A literature review examined effective practice in tackling the bullying of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Source: Colleen McLaughlin, Richard Byers and Rosie Peppin Vaughan, Responding to Bullying Among Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities, Anti-Bullying Alliance
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A study examined the roles and responsibilities of special educational needs co-ordinators in early years settings.
Source: Rachel Reynolds and Nicola Young, Supporting Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in Early Years Settings: Findings from research, Pre-school Learning Alliance
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A new book said that continuing to think in terms of the 'regular' school or the 'special' school obstructed progress towards inclusive education for disabled students. There was a need for a better understanding of exclusion, and of the foundations of the division between special and regular education. Schooling ought to be an apprenticeship in democracy and inclusion was a prerequisite of a democratic education.
Source: Roger Slee, The Irregular School: Exclusion, schooling and inclusive education, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Nov
A briefing paper provided an outline of the existing special educational needs system, and background information prior to the new government's Green Paper (expected in December 2010).
Source: Christine Gillie, Special Educational Needs (SEN): The current system, recent reports and reviews, Standard Note SN/SP/5781, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Nov
A think-tank report called for independent panels to gauge the individual needs of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). Parents should be given a guaranteed choice on what type of schooling their child should get. There should be new national assessment criteria so that pupils with similar conditions received the same services. The government should publish regular updates on how well SEN pupils were doing, and what services were provided, so that local differences could be ironed out. The government should allow a range of different providers, including the third sector, to bid to run local SEN services.
Source: Ralph Hartley, Special Educational Needs: Reforming provision in English schools, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | NASUWT press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report presented information on the characteristics and attainment of pupils in England with special educational needs. The number of pupils with special educational needs had increased from around 1.53 million pupils (19 per cent) in 2006 to approximately 1.69 million (21 per cent) in 2010. The number of pupils with statements of special educational needs had decreased from 236, 750 in 2006 to 220, 890 in 2010. The most common types of primary need were autistic spectrum disorder and moderate learning difficulties. Boys were two-and-a-half times more likely than girls to have statements at primary school, and nearly three times more likely at secondary school.
Source: Children with Special Educational Needs 2010: An analysis, Department for Education
Links: Report | ATL press release | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Oct
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that it had a range of concerns about the existing system of special educational needs and disability arrangements, and about how well it was serving children and young people. Many pupils would not be identified as having special educational needs if schools focused on improving teaching and learning for all. The system was focusing too much on statements of need, and checking pupils were getting additional services, and too little on how much this support was actually helping children progress.
Source: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Review: A Statement Is Not Enough, HMI 090221, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | ATL press release | CDC press release | CLC press release | CSIE press release | EDCM press release | Mencap press release | NAHT press release | NASEN press release | NASUWT press release | NUT press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Sep
The government began consultation (in advance of the publication of a Green Paper) on plans to reform support for children with special educational needs. The aim was to improve parents' choice of schools, find ways of identifying special needs at an early stage, and strengthen support for young people when they left school.
Source: Green Paper: Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities – Call for Views, Department for Education
Links: Consultation document | DE press release | EDCM press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Sep
A report examined the ways in which local authorities worked with parents of children with special educational needs. There was a need to maintain, capitalize on, and take forward the effective multi-agency working that took place in the pre-school arena.
Source: Richard White, Shona Macleod, Jennifer Jeffes and Mary Atkinson, Local Authorities' Experiences of Improving Parental Confidence in the Special Educational Needs Process, National Foundation for Educational Research
Date: 2010-Jun
An article examined classifications of learning disabilities as promulgated in diagnostic manuals. Weaknesses were exposed from within the manuals' own frames of reference. The difficulties arising from using the international sub-classifications of learning disabilities – when the national classifications should apply – were discussed.
Source: Alan Leyin, 'Learning disability classification: time for re-appraisal?', Tizard Learning Disability Review, Volume 15 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Apr
A report examined what worked well for local authorities and schools in improving outcomes for children with special educational needs.
Source: Breaking the Link Between Special Educational Needs and Low Attainment, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Mar
The government published an implementation plan in response to the Lamb inquiry on parental confidence in the special educational needs system.
Source: Improving Parental Confidence in the Special Educational Needs System: An Implementation Plan, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Plan | Hansard | DCSF press release | Lamb report
Date: 2010-Feb
Researchers examined the reasons for local variation in services and support for children with special educational needs. No simple explanation was found for the variation found between local authorities.
Source: Jane Lewis et al., Special Educations Needs and Disability: Understanding Local Variations in Prevalence, Service Provision and Support, Research Report RR211, Department for Children, Schools and Families
Date: 2010-Feb
