Introduction: the English National Curriculum,
literacy and children with special educational needs
With the increased inclusion of children with significant special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream primary classrooms, it is essential that teachers’ knowledge and skills are adequate to meet children’s needs. At the heart of the English National Curriculum and the National Literacy Strategy (now the Primary National Strategy) are twin notions of literacy acquisition and ‘range’.
Key issues to consider:
- Children with special educational needs (SEN) may spend longer on acquiring literacy skills at a slower rate than their peers. Should literacy skills take precedence over the ‘range’ of the English Curriculum?
- Or should encounters with a wide variety of texts as speakers and listeners, readers and writers be seen as an entitlement for all children, including those with SEN and/or literacy difficulties?
- In what ways do such encounters contribute to the development of literacy skills?
If classrooms are to be truly inclusive, the starting point must be that a continuing involvement in the breadth, range and depth of the English curriculum is as important for children who have SEN as for all children. This discussion therefore takes into account the following:
- the needs of children, who for many different reasons, have difficulties in acquiring literacy skills as readers, writers and spellers
- the needs of children with SEN working within the NLS/PNS which is the main method of teaching the English NC in primary schools
- access to the English NC for children with a broad range of SEN
Statistics
More than 18% of children in primary schools are formally identified as having special educational needs. DfES figures show that in schools in England in 2006:
- 17.3% of children of primary age are on the special needs register without a statement
- 1.6% of children of primary age have a statement of educational need
- in primary and secondary schools the incidence of pupils with special needs without statements is 1 in every 5 for boys) and 1 in every 8 for girls. For children with statements, the percentage is much higher for boys (around 1 in 37 boys) than it is for girls (around 1 in every 100 girls)
- children with special needs are also twice as likely to be receiving Free School Meals
(DfES, SFR 23/2006 22 June 2006)
The majority of these children experience literacy difficulties of some kind and are a source of concern for primary classroom teachers who bear the main responsibility for their literacy progress alongside all other children in the class. Classroom teachers are supported to differing degrees by the school Special Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and Teaching or Learning Support Assistants.
In addition in English primary schools there is also a large ‘tail of underachievement’ in literacy – some children who are part of this ‘tail’ are on the special needs register while others are not. The issue of gender is an important in relation to underachievement, with boys continuing to under-perform in relation to girls.
In 2006 in Key Stage Teacher Assessments for 7 year olds:
- 20% of boys and 11% of girls attained less than Level 2 in Reading (15.5% overall)
- 24% of boys and 13 % of girls attained less than Level 2 in Writing (18.5% overall)
(Many children taking the tests are only 6 years old),
(DfES, SFR 30/2006 24 August 2006)
In Key Stage 2 tests for 11 year olds:
- 21% of boys and 13% of girls attained less than Level 4 in Reading (17% of children overall)
- 41% of boys and 25% of girls attained less than Level 4 in Writing (33% of children overall)
(DfES, SFR 31/2006 24 August 2006)
According to these national assessments and tests therefore, writing is a major area of difficulty for boys in relation to girls, but is an area of concern for all children in relation to reading.
References
DfES (2006) Special Educational Needs in England, 2006
 
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