How well is the inclusion of all pupils managed in the mainstream placement?
...e are not the same”. (Clark, C., Dyson, A. & Millward, A. (1995) Towards Inclusive Schools). The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as “the action of including or the state of being included”. From this we can see that the term inclusion can mean a variety of things. It is the involvement of everyone whatever their educational, social or individual needs. Within Slough Grammar School there are many different pupils with their own, individual, specific needs. SEN is a very diverse subject. The new code of practice for Special Educational Needs came into force in January 2002. This replaced the old code, which dated from 1994. The SEN Code of Practice (2002) states that “children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them”. However, the Times Educational Supplement (November 12th 2004) p18 state that SEN needs to be broken down by the type of special need the child has? They list the type of need each pupil has and the number in England (November 2004). The results were as follows: Specific Learning Difficulties 83,400 pupils Moderate Learning Difficulties 171,800 pupils Severe Learning Difficulties 31,900 pupils Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties 7,700 pupils Behaviour, emotional & Social Difficulties 126,500 pupils Speech, Language and Communication 63,900 pupils Hearing Impairment 12,900 pupils Visual Impairment 7,200 pupils Physical Disability 24,600 pupils Autism Spectrum Disorder 31,900 pupils Other Difficulty/Disorder 25,400 pupils (See attached Appendix 1) From these results it does not only show that there is a vast number of SEN pupils in England, but also the varying diversity in their needs. However, it must also be noted that a certain percentage of the above pupils will attend a special needs school environment. On the other hand large percentages, due to the Special Educational Needs & Disability Act 2001, have the opportunity and will attend a mainstream school. The Ofsted Report “Special Educational Needs and Disability: Towards Inclusive Schools” (p3) supports this. It states that “The SEN and Disability Act 2001 provides a revised statutory framework for inclusion. It strengthens the right of children with SEN to attend a mainstream school, unless their parents choose otherwise or if this is incompatible with ‘efficient education for other children’ and there are no ‘reasonable steps’ which the school and LEA can take to prevent that incompatibility”. From the above we can ascertain that there are numerous f...