2. School-based Stages of Assessment and Provision

Introduction

2:1. At the heart of the work of every school and every class lies a cycle of planning, teaching and assessing.  These general arrangements in a school take account of the wide range of abilities, aptitudes and interests that children bring to school.  The majority of children will learn and progress within these arrangements.  Those who have difficulty in so doing may have special educational needs:

A child has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

A child has a learning difficulty if he or she:

A. has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age

B. has a disability which either prevents or hinders the child from making use of educational facilities of a kind provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority
C. is under five and falls within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do if special educational provision was not made for the child.
A child must not be regarded as having a learning difficulty solely because the language or form of language of the home is different from the language in which he or she is or will be taught.

Special educational provision means:

A. for a child over two, educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of the child's age in maintained schools, other than special schools, in the area

B. for a child under two, educational provision of any kind.

(Section 156)

2:2. Nationally, about 20 per cent of children may have some form of special educational needs at some time.  For the vast majority of children such needs will be met by their school with outside help if necessary - and school governing bodies have statutory responsibilities to ensure that those needs are met.  Only in a small minority of cases - nationally, around two per cent of children - will a child have special educational needs of a severity or complexity which requires the LEA to determine and arrange the special educational provision for the child by means of a statutory statement of special educational needs.  These figures are broad national estimates:  the proportion of children with special educational needs varies significantly from area to area.