As I enter the final quarter of my presidency, one fact has by no means been clearer: we live by means of a once-in-a-generation alternative to rework not solely the SEND system, however our schooling system as a complete.
The present SEND system separates too many youngsters from their siblings, mates and friends; it squanders a lot of their potential; it’s too sluggish, too fragmented, and more and more unable to maintain tempo with rising demand, rising complexity of want, and deepening monetary pressures. The stakes couldn’t be larger.
ADCS has been working onerous with central authorities to reframe SEND not as a separate or add-on problem, however as a core pillar of a genuinely inclusive schooling system; one by which all youngsters and younger individuals are supported to attain, belong and thrive.
Final week, over 100 ADCS members from throughout all our coverage networks got here collectively to form our response to the Nationwide Dialog on SEND. Their collective presence underlined simply how basic and the way cross-cutting SEND is throughout everything of youngsters’s providers and wider authorities reforms. Our session response each highlights native innovation and inclusive observe and confronts the system’s most pressing challenges head-on.
It’s clear that youngsters and younger individuals, their households, practitioners, native authorities, and system companions urgently want clear nationwide course, sustainable funding, accessible sources, and shared requirements of accountability. As Heather Sandy, chair of ADCS’s Inclusive Schooling Community, powerfully noticed in a current weblog: “With out nationwide reform that aligns incentives, accountability, and capability, native authorities are patching the roof in the midst of a storm.”
Our response highlights a number of essential priorities: earlier and simpler help inside mainstream settings; stronger alignment between specialist and mainstream provision; and a considerably strengthened workforce so that each little one and younger particular person receives the correct help on the proper time and as near house as potential. We additionally name for clearer accountability and governance preparations to allow native programs to make constant, evidence-based choices.
However this isn’t primarily a dialog about buildings and programs. It’s initially about youngsters and younger individuals usually with advanced wants, who’ve excessive ambitions and aspirations – as all of us do – and as do their dad and mom and carers. To borrow one other quote, this time from Andy Smith’s current weblog: “If we fail to behave decisively now, we threat asking yet one more era of youngsters and younger individuals to bear the implications of our inaction.”
As we sit up for the publication of the Colleges White Paper and the implementation of forthcoming reforms, we should stay each optimistic and resolutely targeted on what issues most: enhancing experiences and outcomes for youngsters and younger individuals. Not simply in coverage intent, however in tangible, measurable outcomes. Which means well timed, honest, and efficient help, underpinned by strong laws, so that each little one can obtain their potential alongside their friends inside their native communities.
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