Education
Unequal
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”
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Under the watchful eye of our carers, you’ll often
see children riding their bikes and trikes around
after school or even enjoying water fights on warm
summer afternoons. Our dedicated, knowledgeable
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are part of each young person’s everyday life which
guarantees that each individual makes progress.
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Acorn Park, Andrew’s Furlong, Banham, Norwich, NR16 2HU
and unjust
A new report highlights the inequalities
that exist for SEN students in the UK,
with evidence of a postcode lottery.
Report by Lorna Jordan
Children are among the most
vulnerable in society, and when a
child has special educational
needs (SEN), it’s all the more
important that their needs are
properly met in school and
beyond. Jules Daulby, a SEN
Jules Daulby: specialist at law firm Bolt Burdon
her work has Kemp, has revealed how the UK
shone a very Government is continuing to fail
revealing SEN students across England.
light on the Through collating publicly
UK’s special available government data, the firm
educational was able to paint a stark picture of
needs provision the SEN landscape in England.
London tops rankings
for SEN education
Bolt Burdon Kemp looked at ten
factors relating to SEN education
for each of the nine regions of
England. This included the
percentage of good or outstanding
schools in the region, the number
of educational psychologists, the
level of high-needs funding given
to the region, and the number of
Key findings of the report
l The South East of England has the highest
number of SEN students, yet London gets £22
million more in high-needs funding
l Under-funded state schools are forced to spend
£6,000 for every SEN student they support
l Female SEN students may be falling under the
radar.
www.acornpark.org.uk www.autismeye.com
places available for children with
high needs.
In a ranking of SEN education
performance in England from best
to worst, London came out top and
North East England was bottom*:
1 London
2 South East England
3 North West England
4 West Midlands
5 East of England
6 South West England
7 East Midlands
8 Yorkshire and the Humber
9 North East England
Its abundance of resources and
facilities means London tops many
of the metrics, yet it’s the South
East that’s home to the greatest
number of SEN students. In fact,
London gets a whopping £22.9
million more in high-needs funding
than the South East.
Changes in the system
l The number of SEN pupils has
risen for the third consecutive year
l Changes in SEN identification
may mean some pupils are left
behind
The proportion of pupils with
special educational needs and
disabilities has risen for a third
consecutive year. In January 2019,
pupils with SEN represented 14.9
per cent of the overall student
body, while the number was 14.6
per cent in 2018 and 14.4 per cent
in 2017. However, Daulby points
Children who
previously had
SEN support may find
themselves being left
by the wayside”
out: “It’s hard to know if there are
more children with SEN now, or
whether the system is simply
identifying needs better.”
She adds: “To complicate
matters, there are likely to be many
children who used to be identified
with SEN who aren’t now. SEN
identification has gone from a five-
stage risk classification to three
stages and now to two: students
who need SEN support and
students who need an Educational,
Health and Care plan (EHC plan).”
As classifications change,
children who previously had SEN
support may find themselves being
left by the wayside. How many
children are currently unidentified
within the overall SEN numbers
because of these changes?
Government perversely
penalises SEN-friendly
schools
According to Government reports,
London and the North West of
England have the highest school
expenditures, although the South
Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 3 7 2 0 2 0 25
 Education
Being missed: girls are less likely than boys to be identified with SEN
East is home to more specialist
schools and more students with
SEN. Here is a ranking by
expenditure:
1 London
2 North West England
3 South East England
4 West Midlands
5 Yorkshire and the Humber
6 East of England
7 South West England
8 East Midlands
9 North East England
“One of the problems the
government must tackle,” says
Daulby, “is the SEN notional
budget (SNB). This expects
schools to spend a certain amount
of their own budget (currently
£6,000) for each child with SEN.
“Of course, this means inclusive
schools who welcome children with
SEN pay a hefty price for inclusion.
While children with an EHC plan
are privy to funding they can bring
with them, the SNB still means
schools are being unfairly punished
for their efforts to be inclusive.”
