School SEND support meetings

Asking for a meeting 

You have the right to ask for a meeting with any of the professionals involved with your child/young person. There are lots of different reasons that you might want to ask for a meeting and these may include concerns about:

• Your child’s progress
• How any special educational needs/disabilities (SEND) needs your child may have are being met 

• Your child being bullied because of their SEND needs
• Your child’s behaviour, how it is being managed and the impact on their education

Who do I need to meet with 

The first step would be to arrange to meet with your child’s class teacher to talk through your concerns. It is a good idea to ask for meeting rather than just try to catch the teacher at the start or end of the school day when they are busy.

If you are still concerned after you have spoken to the class teacher, or you feel your child needs more support, you could ask to meet with the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). They have responsibility for what happens on a day to day basis in the school for pupils with SEND (Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities) and also provide advice to other teachers in the school to help all pupils with SEND to make progress.     

If the issues are relating to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you may also want to contact your Special Educational Needs and Assessment (SENA) case manager at the local authority to talk about any concerns and ask if they can also join the meeting if possible. The SENA team are the part of the local authority and responsible for agreeing to, writing and keeping the EHC plans reviewed and up to date.

What do I need to do to organise a meeting 

You can request a meeting by calling, emailing or writing a short letter to the school that includes who you want to meet with, the issues you would like to discuss and times and dates you will be available.

You could use this email template below to ask for a meeting by copying and pasting it into an email to the school.

You may be able to ask the school to arrange the meeting, especially if there are other services involved, such as a speech and language therapist or support worker, who you would also like to attend.

If the school offers a date for the meeting which does not work for you, you may want to contact them to rearrange.

Getting ready for a meeting and planning ahead

Before the meeting, it may help to find out who will be at the meeting. Ask the person running the meeting what they do and what their role is. Find out what will be discussed at the meeting and how long it will last and where and when the meeting will be held.                           

Before the meeting ask for an agenda (what will be discussed) and, if you think it would be helpful, a copy of the most recent paperwork which shows the support that your child is getting at the school/setting – this is often called a pupil passport or profile. You can have a look at the paperwork before the meeting and make any notes that you might find helpful.                         

Ask if there is any new information that will be shared at the meeting that you can read it beforehand.

You may wish to take someone with you to the meeting for support (a friend, relative or supporter). Let the person organising the meeting know in advance who you will bring with you. SENDIASS Case Officers and volunteers may be available to support you at the meeting, but we always ask that you have had at least one initial meeting before requesting an officer or volunteer to support you.

Preparing for the meeting 

It is a good idea to make a list of important issues you would like to talk about. Write a list of things you want to say and questions you want to ask and to take along to the meeting. The meeting planner at the end of this guide can be a helpful way of recording this.

Think about the following: make some notes to help keep you focussed in the meeting.                 

• What concerns do you have?
• Think about how they communicate and interact with other people, what level are they working at and if they are making progress, do they have sensory or physical issues, are there social, emotional and/or mental health issues? and are there issues around being independent and looking after themselves?
• What support do they currently access? Are there any groups or interventions in place? 
• Are there issues around friendships?
• What would like to get from the meeting? Is there any information that you need them to give you?
• Are there any other services that you would like to be involved, either with your child or with you as a family?
• Are there specific things that you want to happen as a result of the meeting?
• What could you do as a family to support at home?
• What will happen if things do not start to improve?
• When will the next review meeting be held? You may want to ask for this to be termly or half termly.

It can also help to write down your description of your child’s abilities and celebrations as well as what difficulties you think he/ she may be having. You can also think about any positive ideas you may have yourself that you would like to share with the school, or any triggers or strategies which are likely to make the situation worse.

What should you take with you? 

• Meeting planner - your list of questions, views and concerns
• Note pad and pen
• Any reports or medical letters you have that may be useful

• Other useful information (e.g. own research)
• Your child’s views (if appropriate)

Your child / young person’s views 

You may want to share how your child is feeling about how things are going for them at school or at home. If you think that this would be helpful, you could talk through some of the questions below with them, to give some more information about their needs.              

• What do they enjoy?
• Do they have any worries?
• Is there anything they would like to ask their teacher/s?
• Is there anything they think would help them?

• Is there anything that is not helping them?
• What would they like to change?

Information to find out or check before the meeting

• When is it?
• Where is it? Is the venue appropriate and accessible?
• Do you have a disability you need to let the school know about?

• What is the purpose of the meeting?
• How long will it take?
• Who will be there? Why will they be there?
• Is there anyone else you think should be there?
• Can you take younger children? Is there an arrangement for childcare?

• Can you have support for the meeting? Can you take someone with you?
• Will you be sent information before the meeting?
• Do you need to take any information to the meeting? If so, what?

 During the meeting 

• Make sure everyone introduces themselves and you know what their job is in school.
• Has everyone come who has been invited? If not, will it – and should it – carry on?

• Check the finishing time of the meeting.
• Ask if anyone is going to take notes (and ask for a copy to be sent to you) or take your own notes. It may be a good idea to bring someone with you to write these down.
• Read through the questions and points that you would like to discuss. It is important that any agreed actions are written down before the meeting ends and that everyone understands what has been discussed.
• Share your child’s views if they have given them.
• If your concerns have not all been discussed ask how this might be followed up (phone call, email or a further meeting?).

• Is there anything that has been said that you do not understand? If so, ask for an explanation.
• Agree a date to check on how things are going and ask for the name of someone you can contact in the future.

After the meeting

Following the meeting you should make sure you know the following.          

• Did you have the opportunity to say what you wanted to say?

• Are you clear about the outcome of the meeting?
• Do you understand what will happen next? Do you know who is responsible?
• Do you what follow-up arrangements are there?
• Do you know what you need to do next?
• Do you know who to contact if you need help or if you are not clear about anything?

• Do you have a date for the next meeting booked in?

It may be that what is put in place after the meeting is not successful and that something else needs to be tried, this is why it is important to make sure a follow up meeting is booked in with the school.

Later on, if you are not happy that the actions that were agreed in the meeting have not happened you can ask to speak to the Headteacher and, if you still feel unhappy, you can ask to see or speak to a governor or governors at the school. The school will have a complaints policy for when you want to take things further.

Additional resources

Please find below a list of resources to aid with your meetings: