Training materials for teachers of learners with severe, profound and complex learning difficulties

The detailed learning outcomes covered in the introduction for the module are shown in the table below.

In broad brush terms, the learning outcomes for the Legislative Context materials identify and trace three important aspects of work associated with children with PMLD, SLD, and CLDD that are underpinned and secured by the legislation.

 

Rights	What are children entitled to?
Duties	Who should do what; what powers of authority help people to carry out tasks?
Procedures	How are rights and duties woven together?

As recently as forty years ago, children with SLD were not automatically entitled to education and were often considered incapable of being educated – sometimes described as ‘ineducable’. That is certainly not the case now.

Since 1971, legal safeguards have ensured that all children have a more equal chance of benefiting from education. In that year for the first time, the Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970 granted all children of compulsory school age the right to an education. This entitlement continues to this day under the Education Act 1996.

Legislation has not only provided the critical checks and balances needed to progress equal rights. It has also helped to drive the overall direction of policy and set the threshold beyond which we, as a society, agree that provision will not fall.

The Green Paper Support and Aspiration suggests amendments aimed at overcoming inherent weaknesses in the current system.

 

 

• Children do not have a voice.
• Teachers are given insufficient training and support.
• Too many assessments are involved.
• Appropriate support can be too difficult to access.
• The appeals process is costly.