SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2025 to 2030

Click the drop-down for some abbreviations you may come across. More common SEND terms can be found on the SEND jargon, needs, and conditions explained page.

Children and young people

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

This refers to professionals who are responsible for the strategic planning, commissioning, management, delivery and evaluation of arrangements for CYP with SEND. These professionals could include those in:

• Education
• health
• social care

This refers to all education settings, including:

• schools
• early years providers
• further education
• alternative provision

FACT Bucks is the Parent Carer Forum for Buckinghamshire (Bucks PCF). It is an independent, pan-disability, parent-led charity.

Shout out for SEND is a group for young people with a Special Educational Need or Disability. These young people represent the wider ‘youth voice’ in Buckinghamshire.

Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) is about planning and taking steps so that young people with SEND can:

• enjoy independent living as much as possible
• achieve as much as possible
• reach their goals, dreams and ambitions in adult life

Inclusion in relation to SEND refers to the practice of ensuring that all CYP are provided with fair access to education and other opportunities. This is regardless of their individual needs or disabilities.

This does not necessarily mean placement in mainstream settings. Instead, it emphasises creating supportive and adaptive environments. This is so students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, whether in:

• specialised schools,
• resource bases,
• or other educational settings.

Inclusion aims to foster a sense of belonging and participation for all young people, in their education and in their communities. It ensures that their unique needs are met in the most appropriate and effective manner.

Universal Provision is the support that all Buckinghamshire mainstream schools and education settings should be able to provide for CYP with SEND. It is sometimes referred to as Universally or Ordinarily Available Provision.

High support needs refer to circumstances where a CYP presents with multiple and linked challenges at the same time. These challenges are interconnected and often interact in ways that are specific to the individual. They are contextual and fluid, and the level of impact on the CYP can change over time.

High support needs may be present from birth or develop over the course of a CYP's life, and may fluctuate. CYP's with high support needs often need an intensive level of support with many aspects of their daily lives. They may rely on a range of health, education and social care services. This may be due to illness, disability, broader life circumstances, or a combination of these. Individuals with high support needs often have requirements that span their physical/mental health, wellbeing, education and employment.