Commenting on the publication of the Schools White Paper which includes reforms for schools and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“The National Education Union welcomes the government’s ambition to reshape the SEND landscape to ensure it works for all children. All children must have ready access to special needs support from their school without a long bureaucratic process and mainstream schools will have more access to specialist services.
“The NEU has been calling for funding for more resources for inclusion in mainstream schools, so we welcome the announcement of the Inclusion Grant. However, it is too small. It only equates to a part-time teaching assistant for the average primary school and two teaching assistants for average secondary schools. This is not enough to make schools more inclusive.
“The Experts at Hand specialists will need capacity and resource but will provide schools with the additional support and advice that we have long been calling for.
“The NEU is pleased that the government intends to tackle the profiteering by independent special schools who have been charging exorbitant fees for poor quality provision and draining resources from the system.
“It is essential that local authorities retain the statutory responsibilities around SEND and SEND funding allocation in partnerships with all their local schools. We are pleased to see the recognition from Bridget Phillipson that it is collaboration not competition that fuels school improvement. It is the time for reform of multi-academy trusts. We want to see the White Paper introduce the ability for a school to leave a trust. We want action on MAT CEO pay. We want action to ensure good employment practice in MATs, to address the shocking teacher turnover.
“We are glad that the government has listened to the NEU and increased the level of maternity pay. It is a vital step in the right direction to bring teachers’ maternity rights closer to the rest of the public sector. We need also to see a whole raft of other measures to improve the working conditions of the profession that recognises the fact that 75 per cent of teachers are women.
“For these reforms to be successful the government must work with the profession and schools. They must listen to parents’ concerns, and they must make sure that there are enough resources available. Schools are running on empty. The government must not put more expectations on schools without real additional resources - and the funding currently announced is not enough.”