What to say at your first SENCO meeting

Walk in as a colleague, not a supplicant

The SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) meeting goes best when you arrive as the leading expert on one subject, your child, with evidence, specific requests and a collaborative tone. Schools respond to patterns and paperwork far better than to worry, however justified the worry is.

Bring the evidence

Two weeks of a simple diary beats an hour of description: homework taking three times the expected duration, the after-school meltdowns the school never sees, the Sunday-night stomach aches, exact phrases your child uses ("everyone's cleverer than me"). Add any reports you have, and samples of work done calmly at home versus under classroom conditions, the gap tells the story.

The questions that move things

Ask: "What do you observe in class?" first, you want their data, and it signals partnership. Then: "What support is he getting now, at which SEN support stage?", "Can we agree three specific adjustments to trial this half-term?", and crucially, "When shall we review, and how will we measure whether it worked?" Reasonable adjustments to request include movement breaks, instructions chunked and repeated one at a time, seating away from high-traffic areas, extra transition warnings, and reduced or chunked homework.

Afterwards, write it down

Send a friendly same-week email summarising what was agreed and the review date. This isn't distrust, it's how school systems remember. If agreed support doesn't materialise or doesn't work after a fair trial, that documented history is exactly what escalation (more formal SEN support, or in England an EHCP needs assessment request) is built from.

Educational content, not medical advice. Concerned about your child? Speak to your GP.