Accommodated: Child looked after the Local Authority by agreement with the parent. the importance is that the Local Authority does not acquire parental responsibility
ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Admissions Authority: The body that decides the rules on how children will get a place at the school and who is offered a place.
Admission limit: The maximum number of pupils it is intended to admit into any year of a school
Admission number: The number of pupils that must be admitted into the year of entry if demand requires
AEN: Additional Educational Needs
Agreed syllabus: The syllabus of religious education, agreed between the Religious Bodies, the LEA and Teachers’ Representatives for use in schools
Aided schools: Schools set up and owned by a voluntary body, usually a church body. The governing body employs staff, and controls pupil admissions and religious education
AIM: Attendance Improvement and Monitoring
AIO: Attendance Improvement Officer. A professional employed by the LEA to help parents and LEAs meet their statutory duty in relation to school attendance.
AMB: Area Management Board
Annual Review: Review of statement by LEA that must occur at least annually
Appeals: The Education Acts give parents rights of appeal against certain decisions relating to admission to schools, special educational provision and permanent exclusion from school.
AQA: Assessment and Qualifications Alliance – the largest examining board in the UK.
Area Governors’ meetings: Meets for governors on an area basis (5 in Leeds). Once a term governors met to discuss issues in their own area.
Articled teacher: An unqualified person working as a teacher in a school under the guidance of an experienced member of staff who acts as his/ her mentor.
ASD: Autistic Spectrum Disorder
AST: Attendance Strategy Team. AIO’s work within this team name.
Attainment target: The knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities and ages are expected to have by the end of each National Curriculum Key Stage.
BAS: Behaviour and Attendance Service
BESD: Behavioural, Emotional, and Social Difficulties
BEST: Behaviour and Education Support Team
BIP: Behaviour Improvement Programme
BSP: Behaviour Support Plan
BSW: Behaviour Support Worker
CAF: Common Assessment Framework
CAMHS: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
Care Order: An order of the court placing a child in the care of an Authority.
Children’s centres: These provide a one stop resource for young families, offering help and advice on everything from childcare to getting back to work.
Choice Advisers: Each LA funds an independent service called Choice Advice to help parents find their way through the secondary admissions process. In some areas Choice Advisers also cover primary and in-year admissions.
CLC: City Learning Centre
CME: Child Missing Education
COP : Code of Practice – Guidance for LEA and schools on how to identify, assess, provide for children with special educational needs.
Community school: School set up and funded by an LEA
CP: Child Protection
CRB: Criminal Records Bureau – an organisation created to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse by identifying unsuitable employees and volunteers working with these vulnerable groups. CRB provides a Disclosure service for employers and organisations employing volunteers.
DCSF: Department for Children, Schools and Families (previously DfES)
DCD: Developmental Coordination Disorder
DDA: Disability Discrimination Act
Dual Registered: When a pupil is on role of more than one school. For example they attend a PRU, or on a trial basis during a managed move.
EAL: English as an Additional Language
EBP: Education Business Partnership
ECM: Every Child Matters
EHE: Elective Home Education
EMA: Ethnic Minority Achievement
EOTAS: Education other than at school
EP: Educational Psychologist
Exclusions: Headteachers may exclude pupils from school for serious breaches of discipline. Exclusions may be for a fixed period or permanent.
FFI: Funding For Inclusion
Five Outcomes: Detailed in the Every Child matters: Change for children are as follows – 1) Be healthy 2) Stay safe 3) Enjoy and achieve 4) Make a positive contribution 5) Achieve economic well-being
Foundation School: A former Grant Maintained School now funded by an LEA
FSM: Free School Meals
GCE ‘A’ Level: General certificate of Education Advanced level – usually taken post 16
GCE ‘AS’ Level: General certificate of Education Advanced Supplementary level – usually a 1 year course and is equivalent to half an ‘A’ level course.
GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education – usually taken at the end of Key Stage 4 (age 16).
GNVQ: General National Vocational Qualification.
Governing Body: The governors, with the headteacher, have overall responsibility for the school. They work for the school unpaid.
Home Tuition: Tuition for pupils at home arranged by the Local Authority in special circumstances
IBP: Individual Behaviour Plan
IDP: Inclusion Development Programme
IEP: Individual Education Plan, a programme of learning objectives and targets.
Internal Exclusion: This is where your child is sent somewhere else within school with appropriate support, or moved to another class on a temporary basis. Internal exclusion may happen during break periods.
IPS: Independent Parent Supporter a trained volunteer who can support / advocate for parents at meetings and tribunals, they can also help with form filling and advice.
ISAR: Inclusion and SEN Action Record – each child which is identified as having special educational needs has his/ her needs recorded using this system.
