Policy into practice - Special educational needs

26 May 2009 1 min read Anne Longfield Education

The issue: It is estimated that more than 1.5 million children in the UK today have some form of special educational need (SEN), such as a learning difficulty or disability that makes it harder for them to learn or access education than their peers. The majority of these children are placed in mainstream schools, where government policy states they should receive a broad, well-balanced and relevant education.

However, a lack of specialist training sometimes results in teachers feeling ill-equipped to deal with SEN. How best to provide for them is a subject of considerable debate, which hinges on whether this should be done through improving the capacity of mainstream schools or investing in special schools. But numerous initiatives around the country are working towards improving provision for children with SEN and are acting as examples of best practice.

CASE STUDY 1

TreeHouse is the national charity for autism education. Established in 1997 by a group of parents, TreeHouse runs a school for 69 children and young people with autism and campaigns for better autism education nationally.

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