Are you aware of the amount of SEN/additional needs pupils in class?

[yetiflowerpumpkin]

I’ve put this in chat rather than anywhere else because I just want to highlight the scale of SEN/additional needs in schools. In my experience, and reading on MN, some parents aren’t aware of the issues school staff face in supporting these students.

I am an experienced cover teacher in a medium sized primary school. In the classes I cover there are 25-30 children.

As an example, in two of the classes 75% of the pupils have additional educational needs. Some are diagnosed, others are on the (years long) waiting list. Some have multiple needs (Autism, ADHD, AuDHD, SEMH, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, physical/visual impairment and other medical needs, some life threatening). I don’t think in any class I cover there is less than 40%.

I think some parents think their child is the only child with needs in class and cannot understand why those needs are sometimes not met. In the ideal world all those needs would be met, but there isn’t a possibility in mainstream with lack of support staff, lack of space and lack of funding.

I try and do my best (my own family are neurodivergent) but I know my best isn’t good enough for some parents.

Does it surprise you the amount of additional needs there are in class?

75% of two classes she teaches have SEN. She isn’t saying 75% of children overall have SEN

Could you provide the facts then please?

How do you know? Why do you know? They don’t wear a badge that marks them out!

I think the increase in number of kids with diagnosed SEN is due to various factors, the main one being awareness (on the part of teachers and parents).

Looking back to my schooling in the 70s, there were always “naughty” kids, “thick” kids, “weird” kids. No one thought beyond those labels. Now they’d be diagnosed with SEN.

But I also think screens have a lot to answer for. Kids are given phones and iPads way too young. They’re watching YouTube shorts from the toddler years. It’s no wonder so many of them come to school at age 4 with an attention span of a couple of minutes. Kids are never bored, because long car journeys, waiting rooms etc, are dealt with by handing them a screen. This means they never have to dig deep in their imagination to entertain themselves.

I’m a GP and we’re not allowed toys in our rooms any more, because of infection control and health and safety. I used to see kids playing all sorts of games while their parents talked to me. Now they just sit there in the buggies looking at a phone. It’s so sad.

So, in the '70's there were all these SEN kids. Potentially 30% of the class. But we just didn't know it?

How interesting.

Many wouldn't have been in mainstream school

Statistically a mainstream class will have 10% of children with dyslexia, 10% with DLD, one or two with asd or adhd diagnosis or traits, 10% with slow processing, etc. it’s impossible to provide bespoke activities for each individual child but it is possible to plan lessons and tasks that are accessible to all.

I have seen education for staff around Sen grow year on year and we are much more aware of what children need nowadays.

Saying that, teachers need to be honest about the support available in schools for children. I have had many conversations with parents over the years where I simply cannot do what they are asking. Usually we find a compromise but not always.

Or, a lot of them didn't have 'SEN' as the curriculum wasn't expecting things beyond their ability and development.

I noticed watching the kids in the lower years sing at Christmas that a very high number seemed to wear very strong glasses. In the years my kids are in it would be a handful. This was over half. It struck me at the time and I wondered if there is a cause

Absolutely @yetiflowerpumpkin.

I don't think I've taught a class with less than 50% SEN in the last 5 years. The last 2 of which were without any TA support. It led me to have a breakdown and leave teaching for good.

I have 2 children with SEN and was naturally good at supporting children with SEN, hence always being given the "difficult" classes. But with no support, it is impossible, no matter how good you are. And despite having no support, being blamed by parents and SLT for not being able to do the impossible, quite literally destroyed me. I am now a shell of my former self.

What has changed in the 12 years since I had that conversation?

There hasn’t been such a huge increase in SEN in recent years as some people like to claim. For example, the latest SEN statistics from Jan 2025 show 19.5% of pupils have SEN. In 2010, so before EHCPs, it was 20.9% or 21.1% (depending on which statistics you look at - I think it is a rounding issue). In 2005 it was 18%.

I read somewhere that I can’t find at the moment, that it’s over 40% in the lower age groups.

In England, while the rate of SEN (EHCP and SEN Support) are slightly higher in nursery (18.8%) and in primary schools (18.2%) than in secondary schools (16.5%) 40% do not have SEN.

The school will get extra funding for SEN if a diagnosis is made.

Schools do not get more funding just because a child receives a diagnosis.

Be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies.

We're talking about 30% of a class. That's a hell of a lot of children. Where were they? And why didn't we know about them?

Because they were ignored. They weren't diagnosed with Autism but were just labeled as weird

So potentially (at least) 30% of these kids in a class were 'weird'. And no one noticed? Because that's not a narrative that makes any sense.

