The Education Select Committee today released a major report calling for a fundamental overhaul of how mainstream education supports children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England.
In it, the cross-party committee calls for a cultural shift in mainstream education, to improve inclusivity in all schools, and focus on early identification and intervention. Its members also call on Government to invest in both the education and health services’ workforces, to ensure that the health service steps up to its role in solving the SEND crisis, and to improve collaboration between the two sectors.
Recommendations made in their report resonate with work in Devon improve inclusion in mainstream schools, and to raise the bar for what pupils and families could expect as ordinarily available provision.
Speaking in response to the Education Select Committee, Councillor Denise Bickley, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for services that support children and young people with SEND, said:
“It’s reassuring to hear the Select Committee’s announcement today, and to recognise that what they’re recommending could come directly from our own Devon local area SEND improvement programme.
“We believe that SEND should be integral to mainstream education, not an add on. That’s why we are working hard with our education partners to achieve real inclusivity in all of our schools so that as many young people as possible can successfully attend their local school alongside their friends and peers.
“At the same time, we are working to increase the availability and regional spread of special school places for children whose needs can’t be met in mainstream schools.
“We firmly believe that early identification of needs is essential, as is the right level of support provided in the right place and at the right time, to prevent young people becoming disengaged from their education and to ensure that needs are met to avoid escalation .
“What we really need is a fundamental reform of the entire national SEND system and the wider education sector is needed to meet today’s challenges, alongside a fair review of the funding formula to assist with Devon’s geographical and rural challenges. We’re eagerly awaiting the Government’s white paper which cannot come soon enough. This council has been doing more with less for a long time. We want to get it right for Devon’s families, but we need the resources to do so.”
