The urgent need for early and effective support for deaf children – my appeal as a deaf parent with two deaf daughters

with Rayan Basma, deaf parent of two daughters who are also deaf As our columnist, Matt Keer has written previously, outcomes for deaf children lag stubbornly behind their hearing peers, …

Ombudsman report says councils are “standing in the way of support” by failing to offer personal budgets during the EHCP process

If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), were you offered a personal budget? Were you told during the assessment that they wouldn’t qualify for one? Or …

Crowdjustice appeal for court case to allow Ombudsman complaints over council bullying of families with disabled youngsters

We (Zoe and Philip) are a Mum and son team who’ve been around the block a few times in terms of fighting our corner to get Philip the health, education …

SEND Transport costs driven by ‘increased parental expectations’ claims councils’ group, and “something has to give”. Disabled children’s safety, perhaps?

Over the weekend, the County Councils Network (CCN) issued a report on the spiralling costs of home-to-school transport, including the costs of transporting children and young people with special educational …

Disabled children increasingly turned away from early years settings. A SEND charity aims to tackle the SEND inclusion crisis

with Catherine McCloud MBE, CEO, Dingley’s Promise SEND in the early years has historically been much neglected in SEND. The Government’s Change Programme has plans for Level 3 (A-Level equivalent) …

So SEND is “lose, lose, lose”? Not for these private sector winners in the DfE’s SEND Change Programme

A few weeks ago, Education Minister Gillian Keegan described the English SEND system as “lose, lose, lose.” Plenty of people reading this will agree. But there are organisations in SEND …

The Council for Disabled Children’s new Director on their work to implement the Government’s SEND Change Programme

With Amanda Allard, Director, Council for Disabled Children You may have seen from our recent podcast with Dame Christine Lenehan, that there is a new director at the help of …

EXCLUSIVE: DfE answers further questions on “targets” for EHCP cuts, removing children from specialist provision and plans to boost SEND in schools

After our articles on Matt’s discovery of the apparent 20% cuts targeted for EHCPs for local authorities in the Government’s “Delivering Better Value” in SEND programme, we were contacted by …

Research: Cost of Living Crisis having “profound and far-reaching consequences”, increasing SEND needs while forcing cuts to school support budgets 

Amy Skipp, ASK Resesarch, and Jenna Julius, NFER Over the last few weeks, NFER and ASK Research have published a three-part research series, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, investigating the …

SEND Minister denies the Government is aiming to cut EHCPs by 20% with an emphatic, but unconvincing, explanation

The new SEND Minister, David Johnston, has denied the Government is working towards cuts of 20% in EHCPs for local authorities on its “Delivering Better Value” (DBV) programme, as we …

New School Transport Guidance ignores both equality and case laws protecting disabled learners

by Eleanor Wright, CEO of SEND legal charity, SOSSEN As well as updated exclusions guidance, the Department for Education also issued updated guidance on school transport just before the summer …

Updated exclusions and behaviour guidance and how a thoughtful school culture can avoid discriminating against learners with SEND

It feels like decades since “hopeful beginnings” for a new school year was a reality, even before the actual fabric of school buildings threatened to fall. For parents of vulnerable …

DBV Part 2: 20% EHCP cuts? After repeated denials, the Department for Education‘s got some explaining to do…

by Matt Keer and Tania Tirraoro Matt writes: On Friday, we took a look at the Department for Education’s Delivering Better Value in SEND financial intervention programme. Fifty-five of England’s …

A new SEND minister NOW? Disabled children deserve better than to be a government testing ground for ambitious MPs

It’s not even the start of the school year and I’m already furious. Why, you ask? Apart from the fact that the Department for Education is moving forward apace with …

s2Member®
Close