Jargon Buster
Below are some of the common words, phrases and acronyms that you may come across.
A
Academy School – School that is run by an Academy Trust
Accommodated – Child looked after by the Local Authority by agreement with the parent, 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 a school and who is offered a place
Admission Limit – Maximum number of pupils intended to admit into any year of a school
Admission Number – Number of pupils that must be admitted into the year of entry, if demand requires
ADOS – Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (a standardized diagnostic test for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD))
ADT- Attention Deficit Trait
AEN – Additional Education Needs
Agreed Syllabus – Syllabus of religious education agreed between the religious bodies, LA and teachers’ representatives for use in schools
AIM – Attendance Improvement and Monitoring
AIO – Attendance Improvement Officer (a professional employed to help parents and the LA to meet their statutory duty in relation to school attendance)
Annual Review – Review of EHCP that must occur at least annually
AP – Alternative Provision
Appeals – Parents rights of appeal against certain decisions relating to admission to school, special educational provision and permanent exclusion from school
ASC – Autistic Spectrum Condition
ASD – Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Attainment Target – The knowledge, skills and understanding that pupils of different abilities and ages are expected to have by the end of each national curriculum key stage
B
BESD – Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties
BSL – British Sign Language
BSP – Behaviour Support Plan
C
CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Care Order – An order of the court placing a child in the care of an authority
CCG – Clinical Commissioning Group (now replaced by ICB)
Children and Family Centres – A one stop resource for families especially those with children of preschool age
CME – Children Missing Education
CMHT– Community Mental Health Team
Compass – School Nursing Service
COP – Code of Practice (guidance on how to identify, asses and provide for children with SEN)
Co-production – an equal relationship between people who use services and the people who are responsible for the delivery of services working together
Community School – Funded by an LA
CP – Child Protection
CQC – Care Quality Commision (regulate and inspect health and social care services)
CYP – Children and Young People
D
DBS – Disclosure and Barring Service (used to check for criminal records and to make sure unsuitable people do not get to work with vulnerable people)
DCD – Developmental Coordination Disorder (also known as Dyspraxia)
DDA – Disability Discrimination Act
DfE – Department for Education.
DLA – Disability Living Allowance (a disability benefit for under 16 year olds)
Dual Registered – when a pupil is on the roll of more than one school
E
EA – Equality Act (formally the Disability Discrimination Act)
EAL – English as an Additional Language
EBD – Emotional Behavioural Disability
EHCP – Education and Health Care Plan
EBD / EBSD – Emotional behavioural (and social) difficulties.
EHE – Elective Home Education
EMP – Enhanced Mainstream Provision. Specialist ‘unit’ within a mainstream school
EOTAS – Education Other Than At School
EP – Educational Psychologist
Exclusions – Headteachers may exclude pupils from school for serious breaches of discipline. These may be for a fixed period or permanent
EYFS – Early Years Foundation Stage
F
FE – Further Education (age 16+)
FFS – For Fudge Sake. Common term used by parents/carers
Flex Learning –
FMS – Fine motor skills
FSM – Free School Meals
G
GCE ‘A’ Level – General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (usually taken 16+)
GCE ‘AS’ Level – General Certificate of Education Advanced Supplementary Level (usually a one-year course and is equivalent to half an A Level)
GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education. Usually taken at the end of Key Stage 4 (age 16)
GDD– Global Developmental Delay
Governing Body – The governors who have overall responsibility for the school
Grammar School – Selective state school
H
Home Tuition – Tuition for pupils at home, arranged by the local authority in special circumstances
I
IAP – Independent Appeal Panel (when appealing for a school placement)
IBP – Individual Behaviour Plan
IDP – Inclusion Development Programme
Independent School – A fee paying school
Internal Exclusion – Where a student is excluded but is sent somewhere within school
J
K
KS – Key Stages
KS1 – Years 1 and 2
KS2 – Years 3, 4, 5 and 6
KS3 – Years 7, 8 and 9
KS4 – Years 10 and 11
KS5 – Years 12 and 13 (and in some cases Year 14) – also known as ‘Sixth Form’
L
LA – Local Authority (Warwickshire County Council) deals with the administration of a local council
LAC – Looked After Children
LD – Learning Disability
LA School – School for which the LA has financial and administrative responsibility (not an Academy or an Independent School)
LM – Learning Mentor
LS – Learning Support
LSA – Learning Support Assistant
M
Maintained School – Any county or voluntary school maintained by the authority, including any maintained special school not established in a hospital
Managed Move – changing to a different school arranged by the school (should only be done if the parent and the LA agree that it is in the best interest of the child)
MAT – Multi-Academy Trust (the umbrella management of Academy Schools (sometimes referred to as MAC – Multi-Academy Company))
Mislocated Children – Children of compulsory school age whose whereabouts are unknown.
