Your room-folder reference. The core content from four SEND courses on 4 pages: Sensory Processing · EHCP Process · The SENCo Role · Working with External Professionals. Print, punch, file — or save the PDF to your device. Refer back to it any time practice needs a reset.
🌈 Sensory Processing in Early Years
Bronze · every child has a sensory profile
The 8 senses (including the 3 hidden ones)
Familiar 5
Sight · Sound · Touch · Taste · Smell
Proprioception
Where the body is in space — crashing, hugging hard, seeking heavy work
Vestibular
Movement & balance — spinning, rocking, tipping, refusing to sit
Interoception
What's happening inside — hunger, thirst, toilet, hot/cold. Under-developed = wets without noticing
Sensory-seeking vs sensory-avoiding
Seeking (nervous system needs MORE input): crashes, spins, mouths, seeks bright/loud. Give safe input: heavy work · deep pressure · vestibular · oral · movement breaks.
Avoiding (nervous system overwhelmed): covers ears, refuses textures, distress at labels, meltdowns in busy rooms. Reduce input: calm corner · ear defenders · advance warning · choice about touch · simplified environment.
Many children seek in one sense and avoid in another. Both are real. Both need adjustment.
JLK universal rule: regulation tools live in the room, not in one child's bag. Ear defenders, weighted lap pads, calm corner, chew tools — available to any child, any day.
Reframe: "fussy" is not a diagnosis. It's the word adults use when they haven't decoded the sensory profile yet.
📄 EHCP Process
Bronze · legal plan, not a diagnosis
What an EHCP is
A legal document issued by the LA. Names needs across 4 categories (Communication · Cognition · SEMH · Sensory/Physical), sets outcomes, funds provision. Reviewed annually. Not a diagnosis, not a guarantee of anything.
ISP vs EHCP
JLK ISP
Internal, non-statutory, written by SENCo + key person + family. Tier 2 support.
EHCP
Statutory, LA-issued, LA-enforced. When Tier 2 support isn't enough.
20-week statutory timeline
- Wk 0: LA receives request. 6 weeks to decide whether to assess.
- Wks 6–16: assess — gather advice from family, setting, health, EP.
- Wk 16: LA decides whether to issue.
- Wks 16–20: draft plan, 15-day consultation, final plan issued.
JLK's role in the process
- SENCo leads all LA communication — not the key person.
- Written contribution — factual observations, current provision, progress.
- Support the family through the wait — it's stressful and slow.
- Written consent only before any info goes external.
Once the plan is in place
Read in full · map provision to routines · align internal ISP · monitor and record delivery · Annual Review at 10–12 months. Top-up hours = additional staffing, not a swap of the key person.
Never: refuse a place because of an EHCP (unlawful under Equality Act) · change plan content unilaterally · share plan with other parents.
🤝 The SENCo Role
Silver · coordinate, catalyse, coach
5 core JLK SENCo responsibilities
- Coordinate the graduated approach (APDR cycles).
- Champion inclusion across the whole team — coach room leaders.
- Hold family conversations alongside the key person (never override).
- Lead multi-agency working — SLT, OT, EP, Early Help, health.
- Report quarterly to manager and area manager — conversation, not compliance tick.
The JLK 6-part APDR meeting (~45 min)
1. Welcome + purpose
2 min
2. Family first
10 min — family speaks BEFORE setting shares
3. Setting observations
10 min — specific, factual, cite EYFS statements
4. Review outcomes
8 min — what worked, what didn't
5. Plan next cycle
12 min — 2–4 outcomes + adult moves
6. Recap + next step
3 min — verbal recap, written copy in 3 days
Writing a strong ISP outcome
Weak: "Ola will develop his communication."
Strong: "By [12 weeks], Ola will consistently use 3-word phrases to request items during snack time, evidenced by 3 out of 5 snack sessions in a fortnight. Adult supports by tuning in, waiting 5 seconds, expanding with one extra word (never testing)."
Every outcome must be: specific · observable · time-bound · paired with a named adult move. 2–4 outcomes per cycle. Not 8.
SENCo NEVER: diagnoses (even off the record) · delivers all 1:1 support alone (isolates child from key person) · takes over a conversation the key person has built trust in.
Signal of a strong SENCo: they make themselves redundant in each case — the team becomes fluent, they move to the next need. Catalyst, not bottleneck.