ISEN: Inclusion and Special Educational Needs
ISPS: Integrated Support and Psychology Service
IW: Inclusion Worker
LAC: Looked After Children
LDD: Learning Difficulties and Disabilities
LEA: Local Education Authority LEA maintained school: School for which an LEA has financial and administrative responsibility.
LILS: Leeds Inclusive Learning Strategy
LLN: Leeds Learning Network
LM: Learning Mentor
LSA: Learning Support Assistant
LSU: Learning Support Unit
“Managed move” to a different school: This is something that the school arrange and should only be done if the parent and the Local Authority agree it is in the best interests of the child. You should not feel pressured into removing your child from school under the threat of a permanent exclusion.
Mislocated Children: Children of compulsory school age whose whereabouts become unknown. Usually the term refers to missing families with children of school age.
MLD: Moderate Learning Difficulties
MSI: Multi-sensory Impairment – pupils with a combination of visual and hearing difficulties
Mediation: Where a trained person helps sort out any conflict between your child and other teachers/ pupils
NC: National Curriculum
NCLB: No Child Left Behind – The aim of the NCLB is for all young people to be on roll of mainstream schools and educated within their local communities, and to discourage the use of permanent exclusion as a strategy for behaviour management in Leeds schools.
Non-Contact days: Five days a year on which pupils do not attend school. Teachers use these days for training and report writing etc.
Non-Contact time: Non teaching time when teachers prepare lesson plans etc.
Note in lieu: A note in lieu may be issued to the child’s parents and school when, following a statutory assessment the LEA decides not to make a statement. The note should describe the child’s special educational needs and explain why the LEA does not think it necessary to make a statement.
NQT: Newly Qualified Teacher
Number on roll: This number is a head count of full-time and part-time pupils excluding nursery units
Open enrolment: All schools must admit pupils up to their admission number which is calculated according to the capacity of the school buildings
OT: Occupational Therapist
Out of Area Pupils: Pupils being taught in a school maintained by one Authority whilst living in another Authority’s area.
Oversubscription Criteria: The rules about who has priority for a place when a school does not have enough places for all children who apply.
Parent: Any person who has custody of a child or young person.
Parental Responsibility: All the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law the parent of a child has.
PAS: Psychology and Assessment Service
PEP: Personal Education Plan
PIVATS: Performance Indicators for Value Added Target Setting
PRU: Pupil Referral Unit – The SEN team at Bucks CC 6th day provision after a permanent exclusion. Can also be used by schools as a dual registered place for specialist intervention.
PSP: Pastoral Support Programme
PTA: Parent Teacher Association
Pupil Planning Team: Advise on and educate pupils with behavioural problems and pupils who have been excluded from school.
Restorative Justice: Allows your child to put right any harm done by talking through their actions with the person they did it to.
SATs: Standard Assessment Tasks
School Action: When a school identifies a child has a learning difficulty and provides additional support and strategies to meet that child’s needs. An IEP is usually written.
School Action Plus: When a school identifies a child has a learning difficulty and advice or support is provided by outside specialists.
SEAL: Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
SEN Casework Officer: The LA officer responsible for writing and maintaining statements.
SEN: Special Educational Needs: Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty that calls for specialist educational provision to be made for them.
SEN Mediation: Independent service to resolve disputes between parents, schools, LEA.
SENCO: Special educational needs co-ordinator. A member of staff in a school or an early years setting who co-ordinates special educational needs provision.
SEND Tribunal: Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal – An independent body, which determines appeals by parents against LEA decisions on assessments and statements
SENSAP: Special Educational Needs Statutory Assessment and Provision
SENST: Special Educational Needs Support Team (incorporated into the ISPS Service)
SILC: Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre
SLD: Severe Learning Difficulty
SLE/ SLA: Service Level Entitlement/ Service Level Agreement
SpLD: Specific Learning Difficulty
Special Measures: A school may be identified as a failing school by an Ofstead Inspection. Special measures will be required to be carried out to put the school on course to reach acceptable standards. The governing body is involved in this process.
Statement of SEN: A legal document stating the specialist educational provision necessary to meet the child’s needs.
Statutory Assessment: If a significant cause for concern has been raised, a request for a statutory assessment may be made by the parent or the school to the LEA – an assessment of the child’s attainment in order to provide, if necessary, specialist educational provision.
Statutory Functions: Functions conferred or imposed by a statutory instrument (law).
Voluntary aided school: A school set up and owned by a voluntary body, usually a church body, largely financed through an LEA. The governing body employ the staff, and control pupil admissions and religious education.
Voluntary controlled School: A school set up by a voluntary body, usually a church body (generally Church of England). Totally funded through an LEA. The LEA employs the staff.
