TSSS Education Booklet - Turner Syndrome Support Group (NZ)

JThe Special Needs SystemThis section is an overview of the ways help can be provided within thesystem for those children who need it. The child may need to access helpthroughout their school career, or for only a part of the time they are atschool. They may need help in one specific area, or they may have severalspecific learning problems. They may have no special needs at all within theclassroom, but find the social side of school very difficult to handle. Whatevertheir needs this is an outline of the channels which are there to enable youto find support. As you may know it can be difficult and take a long time,given that the system is overstretched, so you will need to flag up the childÕsneeds as early as you can, and be patient and persistent. The most importantthing is to keep a dialogue going between the school and the childÕs parents,and make sure that everyone involved knows what is happening. DonÕtassume problems, as you may experience none at all, but be ready for themif and when they happen. You also need to be aware that different LEAÕs maynot always follow exactly the same procedure.Pre-School EducationEducational assessments for children under twoIf your child has a particular problem, which has caused concern they can bereferred to the local authority for an assessment. If the Local EducationAuthority [LEA] agrees that your child has *Special Education Needs [SEN]and there may be a need for extra educational provision it may decide toassess your child. Your consent will be needed for this if your child is undertwo. You can also request an assessment for your child on your own behalf ifthey are under two. All nursery settings, which receive government funding,must have a written SEN policy and a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator(SENCO). [* also known as children with additional support needs]Help may be given in a variety of ways.Early Years ActionIf it is felt that your child needs extra help, which the usual nursery curriculumis not able to offer, the SENCO and the childÕs teacher may discuss with theparents how extra support may be provided.Early Years Action PlusIf the additional help provided proves not to be enough to help the childprogress successfully outside help from support services and/or specialistadvice may be sought. This may be an Educational Psychologist or specialistteacher. Again, this will be done in consultation with the childÕs parents.15