A setback at the High Court, but parents’ SEND Action goes on
Today on SNJ we want to pay tribute to the SEND Action parent campaigners who took the Government to the High Court in a judicial review over SEND funding. Ultimately, …
Category: SEND Politics
SEND Review: A game-changer or playing politics with vulnerable children?
While the biggest political and constitutional crisis that anyone can remember rages all around us, ministers resign, MPs are purged and no-one is quite sure who will be in Government …
What does ‘£700 million for SEND’ actually mean in reality?
4.55pm on a Friday doesn’t normally mean good news for SEND parents. It’s often a time when bad news pitches up in your email inbox from LAs, health teams or …
Will the SEND Inquiry report be drowned in the maelstrom of Brexit? UPDATED
I wrote this post yesterday in the wake of the leak of Government schools funding. This evening, Boris Johnson has made the announcement official – more than was expected for …
SEND Transport: Consultation and Missed opportunities
You may have seen recently that the government launched a consultation into revised statutory guidance for local authorities on home to school travel and transport. This covers all children, but we’re …
First-time minister given one of the toughest jobs in government: Fixing the #SENDcrisis
The last week has brought a succession of big changes at all levels of government. The appointment of a new prime minister was followed by a more wide-ranging purge of …
All rise! SEND figures go up in 2019
For the third year running, the number of pupils with special educational needs (SEND) in schools has increased. In January 2019, the percentage rose to 14.9% from 14.6% of the …
Legal bid to change the way “school refusers” are treated
We’re seeing increasing numbers of parents feeling forced to crowdfund to help secure justice for special educational needs educational issues that should never arise. Several LAs have been taken to …
Keeping up with the politics of SEND
Oh it’s all going on in the world of politics isn’t it? Labour Party defections, Brexit shenanigans… it’s almost as if nothing else is going on in Parliament. And yet …
SEND parents of school refusers criminalised instead of supported
with Rona Epstein, University of Coventry, Coventry Law School University researchers have discovered that most of the children of parents who’ve been fined or threatened with a fine over school …
A new SEND future promised…but councils are still parent-blaming
When I wrote the Sunday article, the LGA report had not yet been released, but perusing it since has brought to light some astonishing assertions. The Local Government Association research …
End of austerity? Not for children, 120 children’s organisations tell the government
Special Needs Jungle has joined more than 120 national organisations demanding that the Government stop ignoring compelling evidence that essential children’s services and support are at breaking point. As the …
£1.5 billion funding gap for disabled children’s services in the UK
As if we’re not already drowning in enough bad news about how disabled children and their families are bearing the brunt of council and school funding cuts, today there’s fresh …
National SEND Inquiry: House of Commons Education Committee calls for evidence
The House of Commons Education Committee has launched an inquiry into support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This is music to my ears and …
Happy 10th birthday SNJ! SEND then and now…
Happy birthday to us! 10 years ago today, I started writing down some information about how I had successfully got a statement of special educational needs for my younger son, …
LA Watch: Dodgy SEND policies, parent power and how to fight the cuts!
One of the joys of being a parent of a child with special educational needs is working out why schools and local authorities do things the way they do. Sometimes …
SEND on the rocks: Can a new minister rescue the reforms from certain disaster?
It’s all change at the Department for Education. Not only was Justine Greening knocked off her stool as Education Secretary this week, Theresa May’s reshuffle has also done for the …
SEND in England, 2017: More in Independents, fewer in Academies
Another day another set of figures to wade through… this time though, it’s the annual school SEND figures from the school census that tells us how many children there are …
Fixing our broken SEND system: The next Minister’s ‘To Do’ list
On the morning of the General Election, Thursday 8th June, I supported a parent in a meeting with her school’s Headteacher. We were discussing her complaint that the school had …
The SNJ #GE2017 Manifesto for Special Educational Needs and Disability
You can’t have failed to notice that, here in the UK, we’re hurtling towards the snap general election called for next month. The political parties have been sallying forth with …