Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
Debate between Adam Dance and Georgia Gould(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Georgia Gould
I am going to make progress.
This morning I visited a school that is doing amazing work to provide support in the classroom, in mainstream provision, for children and young people. The children I meet have big dreams and deserve the chance to thrive. The Secretary of State for Education has made it absolutely clear that under this Government no child will be left behind, and we will reform the system so that children with special educational needs are at the heart of the education system. There will always be a legal right to additional support for children and young people with special educational needs.
As I approach this new role, there are a number of principles guiding me. First, the voices of children, young people and their families, and of teachers and those supporting them, must be at the forefront of reform.
Georgia Gould
I will make progress, because we do not have much time.
Over the last year, the Secretary of State and my predecessor have spent a huge amount of time with families to make sure that their voices are heard. Secondly, children should get support when they need it, as early as possible.
Adam Dance
With my ten-minute rule Bill, I have given the Minister good ideas to take forward. Will she look at including them in the White Paper?
Georgia Gould
I heard the hon. Member introduce his Bill. He spoke so powerfully about his personal journey, and this House is a better place because he is in it. The points he raised about investing in teacher training across the board are critical and have to be part of the future.
The second principle, which we have heard about from almost every speaker, is that children need to get support when issues first appear; early intervention has to be the basis of reform. Thirdly, children with special educational needs should not have to go miles away from their families and communities to get the right support. We need to invest in support within our communities.
Finally, support for young people to thrive is not just for schools. I have heard the words “collaboration” and “co-design” so many times in this debate. It is about play, it is about youth clubs, it is about local health services; it is about workplaces that celebrate neurodiversity. We are talking about one in five of our young people: we all know somebody who has special educational needs, and those individuals bring so much creativity and so many ideas.