Jargon Buster

ADD

Attention Deficit Disorder

Additional Learning Needs Coordinator

Is a teacher at a college who is in charge of making sure students who have special educational needs and disabilities get the support they need

ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Advocate

Is someone who can help children, young people and parents to say what they want if they find it difficult to do so.

Annual Review

A meeting held once a year to review a child's Statement of Special Education Needs.

Appeal

Is what someone does when they want to try and change a decision about their support that they do not agree with.

Apprenticeships

Is a type of training for young people who are 16 years old or over. They help young people to learn skills to get a job. Young people doing these types of training do some learning in a classroom and some learning at work.

ASC

Autistic Spectrum Conditions.

ASD

Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Assessment

Finding out what a child can and cannot do by observing them at school and sometimes at home, and by talking with people who know the child well.

AWP

Avon and Wiltshire Partnership (Adult Mental Health).

BSL

British Sign Language

BSS

Behavioural Support Service

B2F

Better 2gether Funding (Eligible Funding for 2-year-olds) 

CAF

Common Assessment Framework - a shared assessment and planning framework for use across all children's services and all local areas in England. It aims to help the early identification of a child's additional needs and promote co-ordinated service provision to meet those needs.

CAMHS

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

Carer

A person who is looking after a child but isn't their birth parent.

CCG

Clinical Commissioning Group - (replaced Primary Care Trusts in April 2013) a clinically-led statutory NHS body responsible for the planning and commissioning of health care services for their local area.

CCLDHS

Community Children's Learning Disability Health Service

CDC

Council for Disabled Children

CETR

Care (education) and Treatment Review

CFVSF

Children and Families Voluntary Sector Forum

CHC

Continuing Health Care

CiN

Child in Need - a child in need of local authority services to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development, to prevent significant or further harm to health or development.

Code of Practice

A Government document that schools, early years settings and local authorities follow when identifying children with SEND and meeting their needs.

College

Is where young people go to learn skills that they might need when they are older. If someone is aged between 16 and 25 years old, then they can go to a college.

CP

Child Protection or Cerebral Palsy 

CQC

Care Quality Commission

CSW

Carer Support Wiltshire

CTPLD

Community Team for People with Learning Disabilities (adults)

CYPDT

Children and Young People Disability Team (Social Care)

DAF

Disability Access Fund 

DBS

Disclosure and Barring Service - helps employers make safer recruitment decision by preventing unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children.  (Replaced CRB)

DCE

Department for Children and Education (Wiltshire Council)

Decisions

Are choices people make about what happens in their life. Some people may need support to make decisions. For example, having things explained in a different way.

DfE

Department for Education (national Government Department)

Differentiation

The way in which the early years setting/school's curriculum and teaching methods are adapted to meet the needs of a child.

Disagreement resolution

Mediation arrangements which all local authorities must provide to help prevent or resolve disagreements between parents/carers, whose children have SEND, and the local authority or school.  These much include an independent service with trained mediators, designed to bring the different parties together in an informal way to try to resolve the disagreement through discussion. In Wiltshire, this service is called Wessex Mediation and you can contact them on 01823 336465.

Disabilities

• May have problems with their health 
• May find it harder to do things than other people

Disagreement Resolution Services

Help to sort out problems where people do not agree with the support for a child or young person who has special educational needs or disabilities. You can find out about them from your local council.

DISM

District Inclusion Support Meeting - often held in a District Specialist Centre, this meeting plans and co-ordinates services for children requiring intensive support in the Early Years.

DLA

Disability Living Allowance

DP

Direct payment

DSC

District Specialist Centre - a place offering intensive support from a range of services to children aged 0-5 years (previously known as Opportunity Groups)

DSR

Dynamic Support Register

DWP

Department for Work and Pensions

Early Years

From birth to 5 years.

Early Years Settings

All pre-school education provision, such as nursery classes and schools, day nurseries, childminders, portage services, pre-schools and District Specialist Centres.

EBD

Emotional Behaviour Disorder

Education Officer

An officer of the local authority dealing with provision and placement of children with special educational needs, particularly those with a Statement or undergoing Statutory Assessment.

EFA

Education Funding Agency

EHCP

A Statutory Education, Health and Care Plan for children and young people between 0 and 25 years in education who have additional needs.  The plan co-ordinates a child's education, health and social needs and sets out any additional support they may require.

ELP

Enhanced Learning Provision - an individualised, flexible programme of support put in place by all non-selective mainstream secondary schools to meet the high-level learning needs of the neediest pupils, who often have a combination of special educational needs.

