ANNEX 6
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1.
Role of the Council
1.1
Guidance on the relationships between Council’s, Governing Bodies
and Head teachers is set out in The LEA/School Relations Code of
Practice 2001, to ensure success for all children.
1.2
Merton Council will provide leadership, support and encouragement in
order to:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
viii)
1.3
develop a more inclusive education system
increase the knowledge and skills of all staff working with
children identified as having SEN to ensure children achieve
their potential
enhance effective support for parents of children with SEN
ensure the efficient implementation of statutory frameworks
improve the ways in which the council promotes co-ordination
and co-operation with all its partners to ensure needs are
identified and met
review the arrangements for SEN as required by Section 315 of
the Education Act 1996
publish information on how the council is meeting its obligations
under the SEN and Disability Act 2001
publish plans and targets in relation to identification, monitoring,
assessment and support for children with SEN
The Council will undertake these duties by regularly:i)
consulting, implementing, reviewing, revising and publishing a
strategy to address these issues in relation to SEN.
ii)
publishing guidance and criteria to support the implementation of
the SEN Code of Practice 2001, SEN and Disability Act, 2001
and Code of Practice for Schools 2002.
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Role of Maintained Schools in Merton
2.1
Mainstream schools
2.1.1 Provision in mainstream is an essential component of Merton's SEN
Policy. A high percentage of pupils identified as having SEN will be
educated within mainstream schools. Responsibilities towards pupils
with SEN were highlighted in the 1996 Education Act
(Section.313+Section.315) and in subsequent legislation and
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Government initiatives. Additionally, National priorities are set out in
the DfES ‘ Removing Barriers to Achievement: The Government's
Strategy for SEN 2004.
2.1.2 The Council will work in partnership with schools to ensure that these
responsibilities and priorities are effectively fulfilled.
2.1.3 Schools need to ensure that they are clear about their arrangements
for co-ordinating special educational provision both within school and
with outside agencies and other schools.
2.1.4 Governing bodies together with headteachers, should determine the
school’s general policy and approach to provision for children with
SEN, establish appropriate staffing and funding arrangements, and
maintain a general oversight of the school’s work.
2.1.5 Special educational needs policies must be developed, reviewed and
reported on annually to parents and the LEA.
2.1.6 Schools must have regard to the relevant Code of Practice when
carrying out duties to all pupils with SEN and Disabilities.
2.1.7 The school's curriculum should address the needs of all pupils to
ensure that the range of teaching and learning styles, resources and
activities match the full range of needs the school may be required to
meet.
2.1.8 Schools should be able to demonstrate that the funding, equipment and
personnel resources allocated for SEN are deployed effectively and
used for the specific purposes.
2.1.9 All schools are required to develop and publish an SEN Policy. Schools
must have regard to the SEN Code of Practice and the staged
approach which matches action to the individual child’s needs, when
drawing up their policies. It is regarded as good practice for schools to
involve interested parties e.g. parents/governors, in the development of
the school’s SEN Policy. The Policy must be readily available to
parents and a summary of it must be included in the school’s annual
report and/or prospectus/ school profile.
2.1.10 The Policy should be kept under regular review and should be an
integral part of the school’s strategic planning. The specific areas for
inclusion in a school’s SEN Policy are set out in The Education (Special
Educational Needs) (Information) Regulation 1999.
Also see Annex 7 ‘ Information for Governing Bodies’
Responsibilities in relation to Disability Discrimination
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2.1.11 Following the implementation of the SEN and Disability Act 2001, it is
unlawful for schools, without justification to treat a chid with a disability
less favourably than other children. This includes discriminating against
disabled children in relation to admission arrangements, education and
associated services and exclusions. Schools also have a duty to take
reasonable steps to ensure that disabled pupils or prospective pupils
are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to their nondisabled peers.
2.1.12 In addition to new duties to eliminate discrimination against individual
disabled pupils, LEAs are also required to make plans to increase the
accessibility of schools for current and future pupils. Merton’s
Accessibility Strategy is available on the website.
2.2
Special Schools
2.2.1 Special schools has a key role to: 







