Ofsted asks: How well do mainstream schools support SEND?
with Matt Keer Ofsted has published a new piece of research entitled “Supporting SEND”. It’s a limited, qualitative piece of work and was conducted before the pandemic. While this means the …
Category: SEND Accountability
Ombudsman responds to our #ProvisionDenied report with news of a COVID team
Last Friday we published our report #ProvisionDenied, that showed children and young people with SEND have had their needs and education “pushed to one side, for the convenience of the …
95% of decisions in favour of parents, but nobody wins at the SEND Tribunal
2020 is a year that most of us will be glad to see the back of. But before we kiss it good riddance, here’s a quick look at some figures …
How is Ofsted supporting & evaluating SEND provision during the pandemic?
The education fo children with SEND (or lack of it) during the pandemic has been on our minds all year. How can we make schools and LAs accountable for ensuring …
Ofsted/CQC SEND inspectors dropping by soon, but in learning mode
It seems like a lifetime ago now – but there was a time when local SEND services were subjected to at least some external accountability. Ofsted & the Care Quality …
DfE on SEND failures inquiry: We’ll get back to you later (and it’s not our fault)
Clean hands it seems, are not just for the pandemic. The Department for Education has them over any failures in SEND. It’s just not their fault. The DfE has finally …
SEND Inspections on repeat, with families’ experience “essential” to new framework
We’ve been waiting a while for confirmation about what’s happening when the current cycle of Ofsted/CQC SEND inspections of all 152 English LAs ends. Will that be it? Will there …
SEND 2020: What’s the current state of Ofsted local area inspections?
Four years ago, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission started inspecting local SEND services. Thanks to COVID-19, inspections are on hold – so now’s a good a time as any …
New children’s minister Vicky Ford MUST sign off on continued Ofsted/CQC SEND inspections
First thing’s first, congratulations to Vicky Ford, MP for Chelmsford in Essex, who has been appointed to be the new Children and Families Minister, which includes SEND, or at least …
Ofsted’s grim verdict on SEND in England
Ofsted’s annual report, late because of the election, has a great deal to say about SEND and not much of it is good. To recap figures we’ve previously reported (links …
Ofsted explains its new way of reporting on SEND provision in education
with Nick Whittaker, Specialist Adviser, SEND, Ofsted In one of my roles, I work alongside other SEND representatives on Ofsted’s SEND Stakeholder Advisory Group. As I spend a lot of …
Relentlessly unlawful LA decisions are damaging children and forcing the SEND Tribunal into crisis
Last Friday, whilst people were still getting their heads around the General Election, SNJ’s relentless data hoover sucked in a new set of figures – fresh information on the Special …
SEND audited: Is the system affordable? What’s the alternative?
with contributions from Matt Keer, SNJ Columnist Just last week, Matt mentioned the upcoming report from the National Audit Office (NAO). And lo, this week, here it is. As expected, …
Parents warn Ofsted it’s missing chances to boost inclusion
A few weeks ago, we ran an open letter from a SEND parent, Claire Ryan, to Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman about how the new draft inspection framework was letting …
SEND inspections: what do Ofsted and CQC inspectors really think?
There have been a few happenings recently that I have intended to write about but meetings and other commitments, plus the good ol’ Ehlers Danlos, have meant it hasn’t been …
Using the Monitoring Officer to hold councils to account for housing, education and social services
If you’re wondering how you could to hold your local authority to account for not obeying the law or refusing to carry out its statutory duties, we have a post …
Does your school’s website break the law?
An interesting, if limited, study has been published by the government. entitled “Mental health and wellbeing provision in schools, Review of published policies and information”. Researcher, Rebecca Brown looked at the websites of …
SEND Inspections: Moving ahead but illegality must be called out
Accountability is not a word that parents often used to associate with the world of special educational needs and disability. So when the government announced three years ago that independent …
Ofsted/CQC inspections MUST become a permanent part of SEND. Here’s why.
We’re almost two years on from the biggest change to SEND accountability in a generation – the introduction of local area SEND service inspections, led by Ofsted and the Care …
Reforms, what reforms? Lancashire fails SEND children and mistreats parents
Just over a year ago, I wrote about the dreadful SEND inspection report for Surrey from Ofsted/CQC, as part of the SEND reforms accountability measures. Since then quite a number …