Government plans to reform SEND provision in England ignore the glaring realities facing schools and risk creating little more than inclusion ‘on the cheap’ while failing to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Delegates at the Annual Conference of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union in Birmingham have warned that the vision of shifting more special needs provision into mainstream settings fails to acknowledge current challenges including excessive teacher workload, large class sizes, the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis in the school workforce and the funding gap facing education.
Without action in tandem to address these challenges, the reforms risk setting schools and teachers up to fail, the Conference has heard.
Nearly four in ten (38%) of teachers responding to a recent NASUWT survey said that their school does not currently have internal provision or an SEND unit for pupils. The government has proposed that in the future every secondary school will be expected to have a dedicated SEND hub, but it is currently unclear where the space, funding and staffing will come from for this.
Only 46% said that their school currently has a mechanism for ensuring that pupils in alternative internal provision are reintegrated back into main school classes.
Matt Wrack, NASUWT General Secretary, said:
“It is clear that teachers have no confidence that the government will provide adequate resources to genuinely tackle the SEND crisis. There is a real fear that teachers will end up with greater responsibility, greater workload and greater scrutiny, but without the resources actually needed to do the job.
“The government seems to view teachers primarily as a mechanism for SEND provision, rather than as professionals whose working conditions determine whether any reforms can succeed.
“There is an assumption by government that most pupils with SEND can be successfully educated in mainstream schools, but the plans do not make clear how this is expected to happen in practice. There is an absence of any strategy to reduce current workload burdens on staff, make school buildings fit for purpose or tackle the delays in health and social care services which result in unmet needs falling back on schools.
“A sustainable SEND system depends on rebuilding capacity both in and around schools, but in their current form the government’s plans risk exacerbating the current pressures facing schools.
“We agree that the current system is failing and reform is needed, but change must be change for the better. The government must use the current consultation period to reflect on the concerns raised by teachers and respond with proposals that show they are listening to the profession.”
