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
DSL: Designated Safeguarding Lead – a nominated person to lead on safeguarding and child protection in a school/setting
EAL: English as an Additional Language
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