Changes In The Law Regarding The Education Of Children With Special Needs

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The law concerning children with special educational needs (SEN) was first introduced in 1893 which was the Elementary Education Act that stated education was compulsory for pupils with hearing and sight disabilities. The Education Act (1944) revised this so that provision had to be made for all pupils including those with special needs. This meant children would be in mainstream or special schools depending on their disability or learning difficulty. Since then there has been several changes in the law regarding the education of children with special needs. The term special educational needs means pupils who may need extra support in educational establishments because of mental, physical, medical or behavioural disabilities. This means that these children find it harder to learn because of their disabilities than other children of the same age. This can also be defined as children who have a …show more content…

In 1978 the Warnock Report, which was titled, ‘The Education of Handicapped Children’ was published. This radically changed the way in which pupils with special needs received their education stating that inclusion in mainstream schools was the way forward if it was the best for the pupil. Soon after, The Education Act (1981) changed the definition of special educational needs so that an increasingly amount of children needed to be assessed. This in turn meant that there were more pupils to be placed in the correct SEN educational establishment whether in mainstream or SEN schools. Since there are over 1.7 million children in the UK who are recognised to have special educational needs there are now more learning opportunities and options available with educators far more knowledgeable as how to provide the best education for these