Some Educational Leaders are NOT Helping Children with SEND
Some Educational Leaders are NOT helping our Children with SEND - Not One Bit
Polite note: As someone who is on the ground every day, I see exactly what is occurring in schools and for families of children with SEND. I also know that there are some excellent, dedicated, and supportive leaders doing everything they possibly can to support children with SEND and champion their rights but - some aren’t.
Anyone who reads my writing will know that in the interests of the needs, protections, and rights of our children, I will be forthright when I see some leaders GETTING IT WRONG!?
Kent Council has a new target for 80% of pupils with EHCPs to be in mainstream schools.?
The accelerated progress plan (APP) has been agreed by the ‘Department for Everything We Can Do to Save Money’ (DfE).
The DfE is pushing for the education system to be “more inclusive” amid a crisis in special school places and soaring high-needs deficits.?
Matt Keer of Special Needs Jungle,?Frazer Westmorland, headteacher at Mundella Primary School, and?Margaret Mulholland, SEND specialist at the ASCL school leaders’ union have - rightly raised concerns.?
Yes. The Kent council’s target will put ‘the life chances of hundreds more pupils at risk’
Yes. Arbitrary targets” could act as a barrier to appropriate provision. Replace ‘could’ with ‘will’
Yes. The targets ‘are driven by cost rather than needs of children.”
OF COURSE THEY ARE!!!
And then we have?Mike Walters, chair of the Kent Association of Headteachers, who seemingly is entirely out of touch with reality.
The APP target ‘may prove challenging to meet’ he said, but to improve provision and outcomes?for children with SEND “we need to be very ambitious in the targets we set ourselves”.
I don’t know where to start with this statement which represents some of the most absurd waffle I’ve read in a while.?
First of all, this ‘target’ should not exist and I cannot believe senior leaders are even considering it.?
Of course, it would be challenging to meet! Impossible!
Impossible because you cannot meet the needs of children with SEND in mainstream settings as things stand.
Not now, not in 6 months, and, probably not in 6 years.
It cannot be said by anyone who truly understands the needs of our children with SEND that their needs can be met in mainstream.
They can’t. And the reason they can’t is because - wait for it - it’s MAINSTREAM!
Saying - as the DfE has - that they want mainstream schools to become more inclusive indicates that they have no idea what inclusion looks like because if they did, they would know that the ONLY way for mainstream schools to become inclusive is to SPEND MONEY - and they don’t want to do that.
They want inclusion.
So do I.
Ok. Let’s have it.
Are they going to pay for every educational professional to be trained in Universal Design for Learning (UDL)?
Are they going to fund classrooms that are adapted to accommodate a variety of sensory needs?
Are they going to fund sensory spaces for light therapy, emotional regulation, calm time?
Are they going to fund the number of 1 to 1 support assistants children with SEND require?
Are they going to provide on-site access to continence nurses, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, and educational psychologists??
I’m coming back to Mike Walters who believes that?to improve provision and outcomes?for children with SEND “we need to be very ambitious in the targets we set ourselves”.
So he thinks that a target of getting 80% of children with EHCPs into mainstream in 6 months will improve provision and outcomes - what - simply by moving the children to mainstream?
No. This is nonsense and displays ignorance of the needs of children with SEND on a monumental scale.?
And anyway, as Ed Duff, an education lawyer points out (inconveniently for the DfE). It is:
‘utterly impossible’ to have these targets “and comply with legal duties”.?
Why aren’t leaders standing up for our children’s right to an education that meets their needs??
Why aren’t leaders refusing to accept provision that is nowhere near appropriate??
Why aren’t leaders demanding this government funds SEND properly??
We can be inclusive and where children with SEND can have their needs met in a mainstream setting of course they should learn alongside their peers but where this is not in the best interests of the children, specialist schools should be available and the fact that they are not is an absolute disgrace.
Denying thousands of children their right to learn and instead moving them to unsuitable mainstream schools without the correct provision and calling it inclusion.
Anyone who doesn’t see this for what it truly is must be deluded, not able or willing to do the right thing for our children with SEND - or all of the above.
Executive Coach for Headteachers & Senior School Leaders | ? Helping you become the best school leader you can be - WITHOUT sacrificing or losing yourself in the process | ? 20+ years school leadership experience
1 年What a passionate article! As a school leader, I understand the arguments and frustrations that all schools (and parents) face, so your article resonates - a lot. We have seen increasing numbers of children with high SEND needs being allocated school places in all schools. Pushing back and explaining why a school is not the best setting for individuals often falls upon deaf ears and therefore, being the compassionate and caring leaders that we are - we do the best that we can. I'm lucky to have a great team of Teachers, TAs and a SENDCO who have ensured that we have been able to accommodate pupils with high needs by adapting our practices and provision. We do not receive additional funding (beyond what EHCP funding provides) and do not have Alternate Provision, so it's been based on what the school can afford. It's far from easy or ideal. Yes the government could achieve the target that's been set - but at what cost?!!! Setting higher targets without thinking through the implications of what's needed to support schools to achieve this seems like a blinded decision! Schools will always do what they can to accommodate pupils with SEND, but can only do this with the resources available. That's the sad reality.
Consultant at Brighthouse Network
1 年Yes this is where the money needs to go children’s education and safeguarding them they are the future
SEMH Teacher of Children in Care - Therapeutic Development Lead
1 年This, along with the target of Delivering Better Value including a 20% reduction of new EHCPs is demoralising for all those with the best interest of the child as a priority. The impact on pupils of costcutting through arbitrary target setting is unjustifiable and imoral. A whole generation will be impacted by these measures, including those without apparent SEND (especially if those in need have been denied an EHCP). We are already seeing a sharp increase in suspensions from those from disadvantaged backgrounds and many schools are already at breaking point in the support they offer already.
Restorative Justice Practitioner and Consultant; Alliance Fellow; PhD Student; Guest Lecturer; Restorative Abolitionist; Dialogue Facilitator
1 年Congratulations on your first article, Nicky O.! Powerfully written, open, honest, blunt, and with care and acknowledgment of those who do stand up to do the right thing for children. Brava!
Restorative Justice Practitioner and Consultant; Alliance Fellow; PhD Student; Guest Lecturer; Restorative Abolitionist; Dialogue Facilitator
1 年Congratulations on your first article, Nicky O.! Powerfully written, open, honest, blunt, and with care and acknowledgment of those who do stand up to do the right thing for children. Brava!