Academy trust boss Tom Rees will lead a new expert panel to oversee reforms to make mainstream schools more inclusive as part of the government’s plan to fix the broken system for pupils with special needs.
Dame Christine Lenehan, the former director of the Council for Disabled Children, has also been appointed the government’s “strategic advisor” on SEND.
She will advise ministers on the next steps for the future of SEND playing “a key role in engaging the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families”, the Department for Education said.
Rees’ expert advisory group will advise ministers on improving mainstream education experiences for youngsters with SEND “so that all children feel like they belong”.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said while she “wants the best trusts to grow”, she “knows the current system incentivised some to adopt a competitive, rather than a collaborative model, and others to avoid more challenging communities”.
“But that chase for a narrow shadow of excellence, the kind that only succeeds by pushing problems onto others, that ends now.”
‘Schools avoiding challenging kids ends now’
Speaking at the Confederation of School Trusts’ conference, Phillipson said: “With the support of trust leaders and CST we will move to an approach rooted in partnership, finding what works, ending what doesn’t.
“We want to create certainty for all children, parents and teachers in a core offer of education. I expect all schools regardless of type to support each other to drive a self-improving system.”
Phillipson also revealed she’s bringing together “leading neurodiversity experts, including those with lived experience” to work in the Department for Education “to understand how to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream”.
This would “help us to understand how to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream in a way that works for neurodivergent children and young people and will work closely with the NHS ADHD taskforce.”
The “neurodivergence task and finish group” will provide “an expert scientific view on identifying neurodivergent traits in children and young people” and make recommendations on the best way to support them in education, the DfE said.
Membership of this panel and the expert advisory group will be announced “in due course”.
Phillipson added: “We have to get this right. A comprehensive system of support from birth to age 25. The key to delivering all of this achieving and thriving for all our children is collaboration.”
Concern £1bn SEND cash won’t reach kids
Leora Cruddas, CST’s chief executive, said while they welcomed the extra £1 billion in high needs funding announced at the budget, “we are a bit worried the money won’t reach children and have lasting impact”. She said they are in discussions with DfE officials on the issue.
In response, Phillipson said they are “determined to make sure that money goes out the door in terms of provision for children and families”.
Government budget documents published last week stated councils will have “discretion” on how they will spend the additional cash, but the Treasury predicts “it is very likely that they will use the funding to reduce their in-year deficit”.
Pushed on when the sector might find out more detail on DfE’s SEND plans, Phillipson said it is a “really complex area”, adding: “I wouldn’t want to put a precise timeline around that because I think what matters most is that we get it right.
“I understand the sense of impatience and the urgency and the need for change. But equally what I hear from families in particular is that the last thing they would want is… for any reform to not work in the long-term interests of their children.”
Phillipson also confirmed that their pledge of 6,500 new teachers would be spread over the five years of parliament, as first revealed by Schools Week.
I have worked with SEND pupils for over 33 years as a senior HLTA many with so called behaviour issues. Usually known as “naughty kids” i obviously love my job but unfortunately our school has been taken over by an Academy who has made it quite clear that they don’t agree with Send pupils being in mainstream stream schools.
Under their new jobs updates I have been told that the amazing job I’ve been doing with the SEND department (many of the pupils with behaviour difficulties) for 32 years is NO longer required? No reason or explanation. Instead the only choice i was given was redundancy or the role as PLC manager. The plc is a room where the bad/naughty kids are sent to be babysat/work.
This room is in a block of the school that consists of the plc and the C5 isolation room. Again for the “difficult pupils” This academy has NO time for the pupils who are not likely to get gd grades for the sch. Some of their ideas are disgusting.
The Plc is in an area that is completely isolated and is permanently on lock down. With only staff having key card’s. This block is so negative. Not being in the situation to accept redundancy i took on this role even though I DON’T agree with any of the ways these kids are treated. Its absolutely disgusting. These pupils/any pupils should NOT be locked away, ignored or continually being punished for not being able to cope with the situation. This results in a never ending circle of unacceptable neglect and ignorance.
In taking this role I’m trying desperately hard to improve the plc but obviously being “only” a lowly HLTA (which apparently this academy doesn’t recognise or need) I am constantly being overruled at every turn by SLT who prefer both me and the pupils to be nonexistent. I lv working with these kids but feel so useless and that I’m letting them down. I’m obviously extremely passionate about any of the work I do/have done over the many years and feel extremely grateful/blessed for almost every opportunity/experience. I always feel loved and valued by the kids I work with. That’s s why I do the job I do however we desperately NEED to review all aspects of inclusivity and integration for all our children.
I’m not sure if anyone will read this but if there is any way I can be involved with these new policies or schemes in any way I would be extremely grateful for an acknowledgement and any advice/information on how I can help or become involved.
A framework that supports safe environments where the incentive is to build healthy partnerships to collectively identify the real issues, address the root causes and come to shared understanding is what has always been important. Whether it be education systems or criminal justice systems, the processes, often incentivised by funding, are the problem. In education this has led to more and more children and young people not fitting into the system and staff, parents/carers and support agencies frustrated by feeding the system rather than meeting the needs of children and young people. The evidence based version of the restorative practices framework does this but has also been diluted often through poor quality implementation in search of a ‘quick fix’ .
The problem with everything Bridget Philipson says is – like many politicians – she has decided the solution before the consultation.
There is a refusal to accept there is no amount of staff training that can turn a 1500 capacity mainstream secondary into an environment that can also support autistic children who need a smaller, calmer environment.
There is a refusal to accept that many subject specialist secondary staff really have no interest in supporting SEN children (I’ve known a few complain about how inclusion equals disruption). I don’t blame them for this.
There is also a refusal to ask why some independent SEN schools are achieving far better outcomes, because the answers are politically uncomfortable.
(Small class sizes, subject specialist teaching, proper therapeutic provision rather than throwing TAs at children for both subject support and to run interventions)
I don’t detect any real appetite to get things right – it’s clear that the real driver is the unsustainable cost of a failing system – get the kids enrolled in mainstream on paper, keep them out of the mainstream classrooms to avoid disruption, let them fall out at 16 with minimal qualifications. Job done
I work in a school in East London that was one of the first mainstream schools that piloted inclusion in the whole country. We have a specialist Resourced Provision within a mainstream school that caters for pupils with complex learning needs. The work that we have done as a school, have been recognized by the DfE in a variety of ways, this includes one of the pioneering teachers to be honored with an MBE. I would very much appreciate an opportunity to be part of the team that will contribute to the SEND curriculum review.