Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that children who have a (a) mental health and (b) neurodiversity diagnosis are able to meet in full their potential educational outcomes.

Through delivery of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, the department will establish a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND and in AP, so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.

The department will give families greater confidence that their child will be able to fulfil their potential through improved mainstream provision in their local setting.

For those children and young people with SEND who do require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and specialist provision, the department will ensure they get access to the support they need, and that parents do not face an adversarial system to secure this.

Through the Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme, the department aims to help neurodiverse children fulfil their potential.

The department will provide £13 million of new funding to develop new ways of working, to support the educational and health needs of neurodiverse children. The aim of the programme is to work with staff from across our specialist health and education workforces, who will work with parents and carers, in mainstream primary schools to:

• Support schools to create environments that better meet neurodiverse children’s, needs, ensuring they are able to thrive as part of their wider cohort.
• Move away from an emphasis on individual interventions and instead work towards group approaches which benefit the whole cohort.
• Upskill staff working in schools and build teacher confidence to offer excellent provision for neurodiverse children in mainstream schools.
• Reduce the need for intensive or crisis support further down the line. This could include mental health interventions, therapies or special educational provision requiring an EHC plan.

The department is offering all schools and colleges funding to train a senior mental health lead, who can put in place effective, whole-school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. The department is extending the coverage of Mental Health Support Teams to at least 50% of pupils by 2025 and since September 2020 has ensured that there is a strong focus on mental health and wellbeing in the Relationships, Sex and Health Education curriculum.