New guidance published on making education settings more inclusive

Community has been working alongside the DfE to look at new ways of helping all teachers and school staff to support children with special educational needs.

We have long made the case that intervention needs to start as early as possible and that early years professionals are trained and supported to identify additional needs. 

Today, the Council for Disabled Children and DfE have published new guidance that outlines the legal duties and how education settings can become more inclusive.  This will support schools, colleges and early years settings ahead of the SEND developments expected in the white paper next year.

Community’s Head of Education Policy, Martin Hodge said:

It is critical that help and support is available to children at the point of need as this helps educators to meet their needs, improving behaviour, learning and outcomes for everyone.

Community’s Operations Director, Helen Osgood said:

This new guidance from the CDC and the DfE is a welcome step forward. It rightly reinforces the legal duties on education settings while setting out a clear expectation that inclusion must be built into everyday practice. As a trade union, we know that truly inclusive education benefits everyone; disabled children and young people, their peers, and the staff who support them. But inclusion cannot rest on goodwill alone. It must be backed by proper funding, manageable workloads, high-quality training, and meaningful engagement with the education workforce. Our members look forward to working with employers, government, and families to ensure this guidance leads to real, positive change in classrooms and settings to ensure the best start in life for all children.

 The CDC has published a webinar, as well as resources to support education and early years staff navigate this new guidance. 

Resources and materials

Schools:

• The new webinar: Guides and training packages for schools on the Disability duties in the Equality Act
• Blogs: Embedding the disability duties in schools and A more inclusive future? The new series of CDC guides to the disability duties in the Equality Act
• Guides: Guides and training packages for schools on the Disability duties in the Equality Act
• Linkedin post

Early Years:

• Blog ‘The foundation of everything he’s achieving now’: a new guide and training package for early years providers on the disability duties in the Equality Act
• Training and guides Guide and training package for early years providers on the disability duties in the Equality Act
• Linkedin post

FEIs and 16-19 academies:

• Guides for FE colleges on the disability duties in the Equality Act