Parent Carer Forums: from co-production to compliance
Many of us in the Special Needs Jungle community have been involved in Department for Education (DfE)-funded Parent Carer Forums (PCFs) at some point in our journey as parent carers. …
Category: SEND Politics
Draft medical conditions guidance raises “serious concerns” says union, over shift in clinical responsibilities to schools
by Joanna Parry, Unison We recently ran an article about the Government’s consultation about Supporting Children at School with Medical Conditions. In it, we linked to concerns by Unison about …
“Covid babies” and plans for SEND Reforms: Are We Creating a Forgotten Generation?
With Michelle Windridge, National Education Lead for School-Based Early Years, Twinkl Remember Covid? Our coverage during the pandemic helped thousands of families, teachers, people in the SEND sector and those …
Why learners who rely on AAC Assistive Tech risk losing out under the SEND reform proposals
with Annamaria Madera Deputy Head of Education, CandLE The term “complex needs” is crucial to the Government’s SEND reform proposals. It determines access to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), …
Autistic teenage campaigner Tee-Jay petitions Parliament to protect SEND Rights: Sign his petition!
with Rachel Filmer and Tee-Jay The Save Our Children’s Rights coalition began with a parliamentary petition. That’s almost a year ago—and it had an incredible impact, changing the shape and …
Join the May 9th #SaveOurChildrensRights SEND Protest in London or a regional location
If, like us, you are set against the proposals in the SEND part of the Schools White Paper that aim to limit your child’s rights, then you MUST take action …
Experts At Hand: A good idea built on wishful thinking and shaky foundations
One of the most promising-looking initiatives to emerge from England’s SEND reform proposals is the Experts at Hand initiative. Funded with £1.8 billion over three years, the Department for Education …
SEND reforms: Where are care-experienced children?
It has taken time to work through the government’s SEND reform proposals in detail. As both a parent and foster parent of children with special educational needs and disabilities, I …
The SEND reform reality check: Why experts’ and policymakers’ concerns are growing under scrutiny
SEND has been in the spotlight in Parliament once again this week. The Education Select Committee spent Tuesday morning having a look at the Government’s proposed SEND reforms in order …
When hope has been drained, families struggle to trust promises to fix SEND
Hope is not a luxury in the SEND system. It is what keeps families going through years of assessments, exclusions, appeals, and meetings that too often feel adversarial. Hope is …
Part 2: The Invisible Lifeline: Why EOTAS is Non-Negotiable for the ‘Sanctuary Cohort’
This is Part two of yesterday’s article about EOTAS, the out of school EHCP package that’s been completely ignored in the SEND proposals of the Schools’s White Paper. One of …
The Invisible Lifeline: Why EOTAS is non-negotiable for the ‘Sanctuary Cohort’ Part 1
There is no denying the Government’s Schools White Paper is a lengthy document with considerable detail about the reforms Labour wants to implement to our SEND system. But there is …
Inclusion bases: Can they help solve the SEND crisis?
By Matt Walker, National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) We’ve covered the newly-renamed “Inclusion Bases”— previously known as resourced provision or SEN Units—quite a few times. They make up a …
Educational Psychologists should be at the heart of SEND reform: supporting children, families and schools to thrive
By Dr Andrea Honess, Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Educational and Child Psychology The government’s Schools White Paper and SEND consultation set out some welcome ambitions for …
DfE backtracks over consulting on planned SEND legal changes. Parents MUST respond to the consultation to say Not in Our Name!
The Department for Education doesn’t seem to know whether it’s coming or going. Yesterday it was forced to issue a “clarification” over its consultation; specifically, the bit where it said …
Where will all the teaching assistants come from? The research exposing the reality gap in the government SEND plans
Today, we’re looking at a number of different research reports—most of them the Government’s own—that point to a growing mismatch between its mainstream inclusion ambitions and schools’ ability to recruit …
Capital carrot, SEND steamroller: The Government’s evidence-light reform route isn’t waiting for anyone
It’s been a month since the government announced the Schools White Paper and their consultation on SEND reform. The consultation’s still ongoing. If you need some inspiration or motivation to …
WEBINAR RECORDING! The legal implications of the Schools White Paper’s SEND Proposals
Find SNJ’s Help to respond to the consultation here What a night, what a webinar… “The best webinar I’ve ever been involved with!” said one particularly notable personage. 1 hour …
Not in our name: How manufacturing consent for proposed SEND reforms has broken the social contract.
Measure What Matters is unwavering in its commitment to examining how democratic principles are upheld in practice—with a focus on representation, transparency, and accountability. This is what we were built …
The Government doesn’t care about your views of the SEND Tribunal—it’s already decided to kneecap it. We must not accept it
We seem to have gone from “your voice matters” to “decisions have already been made” in less than the blink of an eye. On the very day the Schools Minister, …