what is sen in education needs, abbreviated to SEN, covers a wide range of conditions that impact on pupils’ ability to reach their potential at school. These may include physical disabilities, sensory impairments (hearing or vision), speech and language difficulties, learning difficulties such as dyslexia, conditions like autism, and emotional, social and mental health needs.

As a teacher you may work with students with a range of these requirements and will be expected to plan and deliver high quality, personalised teaching for them, working in partnership with other teachers and support staff including the SENCO. Often these arrangements will be made after a child has been identified as having SEN, but some strategies might be put in place before this happens and even without a formal diagnosis being agreed.

Decoding SEN in Education: What Every Parent Should Know

Many teaching approaches benefit all learners, including those with SEN, and so it is important to make use of these in the classroom, alongside more specific interventions which can be provided during allocated lesson times. For example, it would be inappropriate to take a student out of their class for a planned intervention such as Sensory Circuits every single day and so these might be incorporated into whole-class lessons or during transition times. This can avoid the feeling of being taken out of mainstream teaching for specialist support and also ensures that all children are given access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Similarly, there are many learning strategies that might benefit all pupils but might particularly help SEN learners, such as flexible grouping and the use of talk partners, so these should be utilised by the teacher.