The British Government's strategy for SEN: implications for the role and future development of special schools

Abstract

In July 2006, the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee reported on Special Educational Needs. The report expressed concern over the Government's policy on SEN, especially as it relates to inclusion and to the confusion this has created for special schools. In this article I shall attempt to tease out what I believe to be the government's policy on special schools, drawing on the 2004 report Removing Barriers to Achievement: the Government's Strategy for SEN and other related documents. From an analysis of the texts and drawing on my own lengthy experience working in special schools, I believe two central themes emerge for the role of special schools: (a) that of providing schooling for pupils with the most severe and complex SEN; and (b) using their expertise to provide outreach support to mainstream schools for pupils with SEN.The writer is currently following an EdD course of study at the Institute of Education, University of London and this article draws on an assignment he prepared on Contemporary Policy.