England’s biggest council has shelved proposals as part of a new inclusion strategy to overhaul what it called “restrictive” special schools after legal threats from leaders.
The revamp was planned by Kent council as part of widespread reforms to provision for pupils with special needs following damning Ofsted inspections.
But this week’s announcement is a reminder of the potential challenges ahead for the government in its push to make schools more inclusive, without providing additional funding.
70% opposed plan
Kent, a safety valve council, planned a raft of changes to get its spending on pupils with additional needs under control. It was criticised by Ofsted previously for failing to tackle “a lack of willingness” among some schools to “accommodate” children with SEND.
One of the more controversial proposals was to change the admission guidance and designated needs that some special schools cater for.
The authority hoped this would ensure pupils with more severe and complex needs could access places.
Seven schools’ designations would have changed under the plans. Most would change from catering for pupils with “communication and interaction” issues to those with “neurodivergent and learning difficulties”.
Christine McInnes, Kent’s director of education, previously told Schools Week that a third of special schools “reflect our selective system in secondary schools” as they have “very, very restrictive admissions criteria”.
Council papers also noted that some special schools have been “turning away the most complex pupils and in some cases recommending a mainstream school”.
Changes ‘won’t be implemented’
A consultation found 70 per cent of 1,350 respondents opposed the changes. Despite this, they were endorsed by a council committee towards the end of last year.
The decision was the subject of a legal challenge from parents supported by the Kent Special Educational Needs Trust (KsENT), which represents special schools in the region.
KsENT said the action was taken “in response to serious concerns about the potential for discrimination as well as the quality and transparency of the process behind the proposed changes”.
But a letter sent last week by the council’s legal representatives confirmed plans “to commence the prescribed alterations process” at the special schools will “not be implemented”.
The authority “is considering the matter afresh” and will settle “on how to proceed once it has completed the further work and gathered the additional information it considers necessary”, the letter added.
‘Shuddering halt’
Former Kent headteacher and education adviser Peter Read believes this represents a “major setback” for the authority, bringing its special school review “to a shuddering halt”.
“It is difficult to see what KCC now does next, as it remains under extreme pressure from the government to deliver on the safety valve requirements.”
Stephen Kingdom, of the Disabled Children’s Partnership, added the case shows “change is difficult, but what’s important is that authorities and government talk to parents and bring parents [and school leaders] along with them. Otherwise, you get in the position where you have to backtrack, which wastes time and resources.”
KsENT added “change is needed”, but it “must be on a basis of collaboration with meaningful involvement from those who lead, deliver and rely on special school education” across the county.
It believes the decision “provides a necessary pause” and “space for better planning, co-production and, above all, decision-making”.
A Kent council spokesperson stressed the authority remains “committed to ensuring there are the right school places to meet pupil need”.
It is working with three special schools “who are planning to expand their offer to children and young people with more complex needs”.
It is engaging with parents and leaders and this “will inform the decisions to be taken in due course on how to proceed”.
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