MLD – Mild Learning Difficulties
MS – Multiple Sclerosis. A condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of potential symptoms such as problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation, or balance
MSI – Multi-Sensory Impairment. A combination of visual and hearing difficulties
Mediation – Where a trained person helps sort out any conflict between one child and other pupils or teachers
N
NASEN – National Association for Special Educational Needs
NC – National Curriculum
NEET- Young people aged 16-25 Not in Education, Employment or Training
Non-Contact Days – Five days a year on which pupils do not attend school. Teachers use these days for training and report writing (also known as inset days)
Non-Contact Time – Non-teaching time where teachers prepare lesson plans etc
NQT – Newly Qualified Teacher
Number On Roll – Head count of full-time and part-time pupils, excluding nursery unit
NVQ – National Vocational Qualification
O
OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
OFSTED – Office for Standards in Education (inspects and advises on schools and colleges)
OMG – Oh My Goodness. Another term commonly used by parents/carers
OT – Occupational Therapist
Out of Area – Children being taught in a school in one authority while living in the area of another authority
Oversubscription Criteria – the rules about who has priority for a place when a school does not have places for all the children who apply
P
PALs – Patient Advice and Liaison team.
PAN – Published Admission Number (the number of children that a school has agreed to admit each year)
Parent – Any person who has custody of a child or young person
Parent Carer – Any person who is the parent of a child with SEND
Parental Responsibility – All rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law the parent of a child has
PECS – Picture Exchange Communication System.
PfA – Preparation for Adulthood
PIP – Personal Independence Payments – A disability benefit for those aged over 16 years
PIVATS – Performance Indicators for Value Added Target Setting
Plan Coordinator – The LA officer responsible for writing and maintaining statements
PRU – Pupil Referral Unit
PSP – Pastoral Support Programme
PTA – Parent Teacher Association
Q
R
Restorative Justice – Allows a child to put right any harm done by talking through their actions with the person they did it to
ROSCO / ROSSCO – Remote Observational Schedule for Social Communication (part of an autism assessment to be done online when unable to do it face to face (e.g during Covid pandemic))
S
SALT / SLT – Speech And Language Therapist
SATs – Standard Assessment Tests (tests set at the end of Year 2 and Year 6)
SEAL – Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
SEN – Special Educational Needs (if a child has a learning difficulty that calls for specialist educational provisions to be made for them)
SENCO – Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (member of staff in a school or an early years setting who coordinates special educational needs provision)
SEND – Special Educational Need and/or Disability.
SENDIAS – Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service
SEND Tribunal – An independent body that determines appeals by parents against LA decisions on assessments and statements
SEN Mediation – Independent service to resolve disputes between parents, schools and LA
SEN Support Plan – Plan with educational support needs and goals
SLA – Service Level Agreement
SLD – Severe Learning Disability
SLE – Service Level Entitlement
SLT – Senior Leadership Team
SpLD – Specific Learning Disability
Statutory Functions – Functions conferred or imposed by a statutory instrument (law)
SWAN – Syndrome without a Name
T
TA – Teaching Assistant
U
UPN – Unique Pupil Reference Number
V
Voluntary Aided School – A school set up and owned by a voluntary body, usually a church body, largely financed through an LA. 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. Totally funded through an LA, the LA employs the staff
W
WAS – Warwickshire Attendance Service (AIOs work within this team)
WYJS – Warwickshire Youth Justice Service
X
Y
YP – Young person
Z