MikeTC posted on 14 September 2010 07:36
Reported today that Ofsted has discovered mis-diagnosis and erroneous provision for over 700,000 children with special educational needs. The example that caught my ear at 630 this morning was children whose parents are on active service. Is it right that the emotional impact of not knowing if mum or dad will be killed in service (never mind having them absent for long and unpredictable periods) is a 'special educational need'? A caring professional educator would certainly think so and want to put in place support to protect emotional and academic growth. Maybe this sort of need doesn't feature on current SEN criteria, but what should change, the criteria or the child's needs?
Christine Gilbert noted on R4 just now that teachers need to have the confidence to correctly identify and support children with SEN. I'm wondering (if indeed there has been an erosion of professional confidence) where our confidence has gone and who was responsible for undermining it? Any thoughts?