Session 10 – Deaf Children and Statementing

The statementing process can be viewed as one of the most significant changes in legislation surrounding special educational needs. The 1944 Education Act – established that children’s education should be based on their age, aptitude and ability. Eleven categories of handicap were described which included for example, ‘educationally subnormal’ and ‘delicate’ as well as blind. At that time, the general philosophy was that the child should fit the school rather than the school fit the child. As discussed in week 3, 1974 saw the establishment of the Warnock Committee, leading to the publication of the Warnock Report (1978). Conclusions were that:

20% of the school population could have SEN

2% might need support over and above what the mainstream school could provide.

The Warnock report recommended that specialist provision for children with SEN could protect the 2% and ensure that they received appropriate provision. The Warnock report of 1978 was followed by the 1981 Education Act which began to address the situation of children with SEN. The Act introduced the requirement that LEAs identify and assess pupils who may require the LEA to decide on suitable provision for them. Shortly after this the HMSI Audit Commission produced two reports ‘Getting in on the Act’ and ‘Getting the Act Together’ which looked at SEN provision following the 1981 Act and how the Act had succeeded and failed.

As a reminder:

A child is defined as having special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty which needs special teaching. A learning difficulty means that the child has significantly greater difficulty in learning than most children of the same age. Or, it means a child has a disability which needs different educational facilities from those that schools generally provide for children of the same age in the same area. The children who need special educational provision are not only those with obvious learning difficulties, such as those who are physically disabled, deaf or blind. They include those whose learning difficulties are less apparent, such as slow learners and emotionally vulnerable children. It is estimated that up to 20% of school children may need special educational help at some stage in their school careers. (DfEE 1997/8)

The 1993 Education Act (now the 1996 Act) required the Secretary of State to issue a Code of Practice giving practical guidance to LEAs and the governing bodies of all maintained schools about their responsibilities for all children with SEN. Those responsibilities are set out in Part 3 of the Act. After extensive consultation with schools, LEAs, the health services, social services and voluntary agencies, the Code of Practice was approved in Parliament. It’s full title is ‘The Code of Practice on the Identification and assessment of Special Educational Needs’, and it came into effect on September 1^st 1994. From that date, schools and LEAs and all those who are involved with children who have SEN, including the health service and social services, must adhere to the Code.

So, under the 1993 Education Act, if an LEA believes that a child has SEN, which call for special educational provision it may decide to assess them. Parents must give consent and the Code of Practice recommends that the LEA follow a staged approach which might lead to a Statement of Special Educational Need. A statement of Special Educational Need’ is a document containing a brief account of a child’s needs and specifies the extra help that he or she should receive. The document is a contract between the LEA and the parents so any provision outlined must be adhered to.

Pupils with SEN are given a ‘statement’ which is ascertained following five stages of monitoring. The statement is structured such that it contained the nature of the child’s needs, the educational provision deemed appropriate to enable the school to meet those needs and any non-educational provision that would be available from the LEA, the Health Authority or Social Services to enable the child to benefit from the special educational provision. For every school a member of staff was allocated to act as a Special Needs Educational Co-ordinator.

There are five stages of assessment and it is the schools’ responsibility to carry out stages 1-3 with the LEA becoming involved at stages 4 and 5. Many children will not go any further than stage 3 if their needs can be met with appropriate support within the school.

Summary of Stages in the New Code of Practice

See handout.

The 1994 Regulations state that the issue of a statement must be completed within 26 weeks of recognition of SEN. When the final statement is proposed a ‘Named person’ must be available to discuss the procedure etc. with parents. This person must be independent of the LEA to avoid any conflict of interests.

Annual reviews of the statement must take place at least every 12 months.

Parents have the right to appeal if they are not satisfied with the way the LEA plans to meet their child’s special educational need. If a request to the LEA is unsuccessful, parents have the right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal.

The DfEE White Paper ‘Excellence in Schools’ was followed by the DfEE Green Paper (1997) ‘Excellence for All Children’.

The Green Paper sets out targets for 2002 – these targets fall into 6 main areas:

1. Standards of expectation for children with SEN will be raised.

2. Effective support and involvement of parents of children with SEN, e.g. support of an independent ‘Named Person’. (Choice Entitlement Partnership)

3. There will be increased inclusion of children with SEN in mainstream schools.

4. An emphasis on practical support not procedures.

5. Boost in training and support for teachers and other education professionals, particularly SENCOs.

6. Effective partnership and information exchange between service providers, LEA, Social Services Depts. And Health Authorities.

On the 5^th November 1999, the Government published a summary of responses to the Green paper entitled ‘Excellence for All: Meeting Special Educational Needs: A Programme of Action’. Overall there was wide support for the 6 key principles underlying the Green paper.

In summary, despite wide controversy over the philosophy of inclusive education, the statement of SEN remains one of the landmarks of recent educational legislation. Recent feedback from the ‘Programme of Action’ indicates wide support for the 6 areas of efficiency and development.