Children and Families Bill

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Storey]

My very first Oral Question was on dyslexia. I have raised the issue on a number of occasions and the Government’s response has always been positive in the sense that they say they have made more money available to universities for courses that they run. It seems very simple and yet very important, first, to ensure that all teachers—not just some—have an understanding of special educational needs and how to identify problems. To have early intervention, you have to be able to identify the problem, otherwise it does not work. Where a classroom teacher sees an issue, they need to be able to understand it and then refer it to the SENCO. The best way of doing that is through training our teachers. It is almost a no-brainer: it is very simple and easy to do and lots of universities and training institutions currently do it. If some do it, why can all not do it?

The second issue, as has been pointed out, is something that we have already put in the code of conduct, where it is very clearly spelled out. We must congratulate the Government on taking the next step and saying that not only should SENCOs be qualified teachers but that, furthermore, newly appointed SENCOs should have the relevant qualification. That is very important—it was not mandatory before and now it is. They are the people who can then deal with all the other issues we have talked about. I would take it a step further and say that existing SENCOs, who are not newly appointed to the SENCO role but may have been in post for several years, should also have to obtain this qualification. They might be doing it for the next 20 years, so should also have that qualification. We should perhaps give them a period of several years’ latitude to take the qualification, but we want to see a situation where teachers, through their training, know the issues and where there is a qualified person in every school to deal with these issues. That way, the excellent work that is suggested in the code of practice will actually happen, because there are people who know what they are talking about and know what to do.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I will comment briefly on the amendments and support the noble Lord, Lord Addington, and other noble Lords who have spoken this afternoon. As ever, the noble Lord, Lord Addington, made a very powerful case for quality teaching to identify children with dyslexia and all other specific learning difficulties. It is important that we broaden it and do not just concentrate on the—very important—needs of children with dyslexia.

In earlier debates on the Bill, and again this afternoon, we have stressed the importance of earlier intervention. The noble Lord, Lord Storey, has just done that again. It is important that we identify children at the earliest opportunity so that we can give them the support they need to maximise the opportunities that their education can give them. These amendments clearly build on that theme. However, for early intervention to take place consistently, all teachers should be trained in the technique of spotting where it might be necessary. They need to be aware of the range of support mechanisms that are effective and can make a difference. This cannot be left to chance or to some teachers developing a personal interest in SEN, which is, all too often, what happens at the moment.

For each teacher who is unaware, or fails to act, another child’s life chances are blighted. We very much agree with the mandatory module in teacher training. Leaving it to individual schools to provide the knowledge and skills for teaching staff will leave it too late, and we believe it will result in piecemeal provision if we proceed on that basis. Sorting this provision out is crucial to the success of all other aspects of the Bill when it comes to SEN. If we do not get teacher training right, all the other aspects of support that we are talking about here will fall at the very first hurdle.

We also agree with the proposal that the SEN co-ordinator should be a qualified teacher who has been trained in SEN and specific learning difficulties, and we were pleased that the Minister has now acknowledged that the co-ordinator should be a qualified teacher. These high-level skills are crucial to ensure that the school properly focuses attention on the needs of specific groups of pupils, as specified in the new Ofsted framework. It is an interesting development that, with the Government’s new-found faith in unqualified teachers, special educational needs co-ordinators will be the only posts in a school required to be qualified teachers, but I slightly digress.

This leads to another issue, which is that if the Minister agrees with the amendments with regard to teacher training modules and the status of school SENCOs, we are faced with a considerable knowledge deficit among existing teachers, both qualified and unqualified. What further steps do the Government intend to take to ensure that training for existing teachers and, indeed, existing SENCOs can meet our expectation of early intervention and action? How can we be confident that their knowledge of the latest physical and technical equipment is kept up to date if we are focusing just on newly qualified teachers and new training for SEN teachers? I am echoing the points made by other noble Lords, and I hope that the Minister will be able to address the issues.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss]

When my dyslexic granddaughter was identified as such in her excellent primary school, it sent someone out to learn about it because there was no one in the school who had any idea of how to deal with dyslexia. It was an excellent primary school in north London, Eleanor Palmer Primary School, for which I have the highest respect. I wonder how many schools, if they had a dyslexic child, would take the trouble to send somebody out to learn. If a school as good as that did not have anyone who understood it, what is going on? It seems to me that these amendments are extremely important.