Amanda Allard, NCB Strategic Director of Practice and Programmes and Director of the Council for Disabled Children (CDC), responds to the announcement of extra funding to mainstream schools to support disabled children and children with special educational needs.
“We welcome the announcement by the government to increase funding to allow greater provision for disabled children and children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools.
In particular, we are pleased that the government has confirmed that it will not make any further Safety Valve agreements with local authorities, given the levels of concern about this programme across the sector.
We welcome too the focus on the needs of neurodivergent children and young people, who often feature prominently in statistical analysis of exclusions and severe and persistent absence. We look forward to working with Professor Karen Guldberg as she starts an important piece of work as Chair of a new Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group.
As the government creates more specialist provision within mainstream schools, we will be keen to examine detailed guidance on its implementation to ensure that it does not lead to segregation within the mainstream. We encourage policymakers to look at some of the excellent practice that currently exists in this area.
Finally, while the increase in capital funding is really welcome, the government will also need to address issues of expertise. We have to ensure that the workforce has the skills it needs to effectively respond to the needs of disabled children and young people and children and young people with SEN.”