ELSA

Emotional Literacy Support Assistance - training to support children and young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.

EOTAS

Education other than at school.

EP or Ed Psych

Educational Psychologist - a professional employed by the local authority to assess a child's special educational needs and to give advice to schools and settings as to how the child's needs can be met.

ES

Education support can help someone to learn things like reading and writing.

ESA

Early Support Assessment 

EWO

Educational Welfare Officer - an officer of the local authority dealing with young people who have irregular attendance or frequent absence from school. EWOs look at reasons for attendance problems and work with teams from Social Care to identify and support children involved in child protection procedures.

EYFS

Early Years Foundation Stage - a framework used by all early years settings which sets out standards and provides a flexible approach which supports learning and development until the end of the Reception year at school.

EYE

Early Years Entitlement

EYIA

Early Years Inclusion Advisor

FSW

Family Support Worker

Further Education (FE)

Full or part-time education for people over compulsory school age which does not take place in a school or university.

Graduated Approach

A model which recognises that children may need different levels of support at different stages in their early years or school lives.

Health Visitor (HV)

A qualified nurse who delivers the Healthy Child Programme to children 0-5.

Health Support

Can help someone to stay healthy, like having physiotherapy.

HI

Hearing Impaired.

Holistic

Taking account of all factors contributing to a situation or circumstance.

IAG

Information Advice and Guidance

IASS

Information Advice and Support Service

IPS

Independent Parental Support - someone who can give support to parents/carers, for example, by going to meetings, encouraging parents to get involved and helping them to understand systems related to special educational needs.  In Wiltshire, IPSs are volunteers, trained by the Special Educational Needs Support Service (SENSS).

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

A plan written by an early years practitioner/teacher/SENCO outlining the way a child's needs are being met and setting SMART targets. The plan is shared with parents.  

ISP

Independent Specialist Provision

ISF

Inclusion Support Funding (Early Years) 

Key Stage One (KS1)

Stage of education - age 5 to 7 - Years 1 and 2.

Key Stage Two (KS2)

Stage of education - age 7 to 11 - Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Key Stage 3 (KS3)

Stage of education - age 11 to 14 - years 7, 8 and 9.

Key Stage 4 (KS4)

Stage of education - age 14 to 16 - years 10 and 11.

Key Stage 5 (KS5)

Stage of education - age 16 to 18 - sixth form.

Lead worker

A caseworker from our Special Educational Needs team.

Learning difficulties

Problems or conditions which make learning harder for the individual than it is for most people.

Local Authority

A local government body whose responsibilities include providing education, carrying out Statutory Assessments and maintaining Statements for children and young people with special educational needs.

LISM

Local Inclusion Support Meeting - an individual planning meeting to help identify appropriate networks and plan for a child's present and future needs in the Early Years, involving professionals and parents working together at a local level.

Looked after Child (LAC)

A child or young person who is in the care of the local authority.

LD

Learning disability

Local Offer (LO)

Local authorities have a statutory obligation to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about service provision across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

LYN

Local youth network

Mediation

Is a meeting to help people who disagree about something, like the support someone gets. They can meet to try and find a way of agreeing about it. There is usually someone else there to help them do this. This person is called a Mediator.

Multi Agency Forum (MAF)

A community based meeting to allow face to face discussion amongst agencies and services to identify and respond to requirements in support of local children and their families.

Mainstream school

A school for all children, not just those with special educational needs.

Maintained school

A state school, includes community, foundation and voluntary aid schools.

Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

A single point of contact which brings together professionals working with vulnerable people to keep them safe from harm.

Mental Capacity Assessment

Is carried out to see if someone is able to make decisions. If someone can not make a decision by themselves, they should still be supported to have their say.

MH

Mental health.

MLD

Moderate learning difficulty.

MSI

Multi-sensory impairment.

My Plan

Statutory education, health and care plan (EHCP)

My Support Plan (MSP)

A holistic support plan for a child with additional needs who does not meet statutory criteria for an EHCP.

NAS

National Autistic Society

National Curriculum

The framework which sets out standards and appropriate levels of achievement for children's education, as laid down by the DCSF.

NEET

Not in Education Employment or Training

Occupational Therapist (OT)

A professional trained to give advice on equipment, adaptations and activities to support the learning and social development of people with physical, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

OFSTED

The Office for Standards in Education.

One-Page Profile

A single page of information that captures what is important to and for an individual. They are part of s Statutory My Plan/EHCP but can be created by anyone.

