A SENCO's Guide to Referring a Pupil for Sensory Therapy

You know the moment. A pupil on your SEN Support register is doing everything the IPM asks of them, the class teacher has tried every reasonable adjustment, you've reviewed the cycle twice — and the child is still distressed by lunch hall noise, still unable to sit through carpet time. The graduated response is doing its job, but it isn't yet doing enough.

This guide is written for the SENCO at that point. It walks through when sensory therapy is a reasonable next step, how a referral to a private specialist provider actually works, what to share, and how to fold the outcomes back into your Assess–Plan–Do–Review documentation. It assumes you know your statutory ground; the aim is to save you time, not teach you the Code.

When sensory therapy might help

Not every child who appears "fidgety" needs a sensory referral. The indicators worth taking seriously cluster and persist across settings. Patterns that often warrant a closer look include:

• Persistent dysregulation in predictable sensory environments (lunch hall, assembly, corridor transitions, PE)
• Avoidance or distress around specific textures, sounds, lighting, or movement that interferes with curriculum access
• Sensory-seeking behaviours that are escalating rather than reducing with classroom strategies (crashing, chewing non-food, spinning, deep-pressure seeking)
• A class teacher reporting that the child is "either off the ceiling or under the table" — a regulation profile, not a behaviour profile
• Difficulty transitioning between activities that doesn't respond to visual schedules, now boards, or staged warnings
• Parents reporting the same pattern at home, particularly around bath time, mealtimes, haircuts, or unfamiliar places

These signals matter most when they're getting in the way of the child making progress against their plan, despite evidence-based support delivered by appropriately trained staff. That phrase comes directly from paragraph 6.59 of the SEND Code of Practice — the test for involving specialists.

> Quick tip: Before referring, ask the class teacher and TA to keep a simple two-week ABC log focused on sensory triggers. It often reveals whether the issue is sensory, social, or both — and gives the receiving provider something concrete to work from.

How sensory therapy differs from school-based SEN Support

Schools do a great deal of sensory work already — movement breaks, ear defenders, fiddle items, quiet corners, sensory circuits, OT-advised programmes. None of that is in question. The difference a dedicated sensory therapy service offers is the environment, the dose, and the family integration that mainstream classrooms simply cannot replicate.

A purpose-built setting (hydrotherapy pool, immersive room, sensory rooms with controlled lighting and sound) lets a therapist titrate input in ways a Year 3 classroom never can. Weekly or fortnightly sessions give a different intensity than a five-minute regulation break between lessons. And because parents are usually present, what works transfers home — where many of the hardest sensory moments actually happen.

It's complementary, not competitive. The school continues to deliver the SEN Support specified in the IPM and (where relevant) the EHCP. The therapy adds a layer the school can't deliver in vivo, and feeds insights back that the SENCO can build into the next Plan stage.

When to refer — the threshold conversation

The SEND Code of Practice is clear that schools "should always involve a specialist where a pupil continues to make little or no progress or where they continue to work at levels substantially below those expected of pupils of a similar age despite evidence-based SEN support delivered by appropriately trained staff" (paragraph 6.59). The Code goes on to say parents must always be involved in any decision to involve specialists.

In practice, that threshold is usually reached when:

1. You've completed at least one full Assess–Plan–Do–Review cycle with documented evidence of provision and impact
2. Progress against the agreed outcomes is below what was reasonably expected
3. The class teacher, TA and SENCO agree that the next step needs expertise or an environment the school cannot provide
4. Parents share the concern and consent to external input

External input doesn't have to mean an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. A specialist referral and an EHCNA request are different decisions, made for different reasons. A sensory therapy referral can sit comfortably inside SEN Support and inform — but not pre-empt — any later statutory assessment.

How to start the conversation with parents

This is often where SENCOs report the most discomfort, and it shouldn't be. The framing that lands best with parents is almost always: *"We're seeing X. The strategies we've tried have helped with A and B, but not yet with C. We'd like to suggest bringing in some additional support that complements what we're doing in class — somewhere your child can work on regulation in an environment we can't create here."*

Three things to avoid:

• Implying the child is "too much" for the school
• Suggesting the referral will fix the issue (sensory therapy is a slow build, not a switch)
• Framing it as the only option — parents should know they can decline, defer, or choose a different provider

Parents know their children best. Paragraph 6.20 of the Code reminds professionals that schools should listen and respond to parental concerns. Treat the conversation as joint problem-solving, not announcement.

