§ Mr. CoakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the adequacy of specialist nursery provision for children who are deaf; and if he will make a statement. [123772]
§ Jacqui SmithInspection of specialist and mainstream early education provision is carried out by Ofsted. The inspectors check whether staff in the settings are following the Desirable Learning Outcomes (to be replaced with the new Early Learning Goals in September 2000) and are having regard to the Code of Practice on the identification and assessment of special educational needs (SEN).
Where settings cater mainly for children with SEN, the inspection is undertaken by an inspector who is specially trained by Ofsted to inspect SEN provision, using additional guidance developed by Ofsted for this purpose.