Special Education Needs

At present there are 168 names on the SEN register, within the school:

• Stage 1                98
• Stage 2                38
• Stage 3                24
• Stage 4                5
• Stage 5                3

       (Governors Annual Report, 1999)

It is nearly impossible to stimulate the correct level of provision for Special Support Assistant’s as every child is an individual, which require different levels of assistance.   This is the problem that makes SEN a difficult area to perfect, as remarked by Lewis. A (1991).

The SEN children will be treated differently, depending on the level of statementing and the type of SEN.    In the school I attended, a girl had a hearing impairment at stage 2, the teacher wore a microphone and the child had headphones so she could hear and understand the teacher.   Also within the school a boy was partially sighted at stage 1 and the teacher used large bold letters, on the board and when demonstrating big clear diagrams were used.   This enabled the children to encounter equal opportunities.   A child had Attention Differentiation Hyper-activity Difficulty (ADHD), which made him very disruptive, absorbing a high percentage of the teacher’s attention.   To enable the class an experience of equal opportunity an ADHD support teacher would help him, to allow the teacher to devote the majority of her attention to the rest of the class.

When a child starts school they undertake a ‘baseline’ assessment, which will differentiate whether the child, suffers any type of SEN.   The child will then be tested again at the end of the year, then in year 2 and 6 which are called Standard Attainment Tasks (SAT’s).   The most common SEN’s are visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical disabilities, severe learning disabilities and emotional and behavioural difficulties, as identified by the ILEA (1985).   The class teacher is in contact with the children constantly during their time at school and it is the responsibility to inform the SEN Co-ordinator (SENCO), to distinguish whether a child needs to impose SEN.  Homework and classroom assessments give feedback to the teacher, on how to differentiate work amongst the pupils.

The Warnock Report (1978) cited in ILEA (1995), states the aim of education to all children is, that every child will enlarge their knowledge imagination and experience in understanding, their awareness to moral values and enjoyment.   Entering the world after the completion of their education, as a formal, active participant in society and achieving as much independence as possible.

As previously mentioned the school that I attended is a cross-cultural school, consisting of 21 different languages.   For many of the children English is a second language.   This could cause a problem with lack of progress for children who are English or from a different culture, point raised by Smith. R. (1983).   This is not the case as support teachers assist them when they join the school until they are up to the appropriate level.   In the early years of the school the classes are divided into different abilities which allows the intelligent children to progress and the less able to improve giving them both the same equal opportunity.   They are monitored in the class with homework and class test to ensure that they are in the correct group.   In the older years of the primary school, the whole year is differentiated in to abilities, due to background progression, but each class is not grouped.

During my time at the school I experienced many examples of equal opportunity, where the teacher allowed everyone to answer a question with their hand up and makes sure that everyone gets a turn.   When the class were playing a game, everyone had their chance to be involved.           In a games lesson that I was involved in, there was a girl who had a physical disability, which I was made aware of.    I knew that SEN children had a low self-a-steam and if I allowed the class to pick the teams, then I knew that she would be chosen last, due to her physical disability with her leg.   To give her and other children their equal opportunity, I chose the four teams numbering each child 1 to 4.   Also prior to the start of the lesson children who suffered from asthma, were able to consume a pump before the start, to give them the same opportunity to enjoy and participate in the games.

It is argued that educating pupils with SEN in an ordinary school doesn’t give them the equal opportunity they need, as they are not as able.   Although Jones. N. (1989), suggests that integration is possible and that SEN can be met in the ordinary school.   Giving everyone their equal opportunity, to succeed in education.

Reference List:

• Beasley. F, Upton. G. Effectiveness of Locational Integration for Children with Moderate Learning Difficulties. In Jones. N. (1989), Special Educational Needs Review. East Essex: Falmer Press.

• Code of Practice. (1993). Department of Education.
• Inner London Education Authority, (1985) Educational Opportunities For All? London: ILEA.
• Lewis. A. (1991), PRIMARY SPECIAL NEEDS and the NATIONAL CURRICULUM, London: Routledge.
• School’s Governors Report to Parents, (1999).
• Smith. R.M. (1983) Learning How to Learn, England: The Open University Press.