Definition
The definition of SEN is set out in the Education Act 1996 and was amended in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill of 2001. Currently, a child or young person is considered to have SEN if they have a disability or learning difficulty that means they need special educational provision. Special educational provision means that the child needs support that would not generally be provided to a child of the same age in a mainstream school. Some examples of SEN include: * A condition which affects behaviour or social skills, such asSupport available
There are numerous types of support available depending on the child or young person's disability. Some support offered includes: * Following a different learning programme from the rest of the class * Extra help from a teaching assistant or the class teacher * Extra supervision in the classroom or at break time * Working in a smaller group * Support to communicate with other pupils * Help with personal care (such as eating or using the toilet) * Encouragement to complete tasks the pupil struggles withPublic examinations
Some support available for children with SEN include: * Extra time to complete the examination * Rest breaks *SEN legal regulations
The SEN systems vary in each nation of the United Kingdom.England
The current regulations for SEN are set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. Different levels of support are given to children depending on how much support is required. Most children with SEN are given school-level support, known as SEN support. An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is given to children and young people who are considered to have complex needs. They can be used for children and young people aged 2–25. Children and young people with an EHCP are entitled to a personal budget. Every school must have a Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO), who is responsible for overseeing the support of pupils with SEN. Children with SEN in the UK can attend mainstream or special schools, but legally, local authorities are obliged to educate children in mainstream schools where possible. If a family feels that their child is not receiving sufficient support, they may take their local authority to theLocal offer
A Local Offer (or LO) is a statement detailing the pattern of support which a local authority expects to be available for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities within their area. It must include information about education, health and care provision. It should also tell families about training, employment and independent living options available for young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities. In accordance with the SEND Code of Practice, every local authority must publish a Local Offer. The Local Offer or LO should *provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it, *make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving disabled children and those with SEN and their parents, and disabled young people and those with SEN, and service providers in its development and review.Scotland
In Scotland, the term additional support needs is used instead of SEN. As well as children with disabilities, this also encompasses children who may need support for reasons other than disability, such as children who are being bullied or who are in foster care. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 redefined the law relating to the provision of special education to children with additional needs by establishing a framework for the policies of inclusion and generally practicing the "presumption of mainstreaming" in education. Children with complex needs who require support from external organisations are given a co-ordinated support plan. Families who are not satisfied with the support given are entitled to take the education authority Additional Support Needs for Scotland Tribunal.Northern Ireland
Regulations for SEN in Northern Ireland are currently governed by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. In Northern Ireland, there are five stages of SEN support. Stages 1 to 3 are known as school-based stages. Stage 1 is when concerns are first raised about a child having SEN, and support is given within the classroom, such as differentiated work or different teaching strategies. If the child's difficulties improve at this stage, the child is no longer classed as having SEN. However, if they do not improve, the child will be moved to stage 2. At stage 2, advice from the child's GP or the school doctor is sought and an education plan is drawn up by the SENCO, which describes the difficulties the child has and the support they need. If the child does not make good progress at stage 2, they move on to stage 3. At stage 3, external specialists, such as educational psychologists are involved in the child's support. If a child does not make progress while on stage 3, they are referred to stage 4. Stage 4 is also known as Statutory Assessment. Children who have very significant disabilities are referred straight to Statutory Assessment without having to go through the school-based stages. Stage 5 is when a SEN statement is issued. The SEN statement sets out the child's difficulties and the support they require, as well as which school the child should attend (this can be a mainstream or special school).History
Local authorities became responsible for the education of Deaf children and blind children in 1893. The education of children with disabilities became mandatory in the Education Act 1918. The prevailing attitude at the time was that disabled children should be sent to residential schools rather than attending mainstream schools. TheCriticisms
Underfunding
Funding provision for pupils with Special Education Needs and Disabilities, (SEND) has been criticised as inadequate. Some councils claimed to be unable to carry out their statutory duties towards SEND children due to lack of funding from the central government. Educators also complained that they cannot educate SEND pupils as effectively as they would like due to lack of funding. In 2019 the Education Select Committee of the House of Commons published a report stating reforms introduced in 2014 had been badly implemented damaging many SEND pupils. Children had to do without support they needed, which affected their mental health as well as their education, children experienced anxiety, depression and self-harm, and children as young as nine had attempted suicide. Children's families had to try and cope with a bureaucracy. The report also criticised a funding shortfall and called for greater accountability in the system. More rigorous inspection systems were called for together with clear consequences following failure. Parents and schools should be able to appeal directly to the DfE if Local Authorities did not meet their legal obligations. School inspections should focus more on SEND, social care ombudsmen and Local Authorities should have greater powers. Robert Halfon MP said, “The DfE cannot continue with a piecemeal and reactive approach to supporting children with Send. Rather than making do with sticking plasters, what is needed is a transformation, a more strategic oversight and fundamental change to ensure a generation of children is no longer let down.” Kevin Courtney of the National Education Union said, “Schools and local authorities want to provide the best possible support for SEND pupils, but the tools needed are generally no longer available due to cuts to local services.” TheExclusions and off-rolling
Children with SEN are much more likely to be formally excluded from school or off-rolled. Off-rolling is where a pupil is removed from a school's register, often shortly beforeOver-identification
There have been claims that affluent families will push for their child to be identified as having SEN so that the child can access additional support when the child may not genuinely have any disability. The number of children identified as having SEN has increased. Figures published in 2009 showed that 17.8% of pupils in English schools have SEN an increase from 14.9% in 2005, leading to claims that schools are labelling too many children as having SEN. Lorraine Petersen, the former chief executive of the National Association of Special Educational Needs, has said “they arentsfeel a label will give the child and perhaps the family additional support that they may not get without it; access to benefits, for instance, or support with exams or a place in a specialist setting.” In other cases, schools have been accused of identifying non-disabled children as having SEN to hide poor teaching standards.Under-identification
Conversely, some people argue that there is a problem with children with disabilities not being identified as needing additional support. This is said to be especially difficult for low-income families, who may not be able to afford private diagnostic assessments for conditions such as dyslexia. Bernadette John, the SEN director of '' The Good Schools Guide'', says: "There’s a good reason why middle-class parents are better able to get a special needs diagnosis for their child: cash. There is a dire shortage of educational psychologists in local authorities, and children can expect a wait of at least a year to see one for a diagnosis."See also
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