Delivering better value in SEND? Much of a new review is based on deep and fatal flaws that may uproot the SEND system

Last week, the National Audit Office (NAO) issued a damning report on the state of SEND in England. On the same day, the Department for Education also issued a report …

NAO: The Government has no clear SEND plan and should consider “whole-system reform” to incentivise mainstream inclusion

by Catriona Moore and Matt Keer Another day, another report detailing failings in the system that’s supposed to support children and young people with SEND. Today it’s the National Audit …

The Lords publishes a “blueprint” to help young disabled people “thrive in work” saying too many are “written off”

“Disabled people face continuous barriers to securing long-term employment. This starts from the moment a young disabled person enters nursery school and continues through their preparation for work and their …

Law Commission Review: Fixing a ‘bafflingly complex’ disabled children’s social care system

The Law Commission has spent the last 12 months carrying out a much-needed and long-awaited review of the laws underpinning social care for disabled children in England. The aim is …

A record rise in SEND appeals, and challenges for teachers accessing school support. Things are not getting better…

A new government-commissioned survey of teaching staff has unwittingly offered a telling explanation of why so many children get inadequate support with SEND in school. But first, in related news, …

“The curriculum belongs to the nation” Let them know that includes children with special educational needs

The government’s ‘national conversation’ on the future of education has launched. Its lead, Professor Becky Francis, has issued a call for evidence, seeking views on the current curriculum and assessment …

The SEND “Emergency” debate: scrap safety valve, write-off high needs debt and stop piling trauma on to families

There have been three debates about SEND in parliament already this session, one about SEND in Somerset, one on Herts and Central Bedfordshire and yesterday, one on SEND provision in …

Scrapping the SEND Tribunal would cover up injustice and no parent of a disabled child will ever support it

with Jane Harris, SEND parent and CEO of Speech and Language UK SNJ Intro: Last week we were dismayed and angry at the publication of a local-government-funded report into SEND, …

Does the SEND Safety Valve scheme have a future under the Labour Government? And if so, who’s next?

The new government has plenty in its in-tray. That in-tray includes SEND (below), and one of the things at the top of the teetering SEND pile will be funding. Most …

SEND is an existential threat to LAs’ financial sustainability; junking the SEND Tribunal is part of the answer, claims new report

By Tania Tirraoro and Sharon Smith Relax everyone, ISOS Partnership, the research darlings of local government, have fixed SEND for us all with a new offering, and what a behemoth …

Depressingly awful data and our 2024 EHCP Hall of Shame reveal the sad state of disabled children’s education, with growing numbers out of school

Yesterday, the Department for Education (DfE) published its annual statistical summary of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in England. This year, these figures will be put under a lot …

Uncovering the hidden truth about SEND safety valve agreements and how they’ll cut children’s SEND provision

Anything that calls itself the “safety valve intervention programme” is going to struggle to excite public interest. Perhaps that was the intention: create a bureaucratic-sounding programme in an obscure corner …

More system “reform” won’t fix SEND, because the real problem still hasn’t been accepted

“It’s hard to understand why there’s so much unwillingness to accept that unlawfulness is the biggest problem in the SEND system. What needs to be reformed isn’t the law, but …

The problems with the “secret” consultation on improving standards for SEND Mediation (and how to respond)

With Margaret Doyle, mediation expert and research fellow If you want to appeal against a decision concerning an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you need to either participate in …

SEND Funding Fact Check 3: Where the money’s gone, why it isn’t helping, and why more children need support

This is the third in our series of posts looking at the complex and toxic tyre fire that is SEND funding. Some is wasted fighting parents and SEND consultants It’s …

SEND Funding Fact Check 2: Record funding or lack of cash? Which is true—and where’s the money gone?

This is the second in a series of ‘what’s happening?’ posts on SEND funding. In the first post, we looked at the Department for Education’s claim it’s made record increases …