SPECIAL EDUCATION IN WALES

What are special educational needs? At some point in their education, up to 20% of children and young people have special educational needs (SEN). In general terms, a child who has 'SEN' has difficulty with learning compared with the majority of children of the same age.

SEN SEN is also sometimes used to describe a child who has a disability which makes it difficult for them to use the educational facilities other children of the same age use - if they are visually impaired, they might not be able to cope in a mainstream class, for example, and 'special' provision has to be made for them. 'special' provision

Code of Practice for Wales Children of any age may have SEN. The SEN Code of Practice for Wales doesn't put children into rigid categories of special need, but views each child as an individual. However, children's special needs will probably fall into one or more of these four broad areas:

What special educational needs are:- communication and interaction - speech, language and communication difficulties. cognition and learning - learning difficulties which range from moderate to profound. behavioural, emotional and social - this includes a range of different behaviour including things like withdrawal, disruption, hyperactivity, lacking in concentration and social skills. sensory, physical or medical - includes difficulties related to impaired vision or hearing and other physical disabilities.

Who can help? All children have the right to have their educational needs met. Local Education Authorities (LEAs), schools and pre-school providers, parents, pupils, health and social services and other agencies (including charities) must all work together to provide the right service for each child.

Local Education Authorities Are key in identifying and assessing a child's needs, and matching them with the right educational provision. They must make sure that advice and information is provided to the parent of any child with SEN.

Early years The child's school (or provider such as nursery school) is likely to be the first source of help and advice. The school will tell the parent if they have any concerns about the child's learning progress, and notify them if SEN provision is being made for the child. At first, the provision they make will be part of the school's general procedures for any child who is not making the progress expected of them.

SENCOs Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) have day-to-day responsibility for SEN children within a school, and will get involved if a child needs to receive more than the most basic extra help.

ASSESSMENT Sometimes, a child's special needs will be apparent at birth or a very early age, and local authorities will provide special support for them from the start. But if the child enters school and then doesn't learn as fast or as easily as other children, there is a standard process which the school will put into play to assess what extra help the child needs. Many children's performance is improved with relatively little special provision, but a few will need an increased amount of help. The school will identify and assess a child's needs in a variety of ways. These include:

ASSESSMENT Progress and achievement, monitored by their teacher as part of on-going observation and assessment Baseline assessment Progress in literacy and numeracy Performance against expected levels set out in the National Curriculum at the end of each Key Stage Structured screening and assessment.

Individual Education Plan (IEP) This leads to the development of an individual education plan (IEP) for the child. The plan will include short-term targets, teaching strategies, what extra educational provision will be made, a review date (at least twice a year and ideally every term), success criteria and hoped-for outcomes.

School Action Plus When the child's progress is reviewed against their plan and this shows that they are not making adequate progress, then the SENCO takes the matter to 'School Action Plus'. The school seeks sustained support from the local educational authority's professional SEN services.

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST The Educational Psychology Service is likely to have a prominent role. Using their help, the SENCO produces a new individual educational plan, which is put into play and progress reviewed against it at an agreed date. The parents, their child and the school, will be involved in contributing to the plan and its review.

STATEMENTING In more severe cases local authorities will have to make a formal assessment of a pupil’s needs based on specialist advice. It describes the child's needs and the specialist help they should get. Only 13% of children have a statement despite the numbers of children, being known to have learning difficulties, is increasing.

Inclusion The Labour Government had a policy of inclusion, under which the aim was to give any child with mild to moderate learning difficulties a place in a mainstream school. The policy aimed to end the situation where children were effectively kept separate from their more able peers. However, some children have learning difficulties or disabilities severe enough for them to be educated separately in special schools.

Inclusion The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government says, in its coalition agreement, that it will "prevent the unnecessary closure of special schools, and remove the bias towards inclusion". The number of state and private special schools in England has fallen from 1,197 in 2000 to 1,054 in 2010.

Mainstream Schools Students with special needs are supported through an IEP. Annual reviews for statemented pupils. School Action/ School Action plus. Specialist resource base. Support workers. Withdrawal classes.

Special Schools Normally only for children with statements of special educational needs, although sometimes children may be admitted before the statement is complete. Most are for children with particular types of disability. Increasingly, they act as resource centres supporting mainstream schools.

Residential schools These provide education with residential accommodation for children during the school week or also at weekends. LEAs are most likely to agree to fund residential provision if children have severe or multiple special educational needs that cannot be met by day provision and support from other agencies. In some cases (for example, for children looked after by the local authority) placements may be funded jointly by the LEA and Health or Social Services.

POST 16 EDUCATION On leaving mainstream school, there are a number of options for learners: Students can attend their local specialist school provision. Students can attend Residential provision. Students can attend their local Further Education College.

ACCESSING SUPPORT If students have had a Statement of Special Needs whilst at school, this is replaced by a Learning & Skills Plan which is completed by the Careers Advisory Service, outlining the learning style and support requirements of the learner. This plan enables the college to access extra funding to meet the support needs of the learner.

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