Schools: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Lord Watson of Invergowrie Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)]

My Lords, there should never be any doubt over whether there are sufficient places for children with special educational needs or a disability. Societies are surely defined by how they care for their most vulnerable members and if children are unable to access the educational support they require they will be seriously hampered—perhaps permanently—in fulfilling their potential.

On the face of it, the mere fact that the number of academies and free schools has increased exponentially should not mean that there is greater need for additional school capacity for SEND children. In fact, given that free schools are by definition additional schools, and that there are now more than 20 special free schools, logically the pressure on such places should have decreased. However, it seems that is not the case and so we are all indebted to the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for bringing this important subject to your Lordships’ House for consideration.

What is not logical is the Department for Education continuing the responsibility of local authorities for ensuring adequate school places for all who require them yet denying local authorities the ability to tell academies that they must expand to meet demand. That situation surely must change because, as the title of this debate suggests, in some places the increasing number of academies and free schools has made it more difficult for SEND children to gain access to the school named in their education, health and care plan. Other noble Lords commented on evidence that this is the case. Indeed, an article in the Independent in January this year quoted the chief executive of the National Children’s Bureau on anecdotal evidence that had reached her to the effect that academies were often reluctant to accept children with special educational needs unless they had an EHCP already in place.

Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice, parents are asked to express a preference for a school as part of the process for agreeing an education, health and care plan for their child. Of course, academies are under the same duty to admit a child if he or she is named in an EHCP care plan as any local authority school. In practice, I suspect that only a few do not comply, even though some may initially be inclined otherwise. If an academy is determined to avoid admitting a particular child, it has the option—which maintained schools do not—to refer the admission directly to the Secretary of State: a step that rightly is very rarely taken.

But what is the situation for children with special needs who do not have an education, health and care plan? The School Admissions Code should ensure that academies operate a fair admissions policy for all SEND children. In a reply to a Written Question in another place from Cat Smith MP on 27 April, the Minister, Edward Timpson, outlined the various requirements placed on academies. He also highlighted the fact that parents had the right of recourse to the Schools Adjudicator, the First-tier Tribunal and also had the right to bring a complaint under the Equality Act. All those options are available, but why should parents who may already be facing significant challenges with a child with SEND have to go down these routes to get what is theirs by right? Quite apart from the cost and time implications, it is intolerable that this should be the result of academies dodging their legal responsibilities.

Each academy—or, at least, academy trust—will have its own distinct philosophy and operating practices. Some will be highly inclusive—some have special schools as part of the trust—and some will be less inclusive than they should be, though that may well involve more than SEND children. We know that some academy trusts have opened pupil referral units which are used to “move out” children with special educational needs, without actually excluding them. Some academies—and, probably, some maintained schools—would rather not take special needs children who may lower their academic results. Where that can be identified, it should result in decisive—indeed, punitive—action from the Regional Schools Commissioner or the Secretary of State herself, because it makes a mockery of the philosophy of all the main political parties, which is that while all children must be valued equally, even more should be done for those who have special educational needs.

Does our education system value all children equally? The charity Alliance for Inclusive Education does not believe that is yet the case. It has issued a persuasive six-point plan which, if she has not already done so, I urge the Minister to read. I will mention just two of the points. Currently, SEND children do not have an absolute right to mainstream education. I think this is what the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Southwark meant when he talked of all children being integral to the community. Discrimination can, and does, continue under the guise of “parental choice” and “reasonable adjustments”. Sometimes SEND children are excluded from a school because of the presumed “negative effect” their inclusion would have on able-bodied children. Equally, with an increasing premium on building space, inclusive design can often be neglected in education building projects. These are not situations which should be tolerated in the 21st century and the Government should consider what steps they can take to bring them to an end.

For children with SEN, those who exhibit challenging behaviour and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, there is some evidence that as they approach GCSEs they are removed from school or academy rolls. The Guardian in January this year reported concerns that league table pressures were acting as an incentive to moving students unlikely to perform well off the school roll. Some schools are thought to use “unofficial exclusions”. The number of pupils educated in both pupil referral units and special schools is on the rise and special school numbers have risen by more than 13,000 in the last five years. What drives that? We have a system which incentivises schools around the attainment of their pupils and not on their progress or the difference schools make to children’s lives over time. This is non-inclusive in itself because it values higher attainment and places greater value on children who achieve higher results.

Academies and academy trusts are coming under particularly strong pressure in this regard. There is a constant message that results alone determine their success or failure. It is therefore no surprise that some schools and academies, and some academy trusts, might engage in non-inclusive practices and it is right that the issue should be acknowledged, not least by the DfE.

Many children and young people with SEND also have other forms of disadvantage. Specifically, there is a direct link with children in care. Government figures show that just 12% of looked-after children achieve five or more good GCSEs or equivalent, and two-thirds of looked-after children have SEND, compared with less than 20% of the general population. Earlier this year the Prime Minister acknowledged that,

“some people get left behind … They haven’t been equipped to make the most of the opportunities presented to them—and a chasm exists between them, and those who have been able to take advantage”.

Legislation in the Queen’s Speech promises a number of changes, perhaps the most important being that the Children and Social Work Bill will introduce new “corporate parenting principles” to govern support for looked-after young people, and duties on schools, including academies, to designate a member of staff for children who have been adopted or live with a special guardian, which already exists for looked-after children. The forthcoming “education for all” Bill will include fundamental reforms to alternative provision for excluded pupils, which is overdue when it is considered that children with SEN are seven times more likely to be permanently excluded from school.

