SEND, Assistive Technology, Government Data, and Pressure Cookers

Conversations with #Teachers: Julia's #NasenLIVE2023 Conference

July 7th loomed as the most important date on my calendar this year. I say "loomed" because I had been invited to join the ranks of highly regarded educational speakers and give a seminar to the people I respect the most: dedicated and discerning #SENCos, #seniorleaders and student-focused professionals.

I have given a few important seminars this year, one in Malta as part of a national conference on the adoption of #scanningpens, and another at #GloucestershireUniversity to the #NASENCo Level 7 students on the Literacy #ToolboxApproach. But I must admit, my sleep in the preceding week had been quite restless.

The 7th of July marked the date of the soft launch of the #nasenAssistiveTechnologyMiniguide, an implementation booklet that had taken four years of nurturing into existence and would, at last, be available to my peers. I hoped it would be well-received, and that my talk would do justice to the hours of work that had been invested.

I am both relieved and delighted to tell you that my talk and the AT miniguide soft launch were great successes, and I certainly did enjoy the opportunity to share and celebrate very much. However, as I caught up with my community, the conversations also steered towards how essential the guidance would be in light of the growing numbers of SEND students and the diversity of needs to be managed. SENCos from across the UK told me about the challenge of trying to square the ever-expanding circle of need for resources, funding, better expertise, greater agency, and time.

I then fully realized how valuable this AT miniguide would be in providing a pathway for solutions. Also, how appreciated the time-saving AT support would be to help gain a fast understanding of what potential tools could ameliorate SEN challenges. By the end of the day, I felt the weight of the challenge for SENCos, and the end-of-term tiredness around me, but I was also elated to realise I had provided a free resource that could be downloaded from the nasen webpage and put into good use immediately. I had done something useful, valuable, and philanthropic. (Get your copy here! https://nasen.org.uk/atminiguide)

One of the topics of discussion that repeated throughout the day was that the number of students with SEND was booming and the challenge had become migraine-inducing.

The government recently released data on the state of Special Educational Needs (SEN) in England, combining information from a number of sources, including state-funded schools, independent schools, and general hospital schools. By examining the breakdowns based on factors like the type of provision, age, gender, and ethnicity, the data gives an interpretation of the current landscape of SEN needs.

(Read it in full here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen )

The headline figures indicate exactly what the SENCos were telling me, that there has been a very significant increase in the number of pupils identified as having SEND. The study confirms that over 1.5 million pupils now fall into this category, an 87,000 pupil increase from the previous year. This means that the overall percentage of students with SEND has risen from 16.6% to 17.3%. This enormous challenge has already triggered a cluster headache for schools and teachers who have been attempting to provide support in over-stretched, funding-poor, time-poor, and expertise-drained schools.

Autism continues to be the primary need for many children with an EHCP, and Speech, Language, and Communication Needs remain the most common type of need for students receiving SEN support, followed closely behind with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health needs.

The stalwart nasen LIVE 2023 attendees told me that finding ways to ensure appropriate support and provision was both stressful and an increasingly baffling equation to solve.

Just to drill down a little more into the report, according to the data, SEN appears to be most prevalent among 10-year-old students and continues to be more prevalent in boys compared to girls, although this gender gap is gradually narrowing. I am certain that we still don't really know the extent of girls who have additional needs because they tend to slide quietly under the radar as they mask their way through the school day.

Although the latest data on Special Educational Needs in England offers valuable insights into the current state of SEN and highlights areas that require further attention, I remain certain that better provision could be achieved by ensuring access to assistive technology. And to be clear here, I don't just mean digital provision, although that will help greatly. I absolutely mean that it will only be when teachers adopt the use of assistive technology and make using and demonstrating it a part of their normal way of teaching that we will be able to reduce the disparities and address common needs among students potentially staving off escalating challenges that will inevitably result from not getting the support needed at the point of need.

Assistive technology is our greatest chance of creating a more inclusive and equitable educational environment for all because although it is essential for some, it certainly is useful for all.

I do hope you will navigate your way to nasen, where you can download your copy of the AT miniguide for free. Now we need is the investment that will enable the acquisition tools and skills that will help our young people achieve equity of access to learning.

It's time for a systematic investment before the pressure cooker blows, which is what is likely to happen if we keep running the system on the professional steam of SENCos and fail to add liquidity.

Post note: my thanks to empoweringtec.com for enabling this guide to be written and provided for free and to nasen for their fantastic support and guidance.