Practical referral pathway

Once parents are on board, the route to a private provider is straightforward:

1. Agree the referral in writing as part of the next Plan stage of the cycle. Note the rationale, the outcomes you hope sensory therapy will support, and how progress will be reviewed.
2. Confirm who is funding the work (see the next section). The school is not obliged to fund private therapy; this is almost always a parental or local authority arrangement.
3. Obtain written parental consent for information-sharing with the named provider. A short, specific consent — covering what will be shared, with whom, and for what purpose — is usually cleaner than a blanket form. UK GDPR favours specificity.
4. Send a referral pack (see below). Most private providers will accept a parent-led enquiry with school information attached, rather than a formal referral form.
5. Diary the review point — usually 6–12 weeks after sessions begin, aligned with your next APDR review.
6. Agree how the provider will feed back to school. A short termly summary, with parental consent, is normally enough.

> Quick tip: If a child has an EHCP, log the referral and any outcomes within your annual review evidence. It directly supports a Section F amendment if specialist input later needs to be formalised.

What to share with the provider

Less is more, but specifics matter. A useful referral pack usually includes:

• A one-page child profile (strengths, interests, communication preferences)
• The current Individual Provision Map or pupil passport
• A summary of the most recent APDR cycle relevant to sensory needs
• Any existing sensory profile, EP report, SALT or OT advice
• Trigger and de-escalation information from the class team
• A signed parental consent form covering information sharing
• Contact details for the SENCO and named class teacher

Avoid sending the full school file. Specialists need the picture, not the archive.

Funding routes families can use

Schools do not typically fund private therapy from their notional SEN budget — and parents shouldn't expect them to. The realistic funding routes are:

• Personal Budgets and Direct Payments — available where the child has an EHCP, requested during drafting or at annual review. Parents can use a Direct Payment to commission specified provision from a provider of their choice (Children and Families Act 2014, s.49; SEND Personal Budget Regulations 2014).
• Self-funding — many families pay privately, sometimes block-booking blocks of sessions.
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) — not means-tested, can be used flexibly toward therapy costs.
• Charity grants — Family Fund, Newlife, Caudwell Children, and Cerebra all run grant schemes parents may qualify for.

SENCOs aren't expected to be funding advisers, but knowing the rough landscape lets you signpost confidently. Notts SENDIASS (Ask Us Notts) and IPSEA can do the heavy lifting on funding advice.

What good post-referral collaboration looks like

The point of an external referral isn't to outsource — it's to widen the team around the child. The strongest outcomes happen when:

• The provider sends short, focused termly notes the SENCO can quote in APDR reviews
• The school reciprocates with classroom observations the therapist can use
• Both sides agree two or three measurable indicators that matter (e.g. minutes of carpet time tolerated, transitions completed without distress, attendance rate in the lunch hall)
• Annual review evidence draws on both perspectives where the child has an EHCP

These are the indicators that tend to land well in local authority casework — concrete, observable, and grounded in the child's day-to-day educational experience.

Nottinghamshire-specific signposts

For Nottinghamshire SENCOs, the most useful starting points are:

• Notts Help Yourself / SEND Local Offer — the county's directory of SEND services, including specialist provision. Searchable by district and need: [nottshelpyourself.org.uk](https://www.nottshelpyourself.org.uk/)
• Nottinghamshire SEND team — [email protected]; Customer Service Centre 0300 500 8080
• Ask Us Notts (SENDIASS) — free, impartial advice for SENCOs and parents on statutory and funding questions
• Every Sensation Children Services — one local option for sensory therapy, with a hydrotherapy pool, immersive room, sensory rooms and 1:1 trained staff at Birchwood Grange, Sutton-in-Ashfield. Open to parent-led enquiries, no diagnosis required.

Every Sensation is one provider among several in the East Midlands. The right fit depends on the child, the family, and the outcomes you're aiming for — and a well-evidenced referral is portable to whichever specialist makes sense.

If you'd like to talk through whether sensory therapy might suit a specific pupil — without commitment, and in confidence — the Every Sensation team is happy to have that conversation with SENCOs directly. We work alongside schools, not around them, and we know the East Midlands SEND landscape well.