SEND - children’s needs to be reassessed from year 6 2029?

Thanks. I've just seen this and fingers crossed, he would fall under the last category.

I agree. However, if schools were required to have a really good standard of Quality First Provision, then it would be so much easier to separate out the children who really do need more specialist provision from those who just need good, high quality teaching.

If all teachers used talking pegs (voice recorded pegs with task instructions), WALT/WILF (What am I learning today/ what am I looking for) cards for lessons, activity boards to give visual reminders of what is happening through the day, clear timetables with 'oops' cards to signal a change of plan, clear language, stepped lesson plans to adapt to the differing abilities within the class, etc., there would be less children who slip through the gaps and fall behind.

Thanks. Some plans are already in place, I've been recommended a school by his SENCO and his physio and OT will do an assessment to see what may need to be put in place for him. I do know that one of the teachers is a wheelchair user but you are right in that I believe changing places toilets will be the main issue and building work may be necessary.

Of course, this is assuming he still has his EHCP.

The more experience I gain in SEND (personal and professional) the more I'm inclined to agree.

True inclusion could only be obtained by schooling looking radically different for everyone (e.g. more like learning centres, with a lot more choice) and the majority might not agree that's what would be best for their children.

Besides, when ministers etc talk about inclusion, they really only mean including children with broadly average IQs and reasonably manageable behaviour. They go on and bloody on about inclusion and yet nobody is fighting for my nappy wearing non-verbal child to go to mainstream school (for obvious reasons, but point stands - we can't say 'everyone is included except you').

The term inclusion is meaningless and I'm rapidly thinking the ideal is often (not always) bad for everyone involved.

He's just greedy @ExistingonCoffee. That's his trouble. Not content to sit in his box, hey?

DD1 doesn't fit any of the categories, either. Honestly, though, can you imagine if the Government actually does any of that stuff? Right now, with our 'overblown' system, a child who gets SaLT from an actual SaLT has won the jackpot. Now, they will be deploying export support from all these professionals.

Do you know what's going to happen? Parents will demonstrate that their children meet the criteria of whatever categories are made, then in 10 years time, the Government of that time will say 'We didn't expect so many children to meet the criteria and we need to overhaul the system so less children get the support they need.' Then we'll all rumble on again.

Just bear in mind that the last Statements of SEN only ended in 2018. So we've lasted 8 years with the current system in place. That is the waste of money. The reality is that they are rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

I would as a bare minimum expect it to be introduced in all teaching degree courses and TA courses.

I’d also expect far more focus in This area whilst undertaking cpd ( currently for many it’s only a small part )

I wouldn't hold your breath. There are 513,000 teachers in England. The £200 million for 'making sure every teacher has the expertise to teach children with SEN' equates to about £390 per teacher. What sort of training do you think £390 will buy?

As a percentage, the spend on education (which encompasses SEN) has actually gone down since 1978-1979. So all this talk of rocketing costs is just rhetoric.

I think all teachers should start by being required to have at least a years TA experience before completing Teacher Training. It is strange that EP’s are required to have at least a year in a school first. However teacher training candidates do not necessarily require a year’s TA experience.
Warnock stated this in her report in the 1970’s all teachers should be teachers of SEND.

It was very interesting being a supervisor for some international students on a masters program for topics regarding SEND education. These related to African countries who have only had mandatory education for around 20-30 years. Yet follow a neo-liberal British system they are trying to learn from the mistakes of the English system. Although have different infrastructures and social structures concerning SEND. The teachers are much more respected as is education. Early years are still more play based although they too are experiencing a move away from play based curriculums.

I cannot understand why EY, Primary or Secondary teachers want to teach if they do not consider that each human has a right to an education. That enables them to develop to the best of their ability and achieve as much autonomy and independence as they can as an adult. For the significantly complex cases they require support to have a safe adulthood. I think the initial EHCP’s were brought into quickly without repercussions for health and social care ignoring their duties. Education is often expected to fund provisions that should be health and social care which was what was supposed to happen. Education does not have a clear and definite definition, it’s very definition dependent on who is defining it. Health and Social Care provisions have a much clearer definition of what their provisions are. Policy takes years to be implemented, then analysed. Reality is you cannot predict the unintended consequences this is what happened with the EHCP system.

The issues are multi-faceted not merely financial, it is health and societal issues that contributes to the problems. There needs to be a return to teachers having more autonomy, play based learning and vocational learning.

I don’t think DS1 falls into any one package. He has complex physical, medical, psychological and developmental needs.

He has complex physical disabilities - has a whole host of equipment, house adaptations, etc. Needs and has physio, OT, SALT, swimming (hydro/aquatherapy but in normal temp pool for medical reasons) and rebound therapy.

