Over a thousand of more children and young individuals with SEND (special educational needs and disability) are set to benefit from access to high-quality specialized learning, with seven new special free schools in Cambridge shire, Merton, Kent and Norfolk selected to be built alongside the existing 83 already committed to opening, situated across England from Devon to Darlington.
Once completed, this investment will be more than double the amount of special free schools, which will be available across the country- from 8,500 to 19,000- confirming that all children will receive a quality education which is tailored to their needs.
Presently, local authorities across the country have been selected to deliver a ground- breaking new programme to test and improve the reforms to services for young individuals and families.
Backed by £70 million, the local authorities will help inform the development of new national standards to expand the consistency of provision across the country.
Each area will bring together education and health services, as well as parents and families to develop an inclusion plan which helps to deliver local services in a coordinated way- that is making sure a child with special educational needs who is behind in reading is quickly judged and given the right support.
Claire Coutinho Minister for Children, families and Wellbeing said, that the main priority is to provide quality education to children with special educational needs and disabilities.
A new leadership level National Professional Qualification for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (NPQ for SENCOs), ensuring SENCOs have the training they need to provide the correct support to children.
A new method to IP (Improvement Plan) will focus on preparing children to return to mainstream or prepare for adulthood. IP will act as an intervention within mainstream education, as well as high-quality standalone provision, in an approach which meets children’s needs earlier and helps prevent escalation.
An extension until March 2025 to the IP Specialist Taskforces, which works directly with young individuals in IP to offer intensive support from teams made up from experts, including speech and language therapists, mental health professionals and family workers, which is backed by an additional £7million investment.
It doubled the amount of supported internship places by 2025, from around 2,500 to 5,000 and was backed with £18 million of funding to help young individuals to make the transition into adulthood. £30 million to go towards developing innovative methods for short breaks for children, young individuals and their families, providing crucial respite for families of children with complex needs- the programme funds local areas to test new services including sports, play, arts and independent living activities, which gives time for parents to spend time for themselves while their child enjoys learning new skills.
