisations must or should follow to meet the needs of children. They must not ignore the guidance in the Code.

You can get free copies of the SEN Code of Practice from the teachernet website at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sen/sencodeintro/ or from the DCSF Publications Centre on 0845 6022260.