Mims Davies MP welcomes the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) Improvement Plan, which confirms investment in training for thousands of special educational needs workers so children can get the help they need earlier, alongside thousands of additional specialist school places for those with the greatest needs.
The Plan includes 33 new special free schools of which a new free school has been allocated to be built within West Sussex Local Authority area. The local authorities selected to have these new free schools built in their areas add to the 49 already in the pipeline. It is proposed the new free school in West Sussex will focus on children aged 4-18 with autistic spectrum disorders, social and emotional mental health.
These new places come as part of the government’s £2.6 billion investment between 2022 and 2025 to increase special school and alternative provision capacity.
There will be expanded training for staff, ranging from up to 5,000 early years special educational needs co-ordinators to 400 educational psychologists, covering a wide range of educational needs. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education will develop an apprenticeship for teachers of sensory impairments.
The £70 million change programme will work over the next 2 to 3 years with selected local authorities in 9 regions, working alongside families to implement, test and refine longer-term plans – including new digital requirements for local authority EHCP processes and options for strengthening mediation.
The changes are also underpinned by a strengthened local authority inspection regime joint between Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
The transformation of the system will be underpinned by new national SEND and AP standards, which will give families confidence in what support they should receive and who will provide and pay for it, regardless of where they live.
There will be new guides for professionals to help them provide the right support in line with the national standards but suited to each child’s unique experience, setting out for example how to make adjustments to classrooms to help a child remain in mainstream education.
To improve parents’ and carers’ experiences of accessing support, the plan will cut local bureaucracy by making sure the process for assessing children and young people’s needs through education health and care (EHC) plans is digital-first, quicker and simpler wherever possible.
This plan follows extensive engagement with around 6,000 consultation responses and 175 events, ensuring the new reforms take into account the views of children, young people, parents and carers. The plan sets out a clear roadmap to transform the SEND and AP system and make it sustainable over the long term.
The Improvement Plan in full can be found here: SEND and alternative provision improvement plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)