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Nasen is passionate about improving the quality of special needs provision in the UK. Let's work together to help everyone achieve.
Nasen is passionate about improving the quality of special needs provision in the UK. Let's work together to help everyone achieve.
The Coalition Government has instituted far-reaching changes to the education system, all of which impact on the ability of teachers, school leaders and the wider school workforce to ensure that the needs of pupils with SEN can be met.
These policies have been accompanied by a raft of specific proposals, set out in the Coalition Government’s SEN Green Paper, published in March 2011, to change the ways in which special educational needs are identified and addressed.
The question that needs to be asked is – To what extent will these policies maintain and enhance further the ability of all children and young people with SEN to access provision they need to fulfil their full potential as learners?
Liberal Democrat Party Conference – Brighton – 24th September
Panel
Lorraine Petersen CEO nasen
Chris Keates – General Secretary NASUWT
Lord Addington – Liberal Democrat Peer
Chaired by Richard Garner – Education Editor – The Independent
Labour Party Conference – Manchester – 1st October
Lorraine Petersen CEO nasen
Chris Keates – General Secretary NASUWT
Sharon Hodgson – Shadow Minister of State for Children and Families
Chaired by Jack Grimston – Education Correspondent – The Sunday Times
Conservative Party Conference – Birmingham – 7th October
Lorraine Petersen CEO nasen
Chris Keates – General Secretary NASUWT
Robert Buckland MP (did not attend)
Chaired by Brian Lamb
My presentation at each event was setting the scene for the radical reforms that are currently being planned and to put these in the context of wider education reforms that are also taking place. I wanted to engage all of the delegates, irrespective of their political views in trying to understand the implications for such rapid and far – reaching policy changes across the sector.
The implications of the new SEND legislation will mean schools will:
At the same time schools will also need to consider all of the following:
On top of all of these changes are the radical reforms to the health service which will also impact on the provision of speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and CAMHS teams to name just three of the support service schools are likely to need to meet the needs of individual children.
Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary focused her presentation on the impact that cuts to local authority frontline services and the whole issue of proposed changes to school funding would have on the provision that schools would be able to offer for their most vulnerable young people.
http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Whatsnew/NASUWTNews/Nationalnewsitems/ScrutinyUrgedOverSENReforms
http://www.nasuwt.org.uk/Whatsnew/NASUWTNews/Nationalnewsitems/NASUWT_010120
At the Labour Party Conference, Sharon Hodgson MP used the platform to announce four policy announcements that were a result of the Labour Party SEN review that she had recently carried out:
During the three sessions many questions were asked by the audience, many which reinforced that the changes to the SEND framework were welcome but that many of the process questions still needed to be addressed.
Concerns over the current “postcode lottery” and would this be addressed by the local offer requirement in the draft legislation.
If personal budgets are going to be available to families with a child who has an Education, Health and Care Plan, where will this money come from, how much will it be, what can it be spent on and who will support families in how to spend it? It is hoped that the Pathfinders currently looking into this will be able to answer these questions in the not too distant future.
What are the chances for those young people with SEND aged 16+ being able to access appropriate provision that offers employment, education or training opportunities alongside their peers?
Questions were also asked about whether Pupil Premium was new money or funding taken from other sources – strong feeling that this should be ring-fenced to support the pupils it was targeted at.
Concern addressed about the health and social care provisions within the new plan. If these have no statutory element then will be plan be a statement by another name. Also given radical reforms within health service are they going to be able to offer schools the support they are going to need?
As I said in my summation – “It may appear that the government is fixing SEND – however in many areas there still appears to be a great deal of sticking plaster covering much deeper wounds.”
I would like to thank Chris Keates and her team from NASUWT for inviting me to speak at the three Party Conferences. I enjoyed meeting all those who attended the sessions who irrespective of their political persuasion were passionate about improving the system that supports the most vulnerable young people within our education system.
