Earlier this year, the government introduced the Children and Families Bill. While it is by no means perfect, the Bill is very much welcome because, for the first time, it attempts to bring together health, social care and education in a way that should benefit young people with special needs, including learning disabilities.
As part of this reform, the government has published the new draft SEN Code of Practice (the code).
The core principle of the code is that children, parents and young people are fully involved in decision-making, something that Mencap has been campaigning on for some time. However, to make this work in practice, it will be vital that people are supported to participate in these decisions. Their opinions must be taken into account and they should be able to access impartial advice, information and support to exercise these rights.
The Bill and its associated code sets out that mainstream education providers must “use their best endeavours” to make the necessary provision for pupils with SEN, including identifying and securing the right levels of support. Special educational provision is described as being “educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for others of the same age” and provision is listed as supporting four main areas of special educational need:
- Communication and interaction (e.g. children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN))
- Cognition and learning (e.g. children and young people with a learning disability)
- Social, mental and emotional health (e.g. children and young people with mental health problems)
- Sensory and/or physical needs (e.g. children and young people with a visual or hearing impairment).
Identifying progress