The SEND Code of Practice (Department for Education [DfE] & Department of Health [DoH], 2015) sets out guidance and expectations in relation to identifying, assessing and providing for children with special educational needs. It tells us in relation to identification:
A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision that is different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age (p. 94 paragraph 6.15)
A child has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
- ‘has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age'; or
- 'has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream early years settings, schools or post-16 settings’.
(SEND Code of Practice, 2015, pg. 15).
The Code of Practice (2015) and Children and Families Act (2014) make it clear that settings have to meet the needs of all children with SEND, including those who do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).