ABSTRACT
The 1983 Education Act set up a procedure for identifying a child with special educational needs, carrying out an assessment of the child's needs and, where necessary, providing a statement and making provision. The 1993 Education Act follows this procedure. Adopting the stages of assessment put forward in the Warnock Report (DES, 1978), the Code of Practice of the 1993 Education Act (DfE, 1994a) has introduced a staged approach to the identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs. In addition, the Code of Practice recommends the practices and procedures to implement its principles which are summarized as follows:
All children with SEN should be identified as early and as quickly as possible
Provision for children with SEN should be made by the most appropriate authority, which will usually be the child's mainstream school
Where needed, the LEA must make assessments and statements in accordance with the time limits, must write clear and thorough statements, and carry out annual reviews of provision
The wishes of the child should be taken into account considered in the light of his or her maturity and understanding
There must be close cooperation with all the agencies concerned and a multidisciplinary approach must be used.
