Mandatory SEND training for education

[QuitChewingMyPlectrum]

The incredible Paula McGowern OBE has trained NHS staff on the needs of Learning Disabled & Neurodivergent people, now she is calling on @UKParliament to make this training mandatory in schools.

This could make a REAL difference! Please visit and sign the petition! And share if you can!
This training is ALREADY government approved and ready to go

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/639050?fbclid=IwAR2wuUS329dRuiiEMxVVdMkrPxAIEip1QLITURzv_CV6O4pQZ0mMbyBEM3c

I was just coming on to see if anyone had posted as Paula will be in Westminster next week & is hoping to be able to demonstrate there is public support for this.

Paula contributed a post briefly explaining her reasons for this campaign to the blog site Special Needs Jungle last month.

Oliver’s Campaign was created in 2016, following Oliver’s premature & avoidable death, aged 18. Paula’s indefatigable campaigning led to the development of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism with Health Education England. It started to be rolled out in 2022; & is now at the point where the government is https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-seeks-views-on-learning-disability-and-autism-training seeking views on a draft code of practice.

Paula McGowan’s Actual Real Job - not the labour of love that is the Campaign - is being an Early Years teacher with a Special Needs specialism. So she is intimately acquainted with the need for this training; & well-qualified to state that the training programme for health and social care staff could easily be adapted for educational settings.

As mentioned in this article, a recent report by the National Autistic Society showed that while 73% of England’s 182,493 autistic pupils are educated in mainstream state schools; only 14% of secondary school teachers have had more than half a day of autism training, & senior staff are more likely to have undertaken training than classroom teachers. Hopefully the evidence from the report can be used to support Paula in demonstrating the need for this.