In the short time since her appointment as the new Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson has pledged to put education “back at the forefront of national life” and offer more support to children and young people with SEND.
To do this, Phillipson says the new Labour government will recruit 6,500 new teachers to the workforce in a bid to “improve life chances for children” and provide them with the knowledge and skills they need to “seize opportunities in life and work”.
Phillipson said she will also get a ‘grip’ of the SEND system and provide more support for children with special educational needs and their families. The new Education Secretary and her ministerial team have already announced plans to restructure the Department of Education (DfE) so that SEND and Alternative Provision policy will come under the responsibility of the Schools Group.
The DfE says this restructuring will help to improve inclusion in mainstream schools, which was one of IPSEA’s key asks in its manifesto for making the SEND system work.
Writing in a letter to the education workforce, Phillipson said: “A huge part of my role is to understand the scale of the challenges you are facing, and the support needed to fix them.
“The scar of child poverty, severe financial pressures squeezing all your budgets, high workload, climbing vacancy rates, strain on care, mental health and SEND services, among many other issues, have made your jobs increasingly difficult.
“This is a tough inheritance – none of these have quick and easy solutions but I will work with and for you to find practical ways forward.”
The Education Secretary says their first key priorities will be to expand the early years education system, drive high and rising standards, and reform curriculum and assessment.
“Work to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers for our schools and colleges starts now, and we will bring forward a comprehensive strategy for post‐16 education, work with local government to provide loving, secure homes for children in care, provide support for children with SEND and their families, and create higher-quality training and employment paths by empowering local communities to develop the skills people need,” she said.
While Phillipson’s newly announced commitments have generally been supported by campaigners, advocacy organisations and families say they want to be heard and involved in any new policy changes.
In light of this, Tania Tirraoro, Renata Blower, Gillian Doherty and Sharon Smith, the co-directors of Special Needs Jungle, have written an open letter to the Education Secretary highlighting various concerns and opportunities within the sector. The letter makes seven key asks:
Tania said: “Our seven points offer practical, sensible solutions, but little will change while councils remain mired in high needs debt. The new government must consider wiping the slate clean and halting the safety valve scheme that can only mean brutal cuts to services. We also hope they’ll re-look at the more dubious aspects of the SEND Change Programme — it’s time the DfE practiced true co-production.”
SEND advocacy organisations and families now eagerly await the government’s next steps, and SEND Crisis say they hope the next Education Secretary ‘listens to parents’ about this national scandal and the ‘lack of local authority accountability’.
