Areas of development (Appendix 4: SEND reform)

Children and young people use these areas in different combinations to help them take part, engage and learn in every phase and type of education.

Short code	Description
Executive function	Children use executive functions to organise their thinking, behaviour, and emotions. These skills can be strengthened through well-designed teaching and routines.
Motor and physical	Children think and learn through their bodies. Motor skills underpin learning as thinking and conceptual development are rooted in perception and action.
Sensory development	Children experience and make sense of the world through their senses.
Social and emotional	Children participate in the life of the school as social beings and learning is mostly shaped by social contexts, although it is not exclusively social. Children also have emotional responses to the expectations the learning environment places upon them, and their mental wellbeing is integral to these experiences.
Speech, language and communication	Children make sense of the world and connect with others through speech, language, and communication.