SEND News and Reforms
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
DfE SEND division would like to signpost the following items:
- SEND Funding for 2021-22 - on Wednesday, 10 February, we announced over £42m SEND funding for 2021-22 to extend projects for children with SEND – further information is on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-42-million-to-extend-projects-for-children-with-send
- High Needs National Funding Formula consultation - as part of our review of the high needs national funding formula that calculates high needs funding allocations to local authorities, we launched a six-week consultation on 10 February. We are looking for responses to questions on the proposed formula changes for 2022-2023, including questions relating to longer term developments. A link to the consultation is on: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/high-needs-nff-proposed-changes/
- Access to Work has extended funding for Supported Internships outside of the work placement until August 2021 - confirmation has been received from DWP that students taking part in a supported internship who are unable to attend their work placements due to coronavirus (COVID-19) can apply for Access to Work funding until the end of August 2021 for work-related activities where: a job coach leads the activity; the activities develop employability skills. Access to Work funding is available for employability activities that are delivered face-to-face or via digital methods. Access to Work is not available to support academic learning activities such as English and Maths. You can contact the Access to Work helpline on 0800 121 7479, and further information is at: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The government has updated their summaries of the material that schools must or should publish online, including in relation to:
- SEN Information Reports, which need to be updated at least annually
- details of how a school complies with the public sector equality duty, with information which needs to be updated every year: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/149
- a school’s equality objectives, which need to be updated at least once every four years
- contact details of SENCos
Schools will also typically wish to publish the Accessibility Plan, that they have to update at least once every three years. Information as to that Plan needs to be included in their SEN Information Report.
There are no changes to the law and our guidance on publishing of the above, but in the updates of our summaries we have sought to bring together all the relevant material in one place and to set it out clearly.
Heads, SENCOs and governors/trustees are invited to consider whether the above material on their websites remains up to date.
The relevant links to DfE summaries of the requirements and expectations of schools are:
- for maintained schools, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online
- for academies/free schools, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-academies-free-schools-and-colleges-should-publish-online
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Update on access to work funding remote employability activities post January:
'We are waiting for a ministerial decision on the continuation of Access to Work funding for remote employability activities post January 2021. We expect to receive the decision very shortly, but until then you can continue to use Access to Work funding for remote employability activities'
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Colleagues in the SEND division at DfE would like to draw your attention to the additional guidance published today for special schools, specialist post-16 providers, and alternative schools (including hospital schools) during the national lockdown period. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/952377/Guidance_for_special_schools__specialist_post-16_providers_and_alternative_provision_during_the_national_lockdown.pdf
It should be read alongside the main guidance document: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/952377/Guidance_for_special_schools__specialist_post-16_providers_and_alternative_provision_during_the_national_lockdown.pdf and the https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/950735/January_2021_FE_operational_guidance_FINAL.pdf which covers the main operational issues.
Please also find below an open letter from Vicky Ford MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families to children and young people with SEND, their families, and those who work to support them.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
DfE (England) have published new guidance on what schools should be doing during the current lockdown
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak
- Written by: Ian Noon
The ministerial statement today from the Secretary of State for Education may be of interest:
In the statement, the Secretary reiterates the statutory requirement for schools in England to provide remote education, and announces that parents will be able to report schools to Ofsted if they don’t receive sufficient remote teaching. The key quote is below:
"We have set out clear, legally binding requirements for schools to provide high-quality remote education. This is mandatory for ALL state-funded schools and will be enforced by Ofsted. We expect schools to provide between three and five teaching hours a day, depending on a child’s age.
If parents feel their child’s school is not providing suitable remote education they should first raise their concerns with the teacher or headteacher and failing that, report the matter to Ofsted.
Ofsted will inspect schools – of any grade – where it has serious concerns about the quality of remote education being provided. I can confirm that
The Secretary has also confirmed we’ll be moving to teacher assessments for exam grades this year, with more details to follow from Ofqual.
GCSEs and A and AS Level exams will not go ahead this summer. This year we are going to put our trust in teachers rather than algorithms.
The department and Ofqual had already worked up a range of contingency options. While the details will need to be fine-tuned in consultation with Ofqual, the exam boards and teaching representatives, I can confirm now that I wish to use a form of teacher-assessed grades, with training and support provided to ensure these are awarded fairly and consistently."
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The DfE has provided additional funding to National Star College to provide training in assistive technologies to teachers and leaders. This training will help to secure remote education arrangements for pupils with special educational needs. Advice and guidance is also available to support the development of an inclusive curriculum. Between now and March 31st, National Star will:
- Boost the support available through the Demonstrator Network, through training specifically targeted on SEND practice using accessible technology in order to ensure skills and knowledge sustainability within the Demonstrator network.
- Teacher and SENCo training through online learning covering teaching techniques, accessibility considerations and assessment methodologies.
- Leadership training focused on including curriculum design
· Pupil assessments, partnering with demonstrators and special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos) guide them through an initial assessment of pupil need before any interventions take place.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The annual SEND Tribunal report was published by HMCTS last week, and the link to the publication on the gov.uk website is:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2020
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
A message from SEND team at DfE:
We are writing to inform you that today we have updated our Guidance for full opening for special schools and other specialist settings: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings
- Clinically extremely vulnerable pupils
This change is where two previous sections have been condensed together to improve readability. There is no new wording or policy changes.
- Section 4: Assessment and accountability
- Inspection – confirming how and when Ofsted inspections will be reintroduced over the spring and summer terms.
- Primary Assessment – updated information on the KS1 and KS2 tests for 2020/21
- Exams –updated information on the plans for exams in 2021
- Accountability – updated information on the collation and publication of performance tables in 2020/21
- Section 5: Contingency planning for remote education
Further details on the expectations for the provision of remote education for those children and young people who are unable to attend their setting due to coronavirus (COVID-19).We recognise the additional challenges that some children and young people with SEND will experience in accessing remote education. We have, therefore,been clear that specialist settings will need to work with parent /families/ carers to agree an ambitious yet pragmatic approach to supporting children and young people with complex needs to access appropriate remote learning and support where they are not able to be in school or college.
There is noone size fits all approach and anyDfE or Ofsted engagement concerning remote provision will always take into account the circumstances of the setting and its pupils, students and staff. Additionally, we are expecting to do a further ‘house-keeping’ update next week which will update the references to the autumn term to reflect that, from January, we will be entering the spring term.
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