Schools, early years and childcare

The meaning of special educational needs (SEN)

Children with SEN have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age. These children may need extra or different help. The law says that children do not have learning difficulties just because their first language is not English. Of course, some of these children may have learning difficulties as well.

Children with SEN may need extra help because of a range of needs, such as:

• difficulties with thinking and understanding,
• physical or sensory difficulties,
• emotional and behavioural difficulties,
• difficulties with speech and language,
• difficulty relating to and behaving with other people.

Many children will have learning difficulties at some time during their education. Schools and other organisations can help most children overcome the barriers that learning difficulties present quickly and easily but a few children will need extra help for some or all of their time in school.

So SEN could mean that a child has difficulties with:

• all of the work in school,
• reading, writing, number work or understanding information,
• expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying,
• making friends or relating to adults,
• behaving properly in school,
• organising themselves,
• some kind of sensory or physical needs which may affect them in school,

Help for children with SEN will usually be in the child’s ordinary, mainstream, early education setting or school, sometimes with the help of outside specialists.

The government has set out early learning goals for the foundation stage of education for children from three to five years old. The National Curriculum for children from five to 16 years old also sets out what most children will learn at each stage of their education. Of course, children make progress at different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. Teachers are expected to take account of this by looking carefully at how they organise their lessons, the classroom, the books and materials they give to each child and the way they teach. So all teachers will consider a number of options and choose the most appropriate ways to help each child learn from a range of activities. This is often described as differentiating the curriculum.

Children making slower progress or having particular difficulties in one area may be given extra help or different lessons to help them succeed. The national literacy and numeracy strategies also encourage children to learn to read and write and understand numbers and mathematics in different ways and at different speeds, including special "catch-up" work and other kinds of support. Just because a child is making slower progress than expected or the teachers are providing different support, help or activities in class, it should not be assumed that the child has SEN.

Either the parent, the early education setting or the school may ask the council as the Local Authority (LA) to carry out a statutory assessment of a child to assess their educational needs and where necessary, work with the SEN Co-ordinator within the education setting to provide support.

Further information

• Medway Council has a SEN Policy which was amended in April 2004.
• Transport is available for those children with SEN who are eligible.
• More information on:
  
  
  • hospital schools,
  • parent partnership,
  • school action and school action plus,
  • statement of SEN, pre-school service,
  • placement in mainstream schools,
  • the SEN team.

is available on this website.

Useful websites

• Information about national initiatives for SEN can be found on the government's inclusion website (http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk).
• Further information on SEN can be found on the Department for Children, Schools and Families website (www.dcsf.gov.uk) and on the Teachernet website (www.teachernet.gov.uk).

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