However, the White Paper published in March offered little for SEND children. For instance, in Chapter 3 on leadership, SEND does not even get a mention. SEND leadership is ignored in terms of advanced career development, and there is no mention of SEN co-ordinators, which every school is obliged to have. As the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, highlighted, more training for so-called SENCOs is much needed. In many schools the SENCO is merely a volunteer—perhaps the only member of staff willing to take on the role. While they will get training as deemed appropriate, they cannot be equipped to deal with each child’s individual needs. I certainly endorse the assertion by the noble Lord, Lord Storey, that each SENCO should have an appropriate qualification.

The Children and Families Act introduced significant SEND reforms which will better support children and young people with autism in the education system, including the publication of local offers of SEND services by local authorities, but the funding to support the changes is widely regarded as inadequate, despite an additional sum being announced by the Government recently, which I acknowledge. Local area SEND inspections are due to begin this month yet their scope remains unclear and it remains to be seen whether they will have the necessary bite to make a difference to education, health and social care provision.

The noble Lord, Lord Addington, outlined clearly and movingly the needs associated with children with dyslexia. His analogy with a frail person being asked to carry a bag of coal made a deep impression on me and, I am sure, other noble Lords. The noble Lord, Lord Warner, reminded us that autistic children are also in need of greater support, and while the small number of special schools specifically for children with autism that have opened recently are welcome, many more young people could be properly supported were more teachers adequately trained to provide that support.

Of course, this impacts on initial teacher training so it was encouraging, as other noble Lords have said, to hear the Chancellor outline in another place yesterday the fact that the importance of ensuring that teachers are properly trained to support young people with special educational needs, specifically autism, would be a central tenet of the review of ITT that is currently taking place. That is welcome, as is the fact that the announcement has featured prominently in today’s media but, beyond autism, it is to be hoped that the way will now open up towards a significant proportion of initial teacher training content being allocated to support the full range of individual needs of children and young people.

As the noble Lord, Lord Addington, also outlined, educational psychologists play a key role, providing an essential contribution to the assessments for education, health and care plans. They also give strategic advice to head teachers, governors and SENCOs on support for all children with SEND, with or without an education, health and care plan. Ideally, there would be a weekly visible presence of educational psychologists in all schools, working with staff and children, to avoid the issues that the noble Lord, Lord Storey, referred to. But the opportunity to provide strategic advice is limited by insufficient numbers of educational psychologists. More than 60% of secondary schools have access only one or two days a month; just 1% of schools have access every day.

This links in with the question of increasing school capacity. It is about brokering multiagency support. For example, it is about increasing the number of speech and language therapists, especially in primary schools, and mental health specialists, especially in secondary schools. It is about joining up health and education to support these vulnerable children. Can the Minister say how the Government expect the recent and projected reforms to improve educational outcomes for children with SEND? How will improvements be measured and how will schools, including academies, and local authorities be held to account?

There is a clear need to support children with social, emotional and mental health needs. A Department for Education pilot project is running which paired an NHS mental health worker with a nominated mental health lead in 200 schools across the country. Initial reports from this have been very positive. Can the Minister say whether the pilot will be rolled out across the country to benefit many more children?

An issue that gets very little consideration, or at least coverage, concerns the need to protect children with special educational needs and disability from sexual exploitation and abuse. A crucial aspect of this is ensuring that there is appropriate sex and relationship education for children with SEND. We have gradually become increasingly aware as a society that all children can be at risk of child sexual exploitation. However, research by Barnardo’s, the Children’s Society and other organisations last year revealed that many children with learning disabilities or difficulties are not receiving adequate protection. This is often the result of false assumptions that they do not need sex and relationships education, as they are not considered “sexual beings”, or because accessible information about staying safe online and in the community is not available to them.

The report emanating from that research contained this telling comment:

“We don’t want to think that disabled young people have sex; we don’t want to think that disabled young people can be exploited and be exploitative. Professionals find it hard to accept this happens to children with disabilities”.

This surely highlights the need for accessible, relevant sex and relationships education, which is particularly important because children with learning difficulties are likely to be at a greater risk of exploitation and abuse. The report called on the Government to ensure that accessible and relevant sex and relationships education is made available to children and young people with SEND. Given that the duties outlined in the Children and Social Work Bill extend to academies as well as maintained schools, can the Minister tell noble Lords whether the Government will consider extending requirements in relation to sex and relationships education to academies as well?

Equally, if the forthcoming education for all Bill is to live up to its name, in addition to looking at academic education, the Government should consider how they can improve access to lessons on subjects such as sex and relationships for children with SEND, which are essential for keeping them safe. I urge the Minister to give an undertaking that she will consider this.

Finally, one of the central themes of the Government’s new legislative agenda is improving the life chances of the most vulnerable children and young people in the UK. Education is at the heart of this, as we know that those who lack good qualifications—five A* to C grades at GCSE—will be disadvantaged in later life and will struggle to access opportunities such as apprenticeships and to make the transition into sustained employment. Children with special educational needs and disability will need additional support to achieve positive life outcomes, educational and otherwise, and a key test of the action the Government take will be whether it leads to real change for this group.