Many children will have special educational needs of some kind during at some time during their education. It is usually considered to be about 1 in 5 children. The term ‘special education needs’ has a legal definition. Children with special educational needs all 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 help or different help from what is given to other children of the same age.
Children with special educational needs may need extra help because of a range of needs such as
- thinking and understanding
- physical or sensory difficulties
- difficulties with speech and language
- emotional and behavioural difficulties
- How they relate to and behave with people
Local authorities have a duty to identify children with learning needs/SEND and plan how to meet their needs. Some children may be identified through a health visitor, GP or paediatrician, some may be in nursery, school or college, for others it may always be known they will have learning needs/SEND because of their genetic condition. If you think your child may have additional learning needs contact the relevant focal point in your child’s school or nursery, this may be called as the SEN co-ordinator, or ‘SENCO’ in England, your local council, or your local Information, Advice and Support Service.
In the UK the learning needs/SEND system applies to all children under the age of 25 as long as they are in education, but support will differ significantly depending on their needs and may involve a range of professionals across the education, health and social care systems.
The identification and planning stage of meeting additional learning needs/SEND is different across the UK, but all countries have a statutory duty to meet them. As well as having different names, different organisations are available to help you navigate often complex systems and get the best educational outcomes for your child.
- In England statutory SEN are met through Education, Health and Social Care Plans (ECHP). The Council for Disabled Children has an excellent website where you can find plenty of resources on EHCPs and your local Information, Advice and Support (IAS) Service across England.
- In Northern Ireland SEND are met through a process of Statutory Assessment and a legal document called a Statement. SENAC is an organisation in Northern Ireland which can give information and advice on meeting SEND and getting help and support in schools.
- In Scotland children do not need a formal plan to get educational support but all children with potential SEN are assessed. For children with more complex needs, a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP) is available. Enquire is the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning. Providing easy to understand advice and information about additional support for learning legislation and guidance for families and professionals.
- In Wales a recently introduced system called Additional Learning Needs (ALN) and Individual Development Plans (IDPs) meets statutory SEND needs. SNAP Cymru offers free and independent information, advice and support to help get the right education for children and young people with all kinds of special educational needs (SEN)/additional learning needs(ALN)and disabilities.