| answer text |
<p>The government’s commitment to inclusive education of disabled children and young
people and the progressive removal of barriers to learning and participation in mainstream
education is at the heart of the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
system. We have made substantial reforms to strengthen the SEND system in recent years,
to improve the identification and meeting of the needs of children and young people
and to improve families’ experiences of the system. As part of this, the Children
and Families Act (2014) secured the general presumption in law of mainstream education
in relation to decisions about where children and young people with SEND should be
educated, complementing the protections in the Equality Act (2010) against disability
discrimination.</p><p> </p><p>Recent steps we have taken to help disabled children
and young people reach their full potential in mainstream education include the fact
that we have been closely monitoring the pressures on high needs budgets and have
provided additional high needs funding for local authorities, alongside their 2019-20
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations: a further £125 million in 2018-19 and £125
million of high needs funding for 2019-20.</p><p> </p><p>We are investing £365 million
in the Special Provision Capital Fund from 2018 to 2021, helping local authorities
create new school places and improve existing facilities for children and young people
with SEND. This capital funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities can use it
as they see fit to improve special provision in their local areas. The funding can
be invested in a range of settings, including mainstream and special schools or academies.
We have required local authorities to publish their plans on how they use this funding,
and these show that many local authorities intend to expand their specialist provision
in mainstream schools.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the importance of staff in mainstream
schools having the skills to identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This
is why, for example, we have awarded a 2 year, £3.4 million contract to the Whole
School SEND Consortium, led by Nasen, to deliver a programme of work to drive education
institutions to prioritise SEND and equip schools to identify and meet the relevant
training needs of their workforce. We have also funded the Autism Education Trust
since 2011 to deliver autism awareness training to education staff in early years,
schools and further education settings. This training has so far reached more than
195,000 people - not just teachers and teaching assistants, but also support staff
such as receptionists, dining hall staff and caretakers, encouraging a ‘whole school’
approach to supporting pupils with autism. We are also reviewing the current SEND
content in the Initial Teacher Training provision (ITT) and building on our existing
SEND specialist qualifications to develop a continuum of learning from ITT, through
teachers’ early careers and into specialist and leadership roles in support of the
upcoming Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy.</p><p> </p>
|
|
