Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, comments on the government’s announcement of a £200m SEND training programme for teachers and expectation that all staff should receive training on SEND and inclusion.
“The government is right that providing additional training is a key part of building a better system to support children with special educational needs, and we welcome this commitment. Whether this investment is sufficient to deliver training of the depth and quality required at massive scale across a system in which there are around half a million teachers remains to be seen.
“The expectation that all staff in every nursery, school and college should receive training on SEND and inclusion is good in principle but is a huge undertaking and it will clearly take time to deliver in practice.
“And this investment must be sustained so that SEND training is part of ongoing professional development. It is too important to be a one-off block of training. Schools and colleges need sufficient support to enable them to ensure that training can continue to be provided as professional practice and knowledge develops and is updated. This is vital in meeting the needs of children and the expectations of parents.”