Special needs changes being made 'too fast'

The programme examines the biggest shake-up in Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision in England for 30 years. It discusses the impact it will have on families, hears concerns that schools and LAs are not prepared for the changes and asks Mr Gove why the government thinks a change is needed. 

The law changed last month. From 1 September 2014 Statements of SEN will be replaced by Education, Health and Social Care Plans (EHCP).

The government says that the changes will mean a more joined up approach with parents being central to the process but many people are worried that such big changes with such a short time to implement them could lead to problems for some of our most vulnerable children.

The government has put in place support to help prepare for the reforms including a£70 million grant for Local Authorities (LA) and £30 million to recruit and train 1800 ‘champions’ to support parents as reforms are implemented. The champions will be ‘independent supporters’ from voluntary, community and private organisations who, from September 2014, will help parents through the SEN process and their request for an EHCP.

The programme includes an interview with a representative from the National Autistic Society (NAS) discussing a range of autistic spectrum disorders and the different types of special educational support those children  require. Some have few needs but others need, for example, additional help with homework, adjustments made to the environment due to sensory issues such as distracting lighting, or a 1:1 Teaching Assistant. The Statement puts that support in place. The NAS on the whole welcomes the changes. Currently the Statement is just about educational needs – the new EHCP’s will include health and social care needs. The expectation is that all agencies will work together. We can be hopeful but will need to seen what happens in practice…

Inclusion or exclusion?

There are concerns that some schools are excluding children with SEN.

“Our children are not welcome in other schools. Most of these schools are shamefully Academies”, Nigel Utton, Head teacher of an inclusive school in Kent. “There are schools up and down the country who are not even letting children with SEN into the school.”

The reason behind this may be the way schools are funded. Each school is given funding based on average figures for the number of children with SEN. Schools have to find the first £6,000 of every child with a Statement or EHC plan. If the school admits more that the average number of children with SEN, then they have to find the shortfall.