DfE SEN Review 2012

DfE - SEN 'Green Paper' Review

Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability - progress and next steps - May 2012

The Government on 15 May published Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability - progress and next steps. This sets out the progress made and the next steps in taking forward the green paper reforms. It follows the announcement in the Queen's speech that we intend to bring forward legislation so that from 2014:

Parents will know what they can reasonably expect their school, college, local authority and services to provide through a clear, easy to understand local offer of support;

Children and young people with statements or learning difficulty assessments in the current system will have a quicker, better integrated assessment and a single Education, Health and Care Plan setting out all the services they will receive for their support;

Statutory protections comparable to those currently associated with a statement of SEN will be provided for 16- to 25-year-olds in further education so that young people will get the support they need wherever they are taught; and

Parents will have greater control over the services they and their family use. Those whose children have an Education, Health and Care Plan will be able to express a preference for any state-funded school and have the right to a personal budget for their support.

Download the following file:

Support and aspiration: progress and next steps (DfE)

Read more ... (DfE - 15 May 2012

SEN and disability Green Paper: Government calls for views

Ministers are considering how to ensure parents can send their child with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities to their preferred educational setting – whether that is a mainstream school, special school or an academy.

The plans were outlined today, 10th September 2010, as Children’s Minister Sarah Teather called on parents, charities, teachers and LAs to contribute to the Government’s SEN Green Paper.

The paper, to be published in the autumn, aims to improve radically the entire SEN system and will cover issues including school choice, early identification and assessment, funding and family support.

Ministers are considering a range of options, including how to:

give parents a choice of educational settings that can meet their child’s needs

transform funding for children with SEN and disabilities and their families, making the system more transparent and cost-effective while maintaining a high quality of service

prevent the unnecessary closure of special schools and involve parents in any decisions about the future of special schools

support young people with SEN and disabilities post-16 to help them succeed after education

improve diagnosis and assessment to identify children with additional needs earlier.

Read more .... (DfE - 10 September 2010)

SCHOOLS NorthEast in partnership with the FLSE held a consultation event at Percy Hedley School in Newcastle on the 21st October 2010 to gather the views of North East School Leaders on the Government’s forthcoming review of Special Education.

In September, Schools Minister Sarah Teather launched a consultation on Children And Young People With Special Educational Needs And Disabilities to inform the development of a Green Paper aimed at ensuring that “children with SEN and disabilities have access the provision they need to succeed and parents should not feel they have to battle the system to get help”.

Specifically, the Government have asked for views on the following questions:

(1) Are the SEN and disability statutory frameworks - including the SEN statementing process - helping children and young people to get what they need? If not, what changes could help?

(2) How can we identify children's special educational needs earlier, and make sure that they get the support they need as quickly as possible?

(3) How can we improve the processes for special educational needs and disability - in schools, in assessments, and across all services - so that professionals can spend more of their time with children and their families?

(4) How can we ensure all schools and colleges have high expectations for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and help young people to develop the skills for employment and their future potential and contribution to society?

(5) How can we improve the choices of schools and services available to parents and improve opportunities for them to be involved in decisions that affect their family?

(6) How can we improve the transition from school to adult life for young people with special educational needs and disabilities and the support provided for their families throughout?

The event facilitated discussion on these important issues and included additional areas of concern not covered by the current consultation. These discussions will be used to develop a submission on behalf of the region’s schools to the DfE consultation once the 'Green Paper' is published.

	Download the Schools NorthEast presentation [1.6MB ]
	Download the SchoolsNorthEast Report

SE N: The coming Green Paper
Lorraine Peterson, CEO of Nasen

With the Government’s SEN consultation now closed and the resulting Green Paper due later this year, Lorraine Petersen (OBE) CEO of nasen, the UK’s leading professional association embracing all special educational needs and disabilities, outlines the best way forward for SEN education in the UK.

Aside from the attention grabbing statistics of the recent Ofsted SEN review, the report highlighted one of the key challenges in improving education for our most vulnerable young people; the need for robust and high quality professional development at all levels. Teachers cannot be expected to have the right skills in place without the right training. All teachers at both Initial Teaching and In-Service stages should be able to access high quality professional development that will support them in their classrooms. Ultimately, parents need to feel confident that teachers are equipped with the necessary knowledge to support their child and the answer to this lies in effective training.

The role of the SENCO is also vital. The introduction of the SENCO regulations in 2008 and the National Award for SEN Coordination training are slowly beginning to impact on our schools, and on outcomes for children. Every school needs a SENCO who is leading teaching and learning, supporting front line staff to ensure that provisions are effectively targeted towards the needs of the individual pupil. SENCOs have a fundamental role, both in terms of this front line service and as part of the school leadership team. While teacher training can provide the knowledge necessary to underpin effective education for pupils with any additional need, the SENCO is, and should be, the lynchpin of best practice.

Early assessment and greater clarity
The current SEN Code of Practice emphasises the importance of early identification and intervention for any child who may have special or additional educational needs and this will undoubtedly remain an important area. For many parents 'the fight' to get their child assessed and to receive a statement of need is long winded, bureaucratic and expensive. The recent Ofsted report into SEN highlighted that receiving the statement is not the end but only the beginning. We need to ensure that our monitoring, evaluation and assessment techniques are robust and challenging, using the evidence from these to improve teaching and the outcomes for children. Read the full article ... (EdUpdate Newsletter - 28 October)