The Chartered College of Teaching has responded to the government’s consultation on its SEND Review – ‘Right support, right place, right time’.
In preparing the response, the Chartered College invited members to share their views and insights on the proposals. These insights formed the basis of the submission which was compiled by SEND specialist Margaret Mulholland FCCT.
Key points
* Many of the GP proposals deal with defining local SEND infrastructure, but much greater focus must be given, through the proposed national standards, to what constitutes a quality education for young people with SEND. The GP does indicate that quality of teaching is central to reform but makes no commitment to how this becomes reality.
*The Chartered College believes a substantive investment in teacher development is needed to strengthen universal provision. We would like to see far greater emphasis on how teacher education, teacher development and teacher supply will be an investment focus, providing young people who need it most with access to the teacher time and expertise they deserve. Current evidence shows that young people with SEND experience considerably less time with a teacher than their peers without SEND.
*The commitment of the SEND reform must be to meet children’s needs rather than identifying the most cost-effective approach which inevitably leads to a one-size-fits-all approach.
*The system must be designed to move away from using diagnostic labelling to determine pathways of support to an asset-based approach model, where individuals are able to build on their strengths (instead of focusing on what they can’t do, talk about what they can do).
*The Chartered College also recognises that existing legislation (the Children and Families Act 2014, the Equality Act 2010 and the Code of Practice) is not unsatisfactory. The implementation, funding and accountability across the system is. To this end, greater focus on implementation plans is needed.
*The Chartered College asks the government to provide a costed delivery plan including a timeline. This plan must clearly set out the capacity within the current spending review period, and what will be required from the next spending review.
*The Green Paper is silent on those young people not destined for further education, training or work. The heavy emphasis on educational and employment outcomes must recognise the need to provide the right outcomes, such as independent or supported living for those children and young people for whom employment and academia are not appropriate.
*The Green paper is very focussed on schools and local authorities. It says little on health and care providers and commissioners. If we are to create a joined-up system, we must have clarity on what is expected from other key sectors and work together to achieve improvement.