For children with SEN who live in
areas that have less budget to
work with, the SNB could well be
the only factor that prevents them
from being accepted into their
school of choice.
Girls may miss out on
crucial SEN support
l More boys get SEN support than
girls
l Girls may be going under the
radar when identifying SEN needs
It’s interesting to explore the
gender differences in SEN support.
More boys are assessed and
labelled with SEN than girls. While
26 Au t i s m | e y e I s s u e 3 7 2 0 2 0
Schools are
being unfairly
punished for their
efforts to be inclusive”
this could simply mean that boys
are more likely to have special
educational needs, there could be
more at play.
“It’s possible that girls are going
under the radar,” Daulby says,
“with their behaviour being misread
and the signs of SEN being
missed, simply because they don’t
behave in the same way as boys.”
Parents and experts are
being ignored
l Government needs to listen to
parents and students more
l OFSTED failed to consult SEN
organisations when creating its
framework
l Teacher training in SEN needs to
be a priority
As well as potentially missing
the nuances between genders,
SEN assessments and frameworks
may be missing a crucial
component: the voices and
opinions of students with SEN and
their parents. “The government is
not listening enough to parents or
students,” says Daulby, adding that
“they don’t consult enough with SEN
charities and organisations.
OFSTED created a new SEN
framework to scrutinise schools
without consulting any SEN
organisations.”
A good first step might be to
increase the number of experts in
Introduction & Application TEACCH®
Autism programme
to the SCERTS Model;
2 DAY 3 DAY TRAINING
TRAINING COURSE COURSE
June 2 Day 25-26. 2020 £274.00 June 3 DAY 22-24. 2020 £407.00
the room, namely by training all Are you a January 2 Day TBA. 2021 £280.00 January 3 DAY TBA. 2021 £410.00
teachers in how to include SEN parent or
pupils in the classroom. “The lack professional
of support and training given to caring for a
teachers is problematic,” says child or adult
Using the SCERTS curriculum Course Led by
Daulby. “During teacher training,
there need to be more mandatory
with autism
and in search & practice principles to design Professor of Psychiatry Laura Grofer
Klinger clinical psychologist, PhD
placements in both special schools
and pupil referral units to allow
of a new
school, college programming for children with Executive Director of the TEACCH®
teachers a better understanding of
how to include children in
or support?
Autism Eye has
Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism Programme
mainstream classrooms.”
launched an
Education &
Course Led by
A stark future for SEN Support Finder, Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP Director.
education? which allows These trainings are most
What does the future hold for SEN visitors to our This training is appropriate for: appropriate for:
education? In October 2019, a
Commons report damning the
website to find
an education
educators, therapists, educators, therapists,
2014 SEN reforms highlighted or support administrators, professionals, administrators,
several issues, including lack of provider across & families professionals, & families
accountability from the Government the UK with
(such as a failure to monitor local our interactive AM/PM refreshments, light lunch.
authorities) and detailing negative map. See for
experiences by families. “From this
report, it’s clear that the system
yourself: www.
autismeye.com/
AM/PM refreshments & light lunch
has become more adversarial than education-and-
ever,” says Daulby. support-finder
“What’s more,” she adds, “often
the mantra in children’s services
for intervention is ‘just enough,
soon enough’ so families and
children with SEN often don’t get
help until crisis point has hit.” If we
are to have any chance of Office: 199-203 Blandford Ave, Kettering,
providing a better experience for
Northants NN16 9AT.
families and children with SEN, we Office: 199-203 Blandford Ave, Kettering, Tel./Fax: 01536 523274
need to engage more closely with
the families and teaching staff Northants NN16 9AT. autism@autismuk.com
closest to the issue. Tel./Fax: 01536 523274
autism@autismuk.com
* This ranking is based on how the region fares when
combining figures for the following four factors:
Book online: Book online:
percentage of good or outstanding schools, number of www.autismuk.com www.autismuk.com
educational psychologists, high needs funding, and
number of places for children with high needs.
www.autismeye.com