The Law and Speacial Education Needs

What is meant by "special educational needs"?

Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty that calls for special educational provision to be made for them. Children have a learning difficulty if they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age; or they have a disability that causes them difficulty in accessing educational facilities.

Many children will, at some time in their lives, have special educational needs of some kind.

What does the law say?

The law says that all schools must do their best to see that proper education is provided for all children, including those with special educational needs. The vast majority of children will have their needs met within their local school.

The most important legislation dealing with special education is the Education Act 1996 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001. The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice is part of this legislation and gives guidance to schools about how your child's special educational needs should be identified and assessed.

The Children Act 1989 includes children with special needs, and sets down the responsibilities of Social Services working with Health and Education Authorities to help "children in need". This can include children with special educational needs.

The Education Act, Special Needs and Disability Act and Children Act emphasise the importance of consulting with children and young people and taking their wishes and views into account where possible.

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice

This Code of Practice sets out the steps a school should take to find out about your child's needs, so that your child can be given the best possible help and that their needs are met throughout their school career.

The code of practice is available free of charge from the Department for Education and Skills (0845 6022260) and on the DfES website www.dfes.gov.uk/sen/parents

The Code of Practice says:

The knowledge, views and experiences of parents are vital. This means that people should listen to you as a parent when deciding how best to help your child.
Whatever your child's difficulties in school it is important that they are helped to overcome them.
Wherever possible children with special educational needs should be educated in their local school, alongside other children and have the right to benefit from education in all school subjects.
If your child has difficulties it is important that these are recognised as soon as possible.
Some children's difficulties may be recognised before they start school and the Local Education Authority (LEA) and other services such as health and social services may become involved at an early stage.
You must be informed that a school is making Special Educational Needs provision for your child.
The best way to help your child is by everyone sharing information and working closely together.
Your child's own views are important and should be listened to.
Your LEA should be able to give you advice, information and offer the support of the Parent Partnership Services. They should also tell you about other services in your area that may be useful. There is a leaflet in this pack about this service.
If you have any worries or concerns you should first approach your child's school. If your concerns remain, your LEA will have arrangements for resolving disagreements and you may have the right to appeal to the independent Special Educational Needs Tribunal.

Remember you have the right to:

Tell others about what you feel your child can do, what he/she has difficulty with and what you feel s/he needs. It is important that others share the knowledge that you have about him/her.
Take part in all decisions about your child's education.
Be kept informed at all stages.
Seek advice from school, education department, social services or other agencies.
Seek advice from the Benefits Agency (freephone 0800 882200) or your local Citizen's Advice Bureau if you think your child may be entitled to Disability Allowance or other benefits.

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