I’m seeing this with dd, we’re both ND and whereas I did pretty well at school in the 80’s & 90’s, it’s completely different for her now with the current education system, curriculum and constant testing.

Add to that class sizes are often 34 and she can’t concentrate because of constant noise and disruption. She feels permanently stressed by it and even her friends who aren’t SEN students or ND find it stressful, how are they supposed to be able to focus and learn anything? She says in a few subjects the teacher can barely teach anything because they spend the majority of the time trying to control the class.

Some, one or two, would previously have been in special schools.
Some would not have been recognised as having SEN - they'd just have been considered slow or naughty.
Some would have managed fine with the curriculum of the past so wouldn't have had SEN.

In key stage one, a child that can’t sit still, talking over teacher, not following any instructions etc could just be labelled ‘naughty’ but in some chn you realise that it’s a combination of ADHD and maybe lack of good parental role models. It’s rarely 100% one thing. I’m thinking of a a child who almost certainly has ADHD but also has a stressed out , very young single mum who doesn’t want to engage with the school. He goes to bed very late, watches screens all the time and his diet is poor. I often wonder how different his behaviours would be if his home life was better. In my experience there is more of this which only heightens any underlying condition . Of course the condition itself can make regulating his behaviour and bed time harder.

I work in early years and it is frightening how things have changed. 10-15 years ago if there was an additional needs child in my nursery it was rare. They were all toilet trained, they could focus, they were independent, they could listen. Now - many coming in not toilet trained which means staff having to go off the floor to change, reducing the ratio on the floor which is already at minimum level. Children now struggle to sit still, cannot focus on a task. Behaviour has worsened but is now rewarded with removal to do a nice task 1:1.
i think an issue is parents jumping to autism, adhd etc without looking at the bigger picture first. If your child is up to midnight on their iPad could it be lack of sleep. If your child hits you and doesn’t show respect might it be there are no boundaries, consequences. It’s just an easy route to label.
Inclusion doesn’t work, it’s just the governments way to shirk responsibility and pass the buck to councils.

I think the changes that have had the most impact is the lack of TAs to support and the very high needs children now in mainstream.

We have a resource base in our school with children who previously would have all needed a specialist place - and still do realistically, but that can take years and some special schools will say they can’t meet the behavioural needs alongside the SEN, so children can end up without a specialist place.

We fund this ourselves through allocation of their EHCP funding and also partly our own school budget, although that can’t keep going much longer.

Lack of TAs in classes means much more teacher time is being spent on children with SEN - I have children who cannot write at all in a class with others writing a full page. Children cannot access the learning but are being pushed to stay in class in the name of inclusion.

Inclusion can only happen with proper funding.

Firstly, I object to the quotes around disabled. That sounds very much like you don’t believe the diagnosis of some of these children.

There has been a massive push over the last few years towards keeping children with SEND in mainstream schools under the name of “inclusion” and the subsequent closure of special schools.

The senco that you spoke to had her view, it may well be wrong, as a teacher she’s not qualified to say whether the child’s diagnosis is wrong and to blame the parents. In any event the “cause” of a child’s disability or their SEND is irrelevant, they still have SEND.

As a parent of children with SEND, honestly, my job is to advocate for them. If the school can’t meet needs because there are too many other children with SEND at the school that’s not my problem (or my child’s) That’s for the school to manage or to tell me that they can’t meet needs and we’ll look at a more appropriate school.

My child not being the “only child with sen” isn’t an excuse for not providing an education that meets their needs and as a teacher, looking to parents to “understand” is looking in the wrong area - speak to your school leadership, ask why there are inadequate resources, why these children haven’t been assessed for an EHCP but don’t look to parents for us to understand because we’ve got enough to do dealing with our children.

Hmmm, at my son's primary school (Birmingham) 20 % of the children are on the SEN register. This is what the Headteacher told me.

We did a parental application for an EHCP in May 2025. I just had lost all confidence in the school by this point

The LA refused to assess and then I managed to overturn this decision in a mediation with the LA. In November 2025 the LA decided to issue an EHCP and we are waiting for the draft at the moment.

A lot of people believe that an EHCP is dependent on diagnosis. It really isn't.

It is based on needs. My son will receive the EHCP because of his significant struggles in school, not because of his autism diagnosis.

Although I think it is mostly down to better diagnosing etc, I strongly suspect that the negative impact of screens will become more and more clear. I think ongoing evidence will likely continue to show that sitting staring at a one-to-one screen like an iPad or phone is hugely detrimental to the development of speech and language skills and the ability to focus and control emotions etc.

The teacher told me when we were reviewing my DCs EHCP. Of course they don't all wear a badge, what a stupid comment to make to someone with a disabled child.