Working in partnership

The partnership with your school will work best when everybody:

• creates a supportive environment
• accepts responsibility for meeting the special education needs of your child
• has a view on how these needs should be met and works together to find answers
• works with others in ways that concentrate on your child
• presents their views openly, sensitively and honestly
• respects culture
• respects the knowledge and views of others
• understands the cultural needs of your child
• shares information
• deals with problems as they arise
• keeps in regular contact.

It is a good idea to have a notebook that travels between school and home with your child. Issues and day-to-day events can be recorded to let everyone know what’s happening in your child’s life. This could include family events, things that are coming up at school, meeting dates, food likes and dislikes, how your child slept last night and medication details.

Other ideas include setting up a regular 10-15 minute meeting or phone call each fortnight or month with the school's special education needs coordinator (SENCO), teacher or principal to discuss progress. Talk to school staff and work out something that suits you both.

It's important that everybody in the partnership is fully aware of their roles and responsibilities.

back to top

The role of the school is to:

• welcome and enrol your child as they would all other students
• provide a safe place for learning
• have a special education policy with clear priorities
• provide programmes and teaching resources for your child
• provide teachers and other staff with professional development in such areas as assessing and evaluating progress
• tell you about the special education support available and how this may apply to your child
• work with you, specialists and other agencies to assess your child’s learning needs
• develop, where appropriate, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for your child, and review it regularly in a meeting with you, your child, your child’s teacher and specialists as needed
• oversee the work of staff teaching your child each day (your child should not be sent home because a staff member, such as a teacher's aide, is absent)
• keep you informed about your child’s progress
• regularly check that your child’s learning programme is working as it should
• ensure staff are appropriately trained and work professionally at all times.
  

back to top

Your role as a parent or caregiver is to:

• ensure your child is enrolled and regularly attends school at least until they turn 16
• let the school know if your child will not be attending school on a particular day. This is particularly important where the school has a system for checking that students have arrived at school safely.
• let the school know ahead of time if you need to take your child out of school for a special reason, such as a medical appointment
• work with your school to identify your child’s needs, develop appropriate programmes and to monitor their progress
• provide the school with essential information such as particular medical, dietary, exercise or personal care requirements for your child and where to reach you in an emergency
• talk to the school about any problems as soon as they appear and to share ideas about what is working well
• take part in developing the Individual Education Plan’s (IEP's), goal-setting, specific learning programmes and follow-up activities at home.