Get learning support for children with Down Syndrome

If your child has Down Syndrome, contact the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo).

The SENCo can refer your child to our Support Team for Education in Primary and Secondary (STEPS) so we can arrange the type of support your child needs.

How we support your child in school

We will observe your child at school and may do an assessment of literacy skills and meet alongside any staff who may be working with your child. 

After the initial visit, we can arrange a meeting to discuss what support we can offer with you, the SENCo, class teacher and any support staff. 

The school will have an allocated outreach worker who will visit your child every term and give ongoing support to your child and school staff. The outreach worker will also monitor your child’s progress and change any targets and recommendations as needed.

We can attend annual reviews if your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan.

We also run training sessions for parents or carers of children with Down Syndrome.

How we support school staff

We train school staff to: 

  • support children with Down Syndrome in the classroom
  • promote the inclusion of children with Down Syndrome in mainstream schools
  • support children with Down Syndrome with literacy, numeracy, speech and language, behaviour, handwriting and assistive technology

We also provide resources such as story boxes that support literacy, speech and language development. Schools can borrow these alongside any relevant resources once staff have received training.

Find resources for Down Syndrome

Services and organisations that can help