Governing bodies

All boards have legal duties in relation to pupils with SEND and these are set out in the Children & Families Act 2014 and statutory guidance on the SEND Code of Practice, jointly published by the department for education and the department of health. 

Boards are also under a duty ‘to take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the substantial disadvantage’ to a disabled person caused by a provision, criterion or practice applied by or on behalf of a school, or by the absence of an auxiliary aid or service. Boards providing auxiliary aids and services is part of the ‘reasonable adjustments’ duty. 

In practice, the functions these duties require of the board can be delegated to a committee, an individual or to the executive leader; although the responsibility is still with the board itself to ensure that the functions are carried out. It should decide, with the executive leader, the school’s policy and approach to meeting children and young people’s SEND requirements, including those with and without Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. 

All boards have legal duties under the Children & Families Act 2014 and must have regard to the statutory guidance, ‘The SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years’. Academies must also meet these requirements by their funding agreement. 

Boards providing extended services must also consider their duties under the Equality Act 2010; whether proposed extended services affect their functions and responsibilities towards their pupils, the users of these services or their employees. 

When services are provided by a third party on schools’ premises, either independently of the school or on behalf of the school, boards should establish who would be regarded as the service provider with the responsibility to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ and/or access improvements for disabled users, pupils or employees.

Governors are also accountable for raising the questions about how their school is going to raise standards for all children/young people, including the most and least able, those with special educational needs, those receiving free school meals and those who are more broadly disadvantaged, boys and girls, those of ethnicity and any who are currently underachieving.

Boards must (SEND Code of Practice references provided): 

1. Co-operate with the LA in reviewing the provision that is available locally (Chapter 3) and developing the local offer (Chapter 4); 
2. Use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEND gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEND (para 6.2); 
3. Ensure that children and young people with SEND engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEND (para 6.2); 
4. Inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child/young person (para 6.2) ; 
5. Ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions. (para 6.11); 
6. Provide access to a broad and balanced curriculum (para 6.12); 
7. Ensure that pupils from Year 8 until Year 13 are provided with independent careers advice (para 6.13); 
8. Have a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEND (paras 6.14 – 6.63); 
9. Provide an annual report for parents on their child/young person’s progress (paras 6.64 – 6.51); 
10. Record accurately and keep up to date the provision made for pupils with SEND (paras 6.52 – 6.58); 
11. Publish information on their websites about the implementation of the board’s policy for pupils with SEND, the School SEN Information Report 28; (paras 6.59 – 6.83); 
12. Publish information about the arrangements for the admission of disabled children/young people, the steps taken to prevent disabled children/young people being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to assist access of disabled children/young people, and their accessibility plans. 
13. Ensure that there is a qualified teacher designated as special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) for the school. (paras 6.84 – 6.94); 
14. Determine their approach to using their resources to support the progress of pupils with SEND (paras 6.95 – 6.99). 
15. In addition, there should be an individual on the board or a committee with specific oversight of the school’s arrangement for SEND. 
16. When considering an appeal from a parent or young person the First – tier Tribunal (special educational needs and disability) must have regard to SEND Code of Practice 2015. The Tribunal will expect LAs, early education settings, schools and colleges to be able to explain any departure from the Code, where it is relevant to the case it is considering. 

Governors Handbook, 2019