He also falls under the sensory impairment strand - Although he isn’t Deaf and isn’t registered SSI, he has hearing and vision impairments. He receives ToD, QTVI and QHS input.

Profound and multiple learning difficulties - he doesn’t have PMLD because he doesn’t have an LD. But he does have the significant communication difficulties, physical disability, sensory impairment, sensory processing differences, and medical needs mentioned. The LA consulted PMLD schools because in many ways he presents in the same ways as PMLD cohorts.

DS1 has significant executive functioning difficulties. (Although I’m not sure the government understands the term, because you can have EF difficulties and not have severe learning difficulties.) DS1 has a life-long speech and language disorder and has difficulties with speech, language and communication, executive function, social and emotional, motor and sensory development.

He also has elements of the complex executive function and communication profile because in addition to the last paragraph, he can display challenging behaviour and needs support with personal care needs, nutrition and physical development.

At differing points he displays both internalised and externalised presentations of the social emotional development profiles. Has SALT, OT, CP sessions and emotional literacy support. He can cycle from internalised to externalised and back rapidly.

Labour’s policies are detrimental to most. Just on every level.

None of the classes in my primary had a class TA at all-it was just them. The pupils who had an EHCP had a 1:1/interventions for some hours during the day, but it was mostly the class teacher on their own.

Unless these reforms brings enough money for classes to have more TAs, then their ‘training’ can only do so much-it’s still just them on their own, but with extra high need pupils in the class.

Inclusion cannot work. How can we have a situation where ‘all children thrive’ when child A rips up their schoolwork, screeches uncontrollably and punches other kids in the face at regular occasions? How can our kids be anything other than terrified?

I can think of a few kids who could probably have used less support at secondary than at primary - mainly those with physical impairments of one sort or another, who by that stage were better able to manage, perhaps making more use of technology. I'm not sure year 7 would be the right point to reduce it, as settling into a new environment carries its own problems - so a review during year 7 might actually make more sense.

This is just it. We’re talking about schools who can’t afford glue sticks finding the money for 4 extra TAs per class.

Not likely, unless this funding is going to stretch to infinity and beyond.

You may want to pay more but generally people are not feeling it. And the tax burden is already the highest in 70 odd years.

The schools would love to, if the government would pay!

I would agree with this
The worst teacher for my son walked around the class in circles because it was Aparently the only way she could think

Not realising a lot of kids can’t cope with that. Her focus was on her and not the kids
She couldn’t understand why my DS didn’t ‘hear’ a single thing she said

So the proposal for increased education for teachers in this area is imperative

Unfortunately people voted Labour in who said they wouldn’t increase taxes to working people

LAs could use the extraordinary amount of money they spend spending indefensible cases they know they are going to lose against unrepresented parents.

Over the years, my LA has spent 6 figures defending appeals I have made to the FtT for DSs’ EHCPs. Barristers, solicitors, paralegals. Including a very nice sum to a barrister to turn up late on the morning of one final hearing and concede. That doesn’t include the money the LA has spent on internal staff dealing with my appeals to SENDIST. That money could have been used for provision.

Nor does it include the costs the LA has incurred when I have pursued JR proceedings, their costs related to my (all upheld) complaints and LGO claims or a small claims court case.

@Changeusername1989 amazing that you have the amended EHCP.

@Kirbert2

Just incase you’ve not seen this, I think your son would fall under the last category, so hopefully if you do have to reapply for EHCP at transition, it would still be granted. Obviously you’d know better, but it’s ammunition at least.

I would have thought that teachers who are highly trained in SEN would be able to manage classes better with fewer disruptions. It's when SEN is not recognised, understood or well managed that the problems occur and classrooms become disrupted.

The best teachers I've known (for all children, regardless of SEN) were the ones with direct, personal experience of SEN -because their classroom management strategies and class teaching styles were intuitively inclusive. And i don't mean that neurotypical children were disadvantaged, I mean that all children thrived.

If SEN training was instead pitched at making their jobs easier to do, rather than 'extra work to get the box ticked' it might actually help.

I have already received the updated EHCP with the new placement tbh the coordinator has been brilliant (not her fault she is just doing what she is told to do).
The actual content of the EHCP was good and I never had a problem with that, but the independent EP was more for section I as they were going to both placements and reporting on what would be in my child best interests.
It hadn't even been registered yet, but im glad they have conceded earlier on.

I will, if you like.

We should have increased taxes by changing the thresholds and tapering increases to cover for vital services such as health, education and elderly care.

And before you start with the “people won’t pay more!!” stuff - I’m everyone’s least favourite SENd parent.

I pay high rate tax, out earn most of the people complaining about taxes on here, and also have the aforementioned disabled kid.

Shake the magic money tree harder, and ring fence it for key services.