Commenting as the government releases its SEND and Alternative
Provision Green Paper, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school
leaders' union NAHT, said:
"There is no doubt that the system for supporting pupils with
special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is not working
as well as it should be. A decade of sustained underfunding,
coupled with growing demands has pushed a fragile system to
breaking point. The current situation is clearly not sustainable
and it is right that government should seek to engage with as
many people as possible to bring about the necessary reforms.
"At first glance there are some sensible ideas contained within
the green paper. It makes sense to have a more consistent system
for identifying needs and we support the plan to more to a
standardised EHCP process. We agree that Alternative Provision
has a vital role to play in the system and welcome the suggestion
that there will be greater funding stability for this important
part of the sector.
"However, we are not convinced that enough is being done to
ensure that all pupils get access to the vital support services
they need as soon as they need them. We agree with government
that early identification and intervention is essential and the
key to improving pupil outcomes – schools know this
instinctively, but we also know that waiting lists to see
specialists, such as speech and language therapists, are
currently far too long and we see little evidence at this stage
that the government has ambitious enough plans to properly
address this. ‘Clarifying roles’ is one thing, but unless
those services are properly resourced, it is unlikely to make a
significant difference.
"All schools, mainstream, special and alternative provision
settings work incredibly hard to support pupils with SEND, but
the reality is that they are doing so with insufficient
resources. The bottom line is that we need to make sure each part
of the sector has the resources it needs to meet the varying
needs of pupils with SEND and is able to access the specialists
pupils need at the earliest possible opportunity. That is what
will make the biggest difference."
