2 weeks Ago By Tom Nicholson
Last week brought yet another depressing set of headlines about the desultory provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England. They revealed the financial crisis that many councils face as they try to fund the more than £10bn cost of SEND provision . When a safety valve – the “override” that allows councils to keep SEND spending off balance sheets, and which is designed to help councils fund those with the most severe conditions – is removed in 2026, many face the real prospect of bankruptcy.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, claims the system had been “neglected to the point of crisis” by the previous government. Familiar words. The National Audit Office reports the number of young people requiring education, health and care plans (EHCPs) has doubled in the past decade to 576,000 .
The Department for Education forecasts this may hit one million by 2032-33. Increased government funding has so far failed to meet inexorably increasing demand. SEND funding is far too complex to explain in detail here but, essentially, schools are responsible for the first £10,000 to support an individual EHCP, and it is up to the local authority for “higher needs” beyond that.
In theory, that support should be specific and quantified. In theory. However, SEND pupils have fallen still further behind in reading, writing and maths since the introduction of the SEND Code of Practice in 2014.
As a teacher who has always had SEND pupils, in both state and private school classes, this is incredibly frustrating. So I can’t imagine how parents of SEND children feel. Actually, I can, as I speak with them regularly.
The answer lies both in more, better trained, in-school professionals, as well as parents being more honest about their own children’s needs. The reality is that we all have to manage our expectations about what a little money can achieve, however painful that is. Read Next A lesson about life – and death – from Chris Hoy Consider the rise in children being diagnosed with autism, up from 57,000 to 132,000 since 2015 .
Think about the demands that places on classrooms in mainstream schools, if children are not placed in specialist SEND schools. Can any mainstream school ever truly have enough specialist teachers and teaching assistants at a realistic future level of funding? I have taught mixed classes of 30 with two SEND pupils, in which sometimes a Teaching Assistant can assist with purpose. I have also taught lower sets, where the percentage of SEND children is matched only by those with behavioural and other learning issues.
It is almost impossible to apply disciplinary Whac-A-Mole enough to ensure the calm, supportive environment that many children on the spectrum require. Sadly, I can also attest to middle-class parents playing a “SEND game”. Forget the two-year-long process state school parents might endure to obtain an EHCP, some in my own friendship group have sought any relevant private diagnosis, for £300, to “buy” their child more time or the right to use a laptop in exams.
Meanwhile, teachers have to cajole some state school parents to forget any supposed “stigma” and seek that same help. SEND provision is another example of two-tier Britain in action. Yes, the answer partly lies in more funding, but money alone will not fix the educational needs of SEND children.
We need a reform of the whole system . In the meantime, I promise you, teachers will continue to focus on, discuss and worry about your SEND children, each lesson, in every day, of their working week..