🔗 Working with External Professionals
Silver · consent first, mirror strategy, log everything
Who's who
SLT / SaLT
Speech, language, communication — expressive, receptive, social, speech-sound
OT
Fine/gross motor, sensory processing, daily-living skills
Paediatrician
Medical doctor — developmental delays, gateway to diagnostic assessment
EP
Educational Psychologist — learning & behaviour, EHCP contributions
Health Visitor
NHS 0–5 — universal checks, first professional the family talks to
Early Help
Multi-agency, coordinated support below safeguarding threshold
5 rules of external information sharing
- Written parent consent before ANY share — naming that professional.
- Purposeful — only what the professional needs, not the whole file.
- Documented — date, what, with whom, under whose consent, by whom.
- Secure channel — encrypted email, professional post, in-person. NOT WhatsApp, NOT personal email.
- Family gets a copy of whatever goes external.
Never write: "We think he might be autistic" · "Dad seems checked out" · anything about other children · judgement or moral commentary. EVER.
Common strategies to mirror
From SLT: Attention Autism (bucket time) · Colourful Semantics · PECS · Now/Next boards.
From OT: sensory diet · chair adjustments · grip aids · Zones of Regulation.
Unannounced professional arrives
- Warm welcome — do NOT let them walk into the room.
- Ask for ID.
- Escort to reception.
- Get SENCo or manager.
- Verify with family (call/text) that visit is expected.
- Check written consent to observe is on file.
- Log the visit — visitor book, SEND file.
Only exception to consent-first: a safeguarding concern meeting statutory threshold can be shared without consent, via the DSL, to statutory partners only.
🌍 Working with EAL Families & Interpreters
Bronze · welcome first, language second
First-visit approach
- Slow down — not dumb down. Clear, moderate pace. Short sentences. Don't SHOUT or over-mime.
- Show, don't just tell. Walk them through. Point at things. Photo tour = 20 min of English.
- Check for understanding. Not "did you understand?" but "let me know if I go too fast — anything to say again?"
- Give 3–5 extra seconds for a response. Don't fill the silence.
- Learn 5–10 home-language words for each family. Hello, welcome, drink, toilet, mummy, please, thank you.
Names matter most. Ask pronunciation. Say it back. Write it phonetically for the team. Never Anglicise for convenience — "I'll just call him Andy" is small at first but lands as disrespect over time.
When JLK books a professional interpreter (not optional)
- Registration / contracts / fees.
- Settling-in plans.
- Any SEND / EHCP / SENCo conversation.
- Any safeguarding conversation with the family (DSL involvement).
- Any incident debrief (medical, injury, allergen).
- Formal complaints handling.
When JLK generally doesn't
- Routine daily handover · show-and-tell moments · casual friendly chat.
NEVER use a child as an interpreter for their own family. Not qualified for medical/financial/safeguarding terms. Puts them in a role they shouldn't hold. Family won't disclose sensitive info in front of them. Ever.
Which interpreter to book
- Professional, DBS-checked, registered agency. Not a friend, not a family member, not a random bilingual staff member.
- Match specific language / dialect — Punjabi ≠ Urdu. Somali dialects vary. Cantonese ≠ Mandarin.
- Gender-match if sensitive.
- Face-to-face for major conversations; Language Line for shorter ones or when face-to-face isn't feasible.
5-point interpreter briefing (before the meeting)
- Purpose of meeting + who's attending.
- Technical/safeguarding terms that will come up — check they're comfortable translating accurately.
- Role: word-for-word, not summarising, no opinions, no softening.
- Confidentiality — no discussion outside the meeting.
- Setup: interpreter to one side, not between you and family. Speak to family, not interpreter.
Home language in the room
- 5–10 home-language words written phonetically. Every staff member learns them.
- Home-language books in the book corner — family brings a favourite.
- Audio recordings — parent records a rhyme, played at snack.
- Bilingual name cards at the peg.
- Welcome poster in all room families' home languages.
Silent period — a child new to English (aged 2–4) may go weeks or months without speaking English while absorbing. 2–9 months is normal. Continue talking WITH them (not AT), using visuals, celebrating non-verbal.
Parent conversation about home language
"Please keep speaking [home language] at home. It's the strongest foundation for [child's] English learning — not a barrier to it. Children who hold both languages actually do better in the long run. We'll do the English side — you keep doing what you're doing."