Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps officials in his Department is taking with officials in other Government departments to establish a joined up approach to support children and adults with an Acquired Brain Injury.

It is important that children with medical conditions, such as acquired brain injury, are supported to receive a full education.

A pupil’s acquired brain injury could manifest in different ways. Support should be tailored to their own learning barriers, irrespective of their diagnosis. The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice asks schools and colleges to address pupils’ individual educational needs, regardless of their condition.

Under Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014, governing boards are required to make arrangements to support pupils with medical conditions and to have regard to statutory guidance. The guidance covers a range of areas and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.

To be awarded qualified teacher status, trainees must meet the Teachers’ Standards, which include a requirement that they adapt teaching to meet the strengths and needs of all pupils. The performance of all existing teachers in maintained schools must be assessed every year against the Teachers' Standards. It is the responsibility of school leaders to determine the training needs of their staff, within their approach to school improvement, professional development and performance management.

In line with the approach that we expect school-based staff to identify and intervene to support any pupil who presents with difficulties in learning, we expect that training should relate to the specific learning needs an individual child has. For example, we have a contract with NASEN (the Whole School SEND consortium) to support schools, this includes training for school staff on how to tailor provision for different types of learning needs.

The SEND system is designed to get the right support in place for all children and young people with additional needs, so they are able to fulfil their potential, just like other children.

The reforms to the SEND system are key to this. The government has strengthened systems for joining up education, health and care support for those with complex needs, and placed families at the heart of the decision-making about their children. The Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan process is crucial in meeting the needs of those with complex needs. The arrangements are intended to support:

• Joint working between health, social care and education
• Multi-professional assessment of a child or young person’s needs involving relevant experts
• The development of an individual EHC plan to meet those needs

This should provide a basis for the sharing of information and of expertise to ensure the needs of children and young people with acquired brain injury are supported in school.