We need pupils to be given more opportunities to learn about horticulture and interact with nature.
Cumbersome and costly it may be, but such formal planning is needed for pupils with serious problems like Down syndrome or severe autism.
The banding system in secondary schools will also identify where extra support is needed and pupils who are falling behind will be offered more targeted help.
But Hobby noted that the attainment gap between special needs pupils and others had not changed.
Transition posters for special educational needs pupils moving into secondary school.
He retired as a full-time teacher in 1998 and now works as an early-intervention specialist with special-needs pupils in the Bronx.
Special schools with surplus places face funding cuts as a result of a change in the way provision for 'high needs' pupils will be funded from April 2013.
Under the new system mainstream schools will have to fund special needs pupils from their own budgets unless the cost exceeds £10,000.
Other key findings show boys are over three times more likely to be excluded than girls and special educational needs pupils account for 70 per cent of permanent exclusions – the highest number in any group.
If we accept that schools are communities with local needs, pupils, teachers, parents, governors and support agencies need to relate to each other, and share an understanding of the goals and targets of an effective school.
