< Previous | Contents | Next >

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

THE CONTINUUM OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

School Placement

22. Parents should be offered a free place in a school making appropriate provision for the special educational needs of their child. They should be able to discuss with the education authority the suitability of the school proposed. Parents have the right, within certain limits, to make a placing request nominating a school of their choice. (See paragraphs 157-161).

The Warnock Report

23. The 1980 Act put into effect a significant number of the recommendations of the Warnock Report of 1978 (see Bibliography, Annex 4). In particular it defined "special educational needs" in terms that took it beyond the former concepts of special and remedial education, so that, as a rule of thumb, it can be taken to include all children and young persons whose educational needs cannot be met by the classroom teacher without some help.

The Range of Needs

24. Underlying the recommendation of the Warnock Report is the concept that special educational needs occupy a range from the minor and temporary difficulty to the severe and long-lasting. It is now increasingly accepted that the special educational needs of individual children will rarely remain static, but will change with growth, onset of maturity and educational progress. Children ostensibly with the same difficulties may occupy different points on the continuum of special educational needs and may require different forms of provision to enable them to gain greatest benefit from their education. The same applies to young persons.

Pupils with More Complex Difficulties

25. In providing for a continuum of needs in this way, the 1980 Act distinguishes between children and young persons who have special educational needs which can be met without the need for particular arrangements or provision, and those whose needs may be more significant and of a continuing nature which call for greater monitoring and particular arrangements or provision, possibly -throughout a child's school days. Education authorities should identify these groups and must consider whether they need to open a Record of Needs for the latter group.

Incidence

26. The Warnock Report estimated that, overall, as many as 20% of children might experience, at some time during their schooling, educational needs for which some additional provision might be necessary. In the past it has been estimated that included in that total there are up to 2% of children and young persons who may have special educational needs requiring educational provision significantly different in substance from that provided generally, and for whom a Record of Needs might be appropriate.

Variable Incidence

27. The incidence of special educational needs may not be uniformly distributed. The proportion of children with learning difficulties can vary from school to school, from area to area within an authority and from education authority to education authority.

The Right Approach

28. During the early years of implementation of the legislation which introduced arrangements for the making of Records of Needs, education authorities, understandably, focused attention on those of the school population with special educational needs who they felt would benefit from a Record of Needs. Now that the new procedures are fully in place, it is important that concern for those children should not deflect attention from the larger group for whom, as has been explained, education authorities also have responsibility under the 1980 Act (see the discussion of these responsibilities at paragraph 3).

29. There should be no practical difference in approach to the provision of education across the continuum of special educational needs. The Record of Needs is not a document which should mark out a child or young person as being different; nor should it be regarded as being a necessary stage in the commitment of resources which would not otherwise be available. For example, 2 children in a particular class may have ostensibly similar special educational needs but, for one child, these may be transient and not, therefore, be recorded. However, although a Record of Needs may be appropriate for only one of these children, both should, at that point in their education, receive comparable levels of provision.

Focus on the Individual Child or Young Person

30. When it is considered that a child or young person may require additional or different educational provision, the best approach is to focus on the child's or young person's-needs rather than on the difficulties which give rise to those needs. In adopting this approach, the -feelings and perceptions of children and young persons themselves should always be taken into account. Older children and young persons in particular should be encouraged and helped to participate in discussions about their educational needs and the provision proposed by the authority to meet their educational requirements.

Other Significant Factors

31. In considering the needs of a child or young person, education authorities will be aware that the extent to which a learning difficulty may hinder his or her development may not depend solely upon the nature and severity of that difficulty. Other significant factors may have a beneficial or detrimental effect. Circumstances which must be taken into account include the personal attributes and abilities of the child or young person, the help and support provided at home and the assistance available from other statutory and voluntary agencies. Special educational needs are related both to intrinsic abilities and disabilities and to the interaction between these and the social and emotional environment.

Objective of Recording

32. Records should, of course, indicate in Part V the measures proposed by the education authority to meet the range of special educational needs identified (see paragraphs 132-135). The primary objective of recording is to bring more method and stability to the provision of education for children and young persons whose needs are both significant and enduring and thereby to help in the identification of the best means of providing for their special educational needs.

The significance of a Record

33. A Record facilitates the identification of the learning difficulties of a child or young person, so that long-term educational strategies can be developed especially for him or her. It also enables progress and requirements to be monitored and reviewed in a structured way throughout the entirety of a pupil's school career. Here again, however, while those whose special educational needs do not suggest a Record should be opened may not normally require such an overtly regulated approach, equal importance and consideration must also be given to provision for their special educational needs to ensure they are fully and appropriately met, as authorities already generally recognise.

Need for Flexible Policies

34. The previous paragraphs have explained why provision for special educational needs may differ even though, comparing one child or young person with another, difficulties may appear to be similar. That is why policies adopted by education authorities for provision for special educational needs must be flexible and able to focus on, and sympathetically reflect, the individual requirements of those for whom they are responsible.

Provision of an Appropriate Curriculum

35. Most children and young persons will make progress if provided with an appropriate curriculum. The 5-14 curriculum guidelines apply to all pupils between the ages of 5 and 14. For pupils over 14 years of age but under 16 years of age, the curriculum is based on guidelines provided by the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum (SCCC). Guidelines for children over 16 are currently being considered in the Higher Still development programme. The content of the curriculum may have to be adapted to meet the individual needs of some pupils. Advice on differentiation of the curriculum for pupils with special needs is contained in The Scottish Office publication, Effective Provision for Special Educational Needs (see paragraph 5).

< Previous | Contents | Next >