Julia Harnden, Deputy Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, comments following the announcement of funding for more specialist places for children with SEND in mainstream schools.
“We support the ambition of the government in its SEND reforms and we are sure that leaders and teachers will do everything possible to make the new system work. However, the amount of funding being allocated through the inclusive mainstream fund is clearly not adequate to deliver the scale of change that is envisaged. For an average primary school it equates to the salary of less than one classroom assistant, and for the average secondary less than two classroom assistants. We recognise that there are other funding streams to support the SEND reforms – such as the capital allocations for inclusion bases – but delivery ultimately comes down to having sufficient numbers of trained staff to provide the support set out in the government’s white paper and needed by these children.
“The expectation is that mainstream schools will not only have provision for more children with complex special educational needs, but that they will develop detailed inclusion plans for every child with SEND and then be able to deliver that provision. Parents will expect to see this system work well for their children and we are concerned that a lack of sufficient investment will limit schools’ capacity to deliver change. This risks undermining essential parent-school partnerships, without which the SEND system cannot improve.”