Special educational needs in primary and secondary school brochures in England

Abstract

The enhanced status of the school brochure in governmental strategy and the reasons for its study provide the opening considerations. There follow a presentation of the sample of brochures and an examination of changes that have occurred over time to the nature of the requirement concerning information about special educational needs which should be included. In the primary school brochure a major feature of SEN is its presentation in the form of a continuum of individual learning, with the addition of in-school support or technical external support. The primary brochure now places more emphasis upon policies for the able pupil, but the presentation of SEN matters to the lay reader as self-evidently true, without clear exposition, persists. The secondary school brochure reveals changes in the arrangements for SEN pupils, in-class support having increased and withdrawal from class decreased. The emphasis upon enrichment measures for able pupils has grown, but the question of the absence of a statement concerning SEN persists.