Responding to the National Audit Office’s report on the state of the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) system this week, Community’s Head of Education Policy Martin Hodge said:
We agree with the Secretary of State for Education that, as with the LGA/ISOS report from July, this report from the NAO is damning in its assessment of the problems within the system.
The SEND system is at a point of crisis which is leading to huge parental distrust, a failure of schools being able to meet the needs of pupils, and a complete collapse of the system.
The report highlights the scale of the problem affecting support staff and teachers within our schools and specialist workers providing support which is overwhelming local authorities and ravaging budgets across the country.
And we agree that there needs to be revolutionary reform of the system to address the problems.
However, we have serious concern over some of the report’s suggested solutions which seem to place a greater burden upon our already stretched mainstream schools. We have been clear that this cannot work without the proper funding and specialist support that has thus far been lacking.
What we would like to see is a system that works for parents, children and education settings. We need to identify needs early and quickly, starting in Early Years settings, through Health visitation and long before children arrive in schools and colleges. This will allow their needs to be met at a much earlier stage and for help to be provided at the point that it is needed. In order for this to happen there needs to be better access to support and assessment services and for that support to follow children as they progress through their education.
We continue to work alongside the government to raise these concerns and to investigate ways to address the problems so that no child has to suffer because of a broken system.
Join the union for Education and early years professionals
Community is the union for education and early years professionals: representing teachers, headteachers, education, school support staff and early years staff. With over fifty years’ experience, we represent members and campaign to improve conditions for education and early years professionals. We are a modern trade union, campaigning for a better working world.
If you are a member of Community and need advice or support, please contact our Service Centre at help@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.
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