Current figures on the percentage of children identified as having special educational needs (SEN) in England were listed as 18% (January 2024).
This figure only reports children already recognised in school as under-performing. There can be considerable differences between local authorities and schools concerning when and how SEN are managed depending on the resources and funding that are available locally.
The process of being identified as having SEN and then receiving support can run from months to years and these figures do not take into account the children whose issues are not "quite bad enough" to qualify for SEN support but who lack some of the physical skills needed to support learning in the classroom.
One way of improving the current lottery of who receives assessment and support would be to introduce national screening for all children at key stages in the education process, starting with the time of school entry.
In the 1980's basic screening of vision, audition and coordination was carried out by a school medical officer prior to school entry. This was phased out when it was decided that there was no general policy in place to help the children who failed aspects of the screening tests. Consequently, a percentage of children enter the school system lacking some of the basic physical skills needed to support key aspects of learning and often remain "hidden" for several years.
The INPP Screening Test is one tool designed to help teachers identify children in their class who may have immature neuromotor skills at an early stage in education. This can help to flag up issues related to immature neuromotor skills alerting teachers and schools to the need for possible referral, intervention or support before a child starts to fail.
The INPP Developmental Movement programme is designed to be used with a whole class of children for 10 minutes a day over the course of one school year under teacher supervision. It is not a panacea for all ills, but it can help to improve the neuromotor skills of some, providing a stable physical basis for control of posture (needed to sit still), balance (physical and emotional regulation), eye movements (reading) and hand-eye coordination (writing).
Training days in the application of the INPP Screening Test and School Intervention Programme are offered by INPP trainers at regular intervals