In May, we submitted our response to the Department for Education’s consultation on the special education needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms proposed in the Every child achieving and thriving white paper.
The ambition to address where SEND support has broken down, or is non-existent in some cases, is warmly welcomed.
Now is the time to act and children deserve a system built to be inclusive and equitable from the start.
As an organisation delivering high-quality independent Alternative Provision (APs) schools, colleges and employability support; we know that getting SEND support right in schools can transform lives and boost confidence for children and young people who experienced previous difficulties in their learning.
We also know that lots of challenging situations such as family breakdown, entering the care system, and experiencing poverty may affect social, emotional and mental health thereby influencing learning readiness.
We are grateful for the opportunity to share our expertise and evidence with the Department for Education on what we see as the strengths of the White Paper, as well as our concerns.
What we think the White Paper got right
- Recognising the importance of SEND training for teachers in mainstream classrooms
- Targeting early identification and promoting diagnosis to get support as early as possible
- Recognising that additional funding is needed to provide increased access to specialist professionals, including educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, through the establishment of the Experts at Hand and Inclusion Bases
- Developing the National Inclusion Standards is vital to further embed high-quality evidence and help inform best practice
What we think needs further development
- The White Paper acknowledges the important role of Alternative Provision in specialist support but remains unclear on how this provision would help to achieve the government’s SEND reform success
- Independent Support Plans for every child with SEND could create plenty of documentation but still leave a deficit in the resource or knowledge to meaningfully adapt classrooms. This is where temporary Alternative Provision placements could help link expertise and enhance the offer in mainstream schools through the insight and expertise from AP staff
- There is significant potential to enhance how families can help shape SEND support for their child.
- Schools and local authorities must outline clear pathways to influence the SEND offer in their schools, and the role families can take in sharing experience to improve practice
- Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs intersect with other learning needs and disabilities. There is lack of clarity on what is defined as ‘complex SEMH’ and when this might trigger external placement.
- The proposed renaming of this area from ‘Social, Emotional and Mental Health’ to ‘Social and Emotional’ raises further questions about where clinical mental health needs sit in the new system, and how this would align with important government initiatives like Young Futures Hubs and Mental Health Support Teams in schools
The benefits of delivering a robust, inclusive, and holistic SEND support ecosystems are widespread and long term.
With the Education for All bill pending, we look forward to continuing to share our expertise with the government to help to achieve this.