Special Educational Needs

Children with Special Educational Needs

The term ‘special educational needs’ has a legal definition. Children with special educational needs all have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn than most children of the same age. These children may need extra or different help from that given to other children of the same age.

The law says that children do not have learning difficulties just because their first language is not English although some of these children may have learning difficulties as well. Children with special educational needs may need extra help because of a range of needs, such as in thinking and understanding, physical or sensory difficulties, emotional and behavioural difficulties, or difficulties with speech and language or how they relate to and behave with other people. Many children will have special educational needs of some kind at some time during their education. Schools and other organisations can help most children overcome the barriers their difficulties present quickly and easily. But a few children will need extra help for some or all of their time in school.

So special educational needs could mean that a child has difficulties with;

• all of the work in school
• reading, writing, number work or understanding information
• expressing themselves or understanding what others are saying
• making friends or relating to adults
• behaving properly in school
• organising themselves
• some kind of sensory or physical needs which may affect them in school,
  as well as other examples.
• Help for children with special educational needs will usually be in the child’s ordinary, mainstream early education setting or school, sometimes with the help of outside specialists.

Of course children make progress at different rates and have different ways in which they learn best. Teachers are expected to take account of this by looking carefully at how they organise their lessons, the classroom, the books and materials they give to each child and the way they teach. So all teachers will consider a number of options and choose the most appropriate ways to help each child learn from a range of activities.

Contact Support for SEN Services

Alyson Harvey
Senior Special Education Officer
Cambridge Education @ Islington
Room 17
222 Upper Street
N1 1XR

020 7527 5518