JARGON BUSTER
Useful Links
SENDIAS https://www.kids.org.uk/warwickshire-sendiass-front-page
LOCAL OFFER https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send
FAMILY INFORMATION SERVICE https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/children-families
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
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
About us
We are a voluntary group of parent carers, all experts by experience, with a lived understanding of how challenging life can be raising a child with additional needs and / or disabilities.
Our aim is to gather the voices of Warwickshire parent carers and let these be heard to ensure that services meet the needs of our children and our families.
Join Us
You can become a Member of Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice if you have a child age 0-25 with any Special Educational Need or Disability (whether they have a diagnosis or not) and you live in or access services for your child in Warwickshire.
OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR NUMBERS
Volunteer
We run almost entirely on volunteers, our Steering Group, our Parent Reps and those who help out at events or coffee mornings or with admin. We need you to help us build Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice into an organisation that can make a difference in shaping co-produced services, taking into account the needs and preferences of parent carers of children and young people with SEND.
Links & Support
Help us build this into the ultimate signposting resource so that the parent carers in Warwickshire can find all the information they need quickly.
What We've done
Find out what your Parent Carer Forum is up to and what’s been happening for families of children and young people with SEND in Warwickshire.
News & Events
EBSA Focus Groups
Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice are currently working with education, health and social care to develop a pathway, training and toolkit for children and young people who struggle with Emotionally Based School Avoidance (you may also have heard attendance difficulties...
Meetings with Johnny Kyriacou (Assistant Director of Education)
We are really pleased to be able to offer three sessions for parent carers to meet the new Assistant Director for Education at Warwickshire County Council. We appreciate that Warwickshire is a big county and there is never a 'good' time for parent carers so have...
inclusive schools
We are currently carrying our a survey to find out how inclusive parents in Warwickshire feel our schools are - please complete it here https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/WarwickshireInclusion/ (closing date Sunday 19th February).
Administrator required
Are you an admin whizz? If so we need you! We are recruiting an administrator to support the ongoing development of our organisation. Full details and application form here. Closing date: Midnight Sunday 19th February 2023. Interviews will be held week commencing 27th...
Exclusions Film
We are really proud to share this film to support families facing the exclusion of their child at school. We co-produced this with students from University of Warwick and Warwickshire County Council to help families understand the legal processes....
Inclusive Schools Charter
After many months of hard work the new Inclusion Charter has been launched and schools across Warwickshire are being asked to show their commitment to providing an inclusive education for all children and young people. The Charter was coproduced with Warwickshire...
local offer
We are really pleased to be working with Warwickshire County Council and Kids at this session to improve the Local Offer website. We'd love to see you there and if you have a young person aged 12-25 please do get your young people to sign up too.
SEND AND ALternative Provision Green paper response
This is a copy of our submission to the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper Consultation. What key factors should be considered, when developing national standards to ensure they deliver improved outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND...
Summer holidays
So that's the end of another school year. We can't believe how quickly this school year has gone (and how many hours of meetings and workstreams we have attended representing your views using the information that you tell us - THANK YOU - we couldn't do it with out...
COntinence SErvice Update
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our call for information on the Continence Service. Background Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice (WPCV) became aware of the challenges families were facing with accessing continence services and asked David Widdas (Designated...