reports :
DFEE Green Paper
Excellence for all Children Meeting Special Educational Needs
By 2002...
At the end of each chapter is a summary of what we aim to achieve for
children with special educational needs over the lifetime of this Parliament.
All the summaries are brought together here.
1 Policies for excellence
By 2002...
- The policies set out in Excellence in schools for raising standards,
particularly in the early years, will be beginning to reduce the number of
children who need long-term special educational provision.
- There will be stronger and more consistent arrangements in place
across the country for the early identification of SEN.
- Schools and parents will have higher expectations of the standards
children with SEN can attain.
- Target setting, in both mainstream and special schools, will take
explicit account of the scope for improving the achievements of children with
special educational needs.
- New Entry Level awards will be available for pupils for whom GNVQs or
GCSEs at 16 are not appropriate.
- There will be more effective and widespread use of Information and
Communications Technology to support the education of children with SEN, in
both mainstream and special schools.
2 Working with parents
By 2002...
- All parents whose children are being assessed for a statement of SEN
will be offered the support of an independent "Named Person".
- Parent partnership schemes will be in place in every LEA in England,
and will play an important part in supporting parents of children with SEN.
- Improved arrangements for encouraging dialogue between parents,
schools and LEAs should be reflected in a reduction in the number of appeals to
the SEN Tribunal.
3 Practical support: the framework for SEN provision
By 2002...
- A revised version of the SEN Code of Practice will be in place,
preserving the principles and safeguards of the present Code, while simplifying
procedures and keeping paperwork to a minimum.
- There will be renewed emphasis on provision under the school-based
stages of the Code of Practice, with support from LEAs and greater assurance
for parents of effective intervention, particularly at stage 3.
- The result of these improvements will be that the proportion of
children who need a statement will be moving towards 2%.
- The great majority of SEN assessments will be completed within the
statutory timetable.
4 Increasing inclusion
By 2002...
- A growing number of mainstream schools will be willing and able to
accept children with a range of special educational needs: as a consequence, an
increasing proportion of those children with statements of SEN who would
currently be placed in special schools will be educated in mainstream schools.
- National and local programmes will be in place to
support increased inclusion.
- Special and mainstream schools will be working together alongside and
in support of one another.
5 Planning SEN provision
By 2002...
- Regional planning machinery for SEN will be in place across England,
helping to co-ordinate provision for low-incidence disabilities, specialist
teacher training and other aspects of SEN.
- There will be clear guidance to support the effective development of
special schools in the context of a policy of increased inclusion.
- New arrangements will be in place to safeguard the interests of
children with special educational needs who are placed in independent schools.
6 Developing skills
By 2002...
- There will be a clear structure for teachers' professional
development in SEN, from a strengthened attention to SEN issues in initial
training through to improved training for headteachers, SEN co-ordinators and
other SEN specialists.
- There will be a national framework for training learning support
assistants.
- There will be national guidance on training governors to carry out
their responsibilities for pupils with SEN.
- There will be national agreement on ways of reducing the time spent
by educational psychologists on statutory assessments and maximising their
contribution in the classroom, and the training necessary for their developing
role.
7. Working together
By 2002...
- There will be new arrangements for disseminating up-to-date
information about good practice in SEN provision.
- There will be improved co-operation and co-ordination between local
education authorities, social services departments and health authorities, with
the focus on meeting children's special needs more effectively.
- Speech and language therapy will be provided more effectively for
children who need it.
- The Department will be collecting information about the experiences,
once they have left school, of young people with SEN, to help schools and
colleges prepare young people for adult life more effectively.
8. Principles into practice: emotional and behavioural
difficulties
By 2002...
- A national programme will be in place to help primary schools tackle
emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) at a very early stage.
- There will be enhanced opportunities for all staff to improve their
skills in teaching children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
- There will be a national programme to offer support to EBD special
schools experiencing problems.
- There will be expanded support for schemes designed to renew the
motivation of young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties at Key
Stage 4.
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31/08/2000
