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Making Sense of SEN Special Educational Needs a Guide for Donors and Grant-Makers

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Making Sense of SEN Special Educational Needs a Guide for Donors and Grant-Makers Making sense of SEN Special educational needs a guide for donors and grant-makers February 2004 Written by David Boyle and Eleanor Burton Making Sense of SEN February 2004 Sector: Education Sub-sector: Special Educational Needs Executive Summary This report provides a guide to grant-makers and donors seeking to understand and support children with special educational needs. Its findings show how well- placed philanthropy can have a significant effect on the lives of a large number of children. One child in six in England has special educational needs, which range from requiring additional support from their teacher in the classroom to requiring permanent full-time care. The number of children is growing in certain categories. Children who are not receiving adequate educational provision risk impairing their academic, personal and social development, which shape their life-chances and the contribution that they are capable of making to society. Central Government expresses commitment to special educational needs, alongside their education policy commitment, and much has been done in recent years. However, there remain significant numbers of children not receiving all the support they require in the most appropriate fashion due to inconsistent local delivery. Inadequate support is in part due to inevitable funding constraints. The involvement of government in special educational needs should not deter donors. We have identified a number of roles for the voluntary sector which are essential if children are to achieve their potential more fully. These are additional to the responsibilities of schools. Including all children in mainstream schools has created additional tension in the system. The teaching expertise and confidence required to address the needs of all children has not always been well provided for in the mainstream schools. The voluntary sector has a vital role here in transferring their expertise to schools. The assessment of a child’s needs is also highly variable and the process of gaining provision from the local education authority has become one of the greatest issues for parents to face when their child has special educational needs. Our research has revealed that there are major inconsistencies here that can be addressed through targeted support from the voluntary sector. There are a number of other diverse roles for the voluntary sector, which range from advocacy to academic research and from supporting families to supporting teaching staff themselves. We have in all instances identified roles that are additional to commitments of the state or which lead to leveraged influence through encouraging additional state spending. We recommend funding those organisations and activities that can leverage the state’s resources, enhance the capacity of schools to deliver education, improve the understanding of each condition and the teaching methods required, and support the parents that are dealing with a complex and changing picture of provision. Our recommendations are more fully outlined in Sections 3 and 4, together with the Conclusion, and we would welcome the opportunity to review these with interested donors and grant-makers. New Philanthropy Capital Special Educational Needs 1 Introduction The purpose of this report This report provides a guide for donors interested in funding projects to help those with special educational needs. Its purpose is to provide the information and analysis required to understand more fully the extent of the issue, and the types of response offered by the state and by voluntary sector organisations. The outcomes generated by such interventions are covered in order to guide donors towards those with the greatest likelihood of fulfilling an unmet need. This report is addressed to all donors ranging from private individuals, who may be relatively new to the subject, to grant-makers with extensive experience in the area. When we refer to ‘donors’ we include grant-makers, private individuals, companies or anyone else wishing to donate funds or provide grants, goods or services. Funding projects in this field can be far from straightforward. There are numerous views regarding best practice in the education of children with special educational needs, for example. This means donors need to be well informed before making their funding decisions. We have aimed to guide donors to the greatest gaps in provision and delivery that we have uncovered in the course of our research. This enables donors to target their resources more efficiently. We have detailed reports on specific organisations to assist in grant-making which we would be happy to discuss in detail should a funder wish to develop grants. The scope and content of this report The report is based on research carried out through extensive meetings with voluntary organisations, academics, education authorities and schools. We have made use of primary research, charities’ reports and evaluations, as well as interviews with experts in the field. We have concentrated on children aged from 5 to 18 (although are also aware that much effective practice occurs at pre-school age and would reserve this for future research) and on those charities that are working to provide educational input, or to improve children’s access to education in their schools, rather than those who are working in a more recreational sense. The different UK education systems and the quite different legislation and regulation mean that on many occasions it was necessary to focus on the English system only. There is a pressing need for special educational needs to be better understood and better provided for in our education system. As the process of including more children with these needs into mainstream schools accelerates, there are problems arising that may be ameliorated by the voluntary sector. Expertise and experience from the voluntary sector are able to bring benefit to the state sector, to the teaching staff and support staff in schools, and to the children themselves. Since it would be impossible to cover all of the myriad projects that have been effective in their aims and operations, we have aimed to provide a practical guide to the subject. We give examples of organisations that are involved in varied ways. (Owing to the enormous range of work that is happening, it should be noted that organisations are mentioned as examples and omission does not imply a negative assessment.) There are several categories of special educational needs that formed the starting point for projects to visit. For practical reasons, we have aimed to cover the categories with greatest prevalence and growth. We have not been able to visit every organisation that works in the field but have set out to cover those where their aims are either directly educational or very closely involved with education. We will continue to research effective projects in this area in the future in order to increase our coverage. The report sets out, firstly, the need for provision and the trends in prevalence of the main categories. Secondly, we cover the role of government and where the system contains gaps. The third section covers the role of the voluntary sector, where services have evolved over time to fill these gaps and improve provision. The outcomes that result from various interventions are then covered in the fourth section. We provide a listing of many of the organisations at the end of the report for reference. Precise funding recommendations are available separately and we welcome enquiries from donors wishing to enlarge on this. We believe that the report will both inform and guide donors, firstly on the case for support, and secondly on the approaches that can be used to give effective support. Should you wish to discuss our findings please contact Eleanor Burton ([email protected]). New Philanthropy Capital Special Educational Needs 2 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 Section 1: Need ............................................................................................................. 4 Defining special educational needs............................................................................................4 Identification ...............................................................................................................................6 The need for provision................................................................................................................8 Trends in prevalence................................................................................................................10 Summary: The need for a response.........................................................................................11 Section 2: Delivery - the role of government............................................................ 12 Commitment.............................................................................................................................13 Identification of special educational needs ...............................................................................19 Summary: The need for the voluntary sector ...........................................................................24 Section 3: Delivery - the role of the voluntary sector.............................................. 25 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................25
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