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Latest News - April 2011

Special Educational Needs – can schools cope?

As more and more children are diagnosed as having Special Educational Needs (SEN), there are concerns that teachers have not had the training they need to offer the best education to SEN children and to achieve the best outcomes.

A new study - The Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities Research Project – says that levels of SEN children entering school have "never been seen before in the education system".

One reason is that many more severely disabled children are surviving to school age, and it’s said that one in five pupils in England has some form of special educational need – that’s 1.7 million children. These include children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attachment disorder, rare chromosomal disorders, some mental health problems, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, sensory impairment, autism, fragile X syndrome, the long-term effects of drug use during pregnancy and the long-term effects of premature birth.

This influx of children into schools where teachers haven’t received the training required means that urgent action is needed to help schools serve this next generation of pupils with SEN. Between 2004 and 2009 the number of children with disabilities rose by 250,000 to 950,000, with a rapid increase in children with the most complex special needs. Researchers have produced briefing and guidance notes giving teachers advice, but the chief author of the report, Professor Barry Carpenter, said: "We need urgent action to alert teachers across the system to this fast-growing trend and prepare them for it. Without proper training teachers will struggle to cope with these new challenges and children will not get the support they need."

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather has urged schools to download the guidance offered by the Report.

Our advice is that the best way to ensure that your child still gets the right provision despite the cuts, is to get a statement which sets it all out in a way that ifs fully enforceable. For further information then why not talk to one of our advisors, either call our SEN Helpline on 0845 3880108 or 01524 596080.

To find out more about how we can help you, please contact Maxwell Gillott Solicitors.