A bit about the Law and Definitions

This part of the training will help you to understand the terms which are used and their legal basis.

Much of the legislation is based on a medical model and therefore describes a condition which will needs extra support. If you want to find out more and see this illustrated have a look at the Children and Families Act 2014 and Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years.

The key legislation driving the current national expansion of childcare for school-age children (including Wraparound) is the Childcare Act 2006. The act requires local authorities to secure sufficient provision which enables families to work, or undertake work related activity. Within the act “disabled children” are specifically referred to as a key group to consider the needs of.

The Childcare Act uses the term “disabled children” directly referencing the Equality Act 2010.

According to the Equality Act 2010, a disability is a physical or mental impairment, which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on someone’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

We believe in a social definition of the term disability, that children (and adults) are disabled by society, rather than the disability or “condition” being an issue owned by the individual. We recognise that all children and adults have equal value and that it is our collective responsibility to support a warm welcome and can do approach which is truly inclusive.

Often, we hear disabled children referred to as those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This stems from the national focus on support children’s education entitlements and securing appropriate provision for them in both early years settings and schools. Whilst it’s important to recognise we are considering the needs of disabled children outside of the school day, it is worth understanding the legislation that sits within it as this may determine your thinking about how different the two situations are, and therefore how different children’s needs are too.

The following questions highlight some additional needs / disabilities. What percentage of children/ young people do you think might have these needs?

Note that some children and young people may have more than one type of need.

Figures taken from here (PDF). There are no up to date statistics for the wraparound sector but the figures found here give a context in terms of information reported by schools.