ABSTRACT
The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, which was implemented in 1994, underwent review and revision by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE), now the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and incorporated several important changes, implemented from January 2002. For Early Years practitioners, one of the most important of these changes is the inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) in Early Years provision, whether this is a formal educational setting or an approved network of childminders. The Code is written in language that is broadly school- or education-based and, while acknowledging that this may appear to exclude non-maintained provision, it emphasises that 'provider' means all settings in which Early Years children appear.