Outreach worker (OW)

An employee of an organisation who works out 'in the field' rather than in an office.

P levels

Performance levels used to assess a child who is not yet working with the National Curriculum levels of attainment.

Paediatrician

A doctor who specialises in children's diseases and may be responsible for the continuing care of children with special educational needs, before school entry and in school (special and mainstream).

Pastoral Support Plan (PSP)

A plan drawn up by a school to support a child at serious risk of disaffection or exclusion. If a PSP is being written for a child who has special educational needs, it should not replace their Individual Education Plan.

PB

Personal budget.

PCAMHS

Primary Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

Person-centred

Focusing on what is important to an individual.

PI

Physical Impairment

PIP

Personal Independence Payment.

PMLD

Profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Portage

Home-based educational support for pre-school children with special educational needs.

Provision

Extra or different help given to a child with special educational needs.

Provision mapping

A way of identifying the range of provision available to all pupils in a school which is additional to and different from the school's differentiated curriculum.  It can be used as part of the planning process for a child with additional needs.

PSA

Parent support advisor

PSED

Personal, social and emotional development.

PSHE

Personal, social and health education.

Resource Base (RB)

Specialist, additional SEN support based within a mainstream school.  In Wiltshire, there are centres for the following areas of SEN:

• Complex needs (Primary);
• Hearing Impairment (Primary and Secondary);
• Speech and Language Difficulties (Primary);
• Physical Difficulties (Primary and Secondary);
• Social and Communication Difficulties/ASD (Primary)

SALT

Speech and Language Therapist - a professional trained to give specialist assessments, advice and treatment for children with communication difficulties.

SARF

Single Assessment Referral Tool.

Short Breaks Scheme (SBS)

The Short Breaks scheme aims to meet the needs and interests of children and young people who require additional support to access or engage in leisure activities and social opportunities. If offers families an opportunity to think creatively about how they want to spend their leisure time and choose what works best for them.

SC

Social Care.

SCAMHS

Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

SEAD

Social and emotional aspects of development.

SEMH

Social, emotional and mental health.

SENCO

A special educational needs coordinator is a teacher at a school who is in charge of making sure students who have special educational needs or disabilities get the support they need.

SEND

Special educational needs and disabilities.

Single Point of Contact (SPOC)

A help line answered by professional caseworkers.

SLD

Severe learning disability.

SpLD

Specific Learning Difficulties, such as dyslexia or dyspraxia.

SMART targets

Targets which are Specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and timed.

SMHP

Senior mental health practitioner.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Special educational needs.

SENDIST

Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal - an independent body that hears appeals against decisions made by the local authority on Statutory Assessments and Statements.

Social care support

Is the support someone gets to help them do things like washing, cooking and meeting up with friends.

SW

A social worker is someone who works with families to help make sure they get the support they need.

Special Schools

Schools that are specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils with special educational needs.

Statement of Educational Needs

A legal document that sets out a child's needs and the extra help he/she should get.

Statutory Assessment

A very detailed assessment of a child's special educational needs. It includes parental, educational, psychological, medical and other professional advice and may lead to a Statement of Educational Needs.

SWAPP

Support in Wiltshire Autism Parent Programme - a partnership programme for parents and school staff to build an understanding of autism.

SWASS

Support in Wiltshire Autism Schools Strategies.

TA

Teaching assistant.

Team around the child (TAC)

A group of practitioners/agencies involved with a particular child and their family.

Targeted services

Services for those with additional needs, often assessed.

TISM

Transition Inclusion Support meeting - held for children who require additional support during the transition to school to plan a flexible and individual programme of transition into school life.  It will involve parent/carers as well as professionals who have been involved with the child, and representatives from the child's new school.

Transition Plan

A plan drawn up during the Year 9 annual review of a Statement. It should take account of the views of the young person, his/her parents and all the professionals involved with the young person. It must involve the Connexions Personal Advisor. The plan sets out the steps that need to be taken to move from school to adult life.

Universal services

Services available to everyone without assessment.

VI

Visual impairment

WAAS

Wiltshire Autism Assessment Service

WC

Wiltshire Council

WISA

Wiltshire Independent Support and Advice

Wiltshire Parent Carer Council (WPCC)

A voluntary organisation managed by parents and carers for parents and carers.

Wiltshire and Swindon Users Network (WSUN)

A local network which supports people who use mental health services and those with a learning disability.

Young carer (YC)

Someone aged 18 or under who helps look after a relative with a disability, illness, or mental health condition.

YOT

Youth offending team.