A survey of more than 1,100 school leaders in England has revealed far-reaching issues in the system of support available to children with SEN or disabilities.
The findings, which have been published by The Key, come nearly 18 months after major reforms were introduced aimed at ensuring better support for these children by placing them and their families at the heart of the system.
However, despite these changes, school leaders are warning that children are being let down by a system under strain and that there is not enough consideration of SEND in mainstream education policy-making. So what are the main issues for secondary school leaders?
Funding pressures
Financial pressure is one contributing factor. When we asked both primary and secondary school leaders what they expect their biggest challenge to be over the next 12 months, the school budget and a lack of funding topped the list for nearly a third of schools.
Increased pension contributions, National Insurance costs and the new national minimum wage mean that staffing costs are increasing across the board.
It is perhaps not surprising then that money is also a top concern for secondary school leaders in relation to their own SEND provision.
Seventy per cent of secondary schools across the country reported having insufficient funding and budget to adequately provide for pupils with SEND, and 81 per cent of secondary school leaders have seen the support they receive for these children affected detrimentally by cuts to local authority services.
Assessment waiting times
Where a child’s needs are more complex and require provision beyond what can be delivered in the classroom, we can see further cause for concern.
Sixty-two per cent of secondary schools have pupils who have been waiting longer than the expected maximum timeframe of six weeks for an assessment of SEN or an Education, Health and Care Plan.
This is a more prevalent worry for primary schools, 79 per cent of which are catering for children who have been waiting too long for an assessment.
Early intervention is championed as being critical to a child’s future progress, so delays in accurately identifying young children’s needs and planning appropriate support – which schools and other providers would then put in place – are concerning and may well have an impact on secondary schools.
The SEND Code of Practice explains that delays at this stage can damage a child’s self-esteem, and lead to frustration in learning as well as behaviour difficulties.
These delays can also have a detrimental impact on a school’s budget: if a school does not know what a child’s specific needs are, it is more difficult to target funding on the most suitable or high-impact intervention, meaning that money might be wasted where it is already in scarce supply.
While such delays are problematic, it is important to adopt a positive approach in school. SEN leads should focus on the four broad areas of need as identified in the Code of Practice and continue to use the “assess, plan, do, review” method to continually refine the provision available for each child.
Speakers at The Key’s recent SEND conference explained that, where a child’s needs are known, it is helpful to view these needs as assets rather than deficiencies, and so create an optimistic culture across the whole school community.
For instance, if you have year 7 pupils who are reluctant readers, you might consider pairing up with a local primary school so that your pupils can support younger children who are learning to read. Interventions such as this can build the confidence of older pupils and help them to channel any learning frustrations they are feeling.
Initial teacher training
We also asked school leaders if initial teacher training (ITT) adequately prepares teachers to support pupils with SEND. Eighty per cent of secondary school leaders said they don’t believe it does, alongside 89 per cent of primary school leaders.
One headteacher explained: “Teachers cannot possibly have or expect to gain knowledge, experience and skills to cope with the many differing needs of children now coming into school.”
In this scenario, you might find it helpful to organise peer reviews with a support school. For instance, an experienced teacher, a trainee and a SEND lead from each school might work together to review each other’s teaching of pupils with SEND.
If they then share their ideas for potential improvements widely, all classroom teachers can improve their practice in working with these pupils.
Looking ahead
Further investment is being made at system level to improve SEND provision. Last month saw the news that teachers are to be properly trained in supporting pupils with special needs, specifically autism, during their initial teacher training.
This news is likely to be welcomed by many school leaders, given that more than one in 100 children are on the autism spectrum and more than 70 per cent of these children attend mainstream schools.
The announcement came after months of campaigning from charities, parents and MPs.
The government also announced earlier this year that £80 million will be targeted on better supporting pupils with SEND, and more than a third of this will be given to local authorities – an increase of £4 million on the funding they received last year.
School leaders have told us that budgets are set to pose a challenge for the foreseeable future, but for the majority of respondents to The Key’s survey the solution is not simply more money.
More than two-thirds of school leaders believe there isn’t enough focus on SEND in mainstream education policy-making; addressing this would signify that these children and their needs were truly at the heart of the system.
- Amy Cook is a senior researcher at The Key, which provides leadership and management support to schools.
Further information
- For further information about The Key’s research findings, visit: http://bit.ly/29o2rt4
- SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years, Department for Education (January 2015): http://bit.ly/27yye0p