You may see acronyms when reading about support for families. An acronym is an abbreviation of words using the first letters to form another, shorter word. They can be confusing if you do not know their meaning.

Here are some examples:

ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder

AP: Alternative Provision (education in a setting that is not a mainstream or special school)

AR: Annual Review - the statutory yearly review of an Education Health and Care Plan

ASC: Autistic Spectrum Condition

ASM/ASP: Attendance Support Meeting/Attendance Support Plan - an agreed plan to ensure regular school attendance

AAC: Augmentative and alternative communication

CiC: Children in Care

CLA: Children Looked After

C&L: Cognition and Learning

CME: Children Missing from Education - those who are of a compulsory school age, but are either not registered at a school or else not receiving suitable education in place of a school setting

CoP: The revised Special Educational Needs Code of Practice Jan 2015

CPD: Continuing Professional Development

CYP: Children or Young Person

DAF: Disability Access Fund - a one-off payment paid to an early years provider on an annual basis for children funded through early education entitlement

DBS: Disclosure and Barring Service - helps employers make safer recruitment decisions each year by processing and issuing DBS checks

DCO: Designated Clinical Officer - Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) role

DFE: Department for Education

DSL: Designated Safeguarding Lead – a nominated person to lead on safeguarding and child protection in a school/setting

EAL: English as an Additional Language

EAT: Education Access Team

EBacc: English Baccalaureate - English Baccalaurete – an accountability measure of the proportion of children who secure a grade 5 or above in English, Maths, Science, a humanity and language GCSE

ECT: Early Careers Teacher (a Teacher in training pre formal qualification)

EHCNA: Education Health and Care Needs Assessment

EHC Plan or EHCP: Education, Health and Care Plan

EHE: Electively Home Educated. A term used to describe a choice by parents to provide education for their children at home. Or at home and in some other way which they choose, instead of sending them to school full-time

EOTAS: Education other than at school (only relates to children with an EHC and does not include those that are home educated)

EP: Educational Psychologist – a qualified psychologist who supports the learning, development and emotional wellbeing of children and young people by providing assessment and advice

EPUT: Essex Partnership University Trust - a provider of community health, mental health and learning disability services

ESFA: Education & Skills Funding Agency - executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE) responsible for funding education and skills providers in England

ESO: Education Supervision Order - an alternative legal intervention without the need for criminal prosecution to secure school attendance

EWO: Education Welfare Officer - member of the core statutory attendance team who works to ensure regular school attendance for all young people from 5 to 16

EYFS: Early Years Foundation Stage – children from birth until the end of reception age

EYFSP: Early Years Foundation Stage Profile - a set standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old

EYPP: Early Years Pupil Premium - additional funding given to early years providers to improve the education they provide for eligible two, three and four-year-olds

FAP: Fair Access Panel – a process to place children where they have been unable to access a school placement through normal admissions

FASD: Foetal alcohol syndrome disorder

FEEE: Free Early Education Entitlement - universal entitled to 15 hours a week of Free Childcare and Early Education for 3 and 4 year olds. Some children are eligible to receive an extended entitlement

FGM: Female Genital Mutilation

FSM: Free School Meals

GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education

GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation

GTP: Graduate Teacher Programme

HI: Hearing Impaired

HLTA: Higher Level Teaching Assistant

HMI: His Majesty's Inspector of Schools

HNF: High Needs Funding – allocated funding from the LA to support individual pupils who have additional needs

ICB: Integrated Care Board - statutory bodies that bring the NHS together locally with partner organisations to improve population health and establish shared strategic priorities

IEP/ISP: Individual Education Plan / Individual Support Plan

INSET: In Service Educational Training

JSNA: Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

KS 1,2: Key Stage 1, 2

KCSiE: Keeping Children Safe in Education

LADO: Local Authority Designated Officer

LD: Learning Disability is a term that describes a person with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities

LSA: Learning Support Assistant

MAT: Multi Academy Trust

MHST: Mental Health in Schools Teams - a national pilot offering support for children and young people from trained practitioners in evidence based mental health interventions in schools, supervised by NHS staff

MLD: Moderate Learning Difficulties

MLP: Modified Learning Plan

MSE ICB: Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board

MSI: Multi-sensory impairment

NEET: Not in Employment Education or Training

NPQH: National Professional Qualification for Headship

NQT: Newly Qualified Teacher

NVQ: National Vocational Qualifications

OT: Occupational Therapist

OFSTED: Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills

PAN: Published Admission Number

PB: Personal Budget

PCF: Parent Carer Forum

PD: Physical Difficulties

PEP: Principal Educational Psychologist

PEX: Permanent Exclusion

PFA: Preparing for Adulthood

PP (G): Pupil Premium (Grant)

PRU: Pupil Referral Unit

PSP: Pastoral Support Plan

PMLD: Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties

PNI: Physical and Neurological Impairment

PPM: Pupil Planning Meeting

PTT: Part-time Timetable

PVI: Private, Voluntary and Independent sector

QTS: Qualified Teacher Status

RSE: Relationship and Sex Education

RB: Resource base (sometimes called Enhanced Provision)

RTT: Reduced Timetable

SALTA: Speech and Language Therapy Assistant

SALT: Speech and Language Therapist

SAO: School Attedance Order

SAT: Single Academy Trust

SAT's: Single Assessment Tests

SCR: Single Central Register / Record - a statutory requirement for all schools to produce and maintain a record of staff and volunteer recruitment and vetting checks

Schools census: An electronic collection of pupil data from primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units which takes place 3 times a year

SEAL: Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning

SEF: Self-Evaluation Framework

SENCo: Special Educational Needs Coordinator

SEMH: Social Emotional Mental Health

SEN Support: SEN support is the term used to describe the support that schools provide for pupils who have been identified as having SEN but who do not need an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment

SEND: Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities

SENDIASS: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service

SEND Capital Programme: Funding provided by the Government, through the Department for Education to help local authorities shape facilities for children with Special Educational Needs

SENDist: Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal

SET CAMHS: The Child and Adolescence Mental Health Service which covers Southend, Essex and Thurrock

SIP: School Improvement Plan

SLA: Service Level Agreement

SLCN: Speech, Language and Communication Needs

SLD: Severe Learning Difficulties is a term to describe significant and profound cognitive difficulties

SLT: Senior Leadership Team

SPAG: Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

SSIF: Southend SEND Independent Forum - Southend's local Parent Carer Forum funded by the Department for Education

SCPHN: Specialist Public Health Nurse who provides support for children with Special Educational Needs in mainstream school

SCPHN - EHE: Specialist Public Health Nurse who provides support for children who are Home Educated

TA: Teaching Assistant

VA: Voluntary Aided

VI: Visually Impaired