The SEND system is broken, as any of us who have tried to navigate it know all too well. It often leaves parents fighting for what they know their child needs, schools under-resourced and too many children not getting the education they deserve.
Last year, I ran a local event and online survey to hear from parents and carers around what improved SEND support would need to do. I also heard from a number of local schools and shared all this local feedback with the Education Secretary directly to help shape change.
Our Government has set out a range of proposals, not seeking to patch up the broken SEND system, but to create a new SEND system. I want to hear your views on these, and I’ll again share them directly with the Education Secretary. In addition to the event I’m holding bringing local people together to discuss these proposals on Saturday 25th April, I’m running this online survey until 4th May to hear from as many people as possible.
Please do share your thoughts below and please feel free to share this survey with others who live in this constituency.
Thank you,
Claire
Background from the Government on their proposed changes to improve SEND support:
We know that too many children and families have been let down by the current system – forced to fight for support that should simply be there. That is not acceptable, and these reforms are designed to fix it.
We’re re-shaping the SEND system to make all mainstream early years settings, schools and colleges truly inclusive. We’re investing billions of pounds to adapt classrooms and corridors, train teachers, educators and assistants, and bring experts like speech and language therapists into settings.
There will be clear legal duties, standards and expectations for schools, colleges, early years settings, local authorities and healthcare services, and real accountability when these are not met.
All children and young people with SEND will have an Individual Support Plan. For the children and young people who have complex needs, over and above what can routinely be provided by mainstream settings, EHCPs will be retained and improved.
Special schools and alternative provision will take on a dual role – continuing to provide high-quality education for children with the most complex needs, while also acting as outreach hubs to support mainstream settings.
Further information on the specific proposals can be found here, which may be helpful to have open as you complete the survey.