SEND | Schools Week

Where are we now with special needs?

Schools in England are half way through the implementation of the biggest special educational needs and disability (SEND) reforms in a generation. The start of the process saw every school implement three immediate reforms to the way SEND is addressed: SEN information reports, SEN support, and education, health and care plans (EHCPs). Malcolm Reeve looks […]

SEND reforms: Past, Present and Future

The Children and Families Act came into effect in September 2014, with a revised special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice and a programme of implementation until April 2018. But half way through the reform, it has divided opinion to such an extent that two parallel Westminster reviews are underway. So what’s happened […]

SEND: Thinking the unthinkable

Poor choices for parents and pupils; funding cuts; academisation; dwindling local authority budgets: dark clouds are hanging over SEND reform, says Barney Angliss David Cameron teased up last autumn’s spending review, thus: “…with a smarter state, we can spend less and deliver more.” Reform of special education needs and disabililities (SEND) has not been particularly […]

Special schools are being ‘left out’ by academy system

Special schools are at risk of being “lost” as the government moves towards an all-academy system, a special educational needs and disability (SEND) school leader has warned. Simon Knight, deputy headteacher at Frank Wise school in Oxford (pictured), said he was worried that multi-academy trusts (MATs) saw secondary and primary schools as their “leader” and […]

Why the culture around SEND needs to change

Law firm Baker Small was criticised in many media this week for boasting about defeating parents of children with special needs in tribunals. But their behaviour is not isolated, says Tania Tirraoro – it is illustrative of broader cultural attitudes The Children and Families Act 2014 was supposed to transform parents’ experience of getting help […]

Schools not getting enough funding to support SEND pupils, 8 in 10 heads say

Schools are not getting enough funding to provide for pupils with special educational needs (SEND), according to more than eight in ten school leaders. The survey by The Key, a leadership and management support service, also revealed that almost 90 per cent of school leaders thought cuts to council services had a “detrimental impact” on […]

Why some children with language needs are being missed

What have you been working on? A study on language impairment at school entry age, and how we can better identify, diagnose and treat language disorders. Using a sample of 7,267 state school children in Surrey, we assessed language, non-verbal IQ (NVIQ), social, emotional, and behavioural problems among 529 pupils aged 5 to 6. The […]

‘How the new SEND statement replacements work’

A new special educational needs (SEN) system has been in place for more than a year. But have the changes been positive? Laxmi Patel gives them a broad thumbs up – but warns that cuts are taking their toll 1. More involvement from children, young people and families The new system puts children and young people […]