Does your child have SEN?
A child is considered to have a special educational need if he or she has a learning difficulty that calls for special educational provision to be made for them.
Parents, teachers and childcare practitioners usually find out if a child has a need if he or she has greater difficulty learning than the majority of other children of the same age, or if the child has a disability that prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities provided for children of the same age within that local educational authority.
The government's Every Child Matters (enshrined in the Education Act 1996) states that children with special educational needs should have their needs met as soon as they become apparent, without the need for a period of failure. They should feel valued as members of their school and community.
The paper also says there must be greater consistency in the quality of services for children with special educational needs to the extent that both parents and local authorities feel confident that this is the case.
The term special educational needs (SEN) refers to a wide spectrum of different needs. These needs can be broken down into more specific areas.