meet the identified needs and targets for pupils specified in
individual statements of SEN
provide a broad and developmentally appropriate curriculum which
closely matches pupils’ needs
seek to work in partnership with the community of schools.
aim to communicate effectively and develop arrangements to offer
information, advice and consultation to other schools and partners
where appropriate
work to enhance partnership with parents/carers
promote the inclusion of children in the community of Merton
schools.
further assist in the integration of pupils into mainstream school
experiences in a range of ways, according to the needs of the
children and resources available
ensure resources are allocated equitably, efficiently and in response
to identified need.
2.2.2 The specific areas for inclusion in a school’s SEN policy are set out in
The Education (Special Educational Needs) (Information) Regulations
1999 . For instance, the Policy should have basic information about the
School’s Special Educational Provision and should include the
objectives of the school’s SEN Policy, the range of SENs for which the
school makes provision and should detail any special facilities, which
increase or assist access to the school by pupils with SEN.
Responsibilities in relation to Disability Discrimination
2.2.3 As above with the exception that the provisions of the Disability
Discrimination Act which affect annual reports do not apply to Special
Schools.
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3.
Early Years’ Settings
3.1
Early years setting should:
develop, review and report on their SEN policy

ensure that responsibility for meeting the needs of children is shared
by all in that setting


ensure that arrangements are in place for early identification and
assessment of individual needs
communicate openly and effectively with their child’s school and other
agencies working on behalf of their child and alert them to any
concerns they have about learning, behaviour or progress.

fulfil their part of any home-school agreements.
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SENCO
4.1
The SENCO, in collaboration with the head teacher and governing
body, plays a key role in determining the strategic development of the
SEN Policy and provision in the school in order to raise the
achievement of children with SEN. The SENCO takes day- to- day
responsibility for the operation of the SEN Policy and co-ordination of
the provision made for individual children with SEN, working closely
with staff, parents and carers, and other agencies. The SENCO also
provides related professional guidance to colleagues with the aim of
securing high quality teaching for children with SEN.
4.2
Further details on the role of the SENCO can be found in Section 2 of
the SENCO handbook which is available on Merton’s website.
5.
Support Services
5.1
Support Services have the responsibility to:

support schools and other agencies to meet a wide range of special
educational needs by providing and offering information, advice,
training, support and, where appropriate, direct provision.

support the council to meet its statutory responsibilities towards
children and young people with special educational needs in
conjunction with schools
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
work closely with schools, parents and other support services and
council teams to ensure that high quality provision and resources are
allocated equitably and efficiently.

contribute to, and take part in, school based professional development

help the council monitoring and evaluation processes for referrals,
provision and progress by collecting and analysing relevant data and
sharing examples of good practice.
6.
Governing Body
6.1
The governing body of a school is responsible and accountable for the
overall arrangements for special educational needs and, in particular,
for ensuring that the school has regard to the Code of Practice for SEN.
In particular, governing bodies need to ensure that:

arrangements are in place so that school staff are aware of the
importance of identification and provision for SEN.

the necessary arrangements are made for pupils identified as having
special educational needs

all those who work with children identified with SEN should be aware of
their specific needs and that appropriate provisions are made to meet
those needs

consultation is undertaken with the council
appropriate.
7.
7.1
and other bodies as
Parents
Parents have a vital role to:  work closely with all agencies to promote the well being of their child

work closely with the school to support their child's attainment and
progress.

work jointly with school or other setting to help children achieve the
objectives and targets agreed for them

communicate openly and effectively with their child’s school and other
agencies working on behalf of their child and alert them to any
concerns they have about learning, behaviour or progress.

fulfil their part of any home-school agreements.
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Pupils
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8.1
Pupils also have a role to play and should be encouraged to
participate in line with their age, aptitude and ability, in all
decision- making processes related to their education. They
should be encouraged to:-


fulfill their part of any home/school agreement.
be involved in the setting of learning targets and contributing to
Individual Education Plans as appropriate.
be able to access and make use of additional help in order to
communicate their views through for example, translator, signing
systems, learning assistant/advocate, visual prompts etc.
to be part of and participate in the culture of listening to pupils views
and providing opportunities for their involvement.
be able to participate in discussion at the Annual Review, express
feelings and indicate choices about future placements/provision,
particularly with reference to transition planning.



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