When the Secretary for Education herself describes the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system as ‘lose, lose, lose’, no one can deny it is in a bad way.
Concerns around attendance, behaviour and mental health in the wake of the pandemic, coupled with a decline in real terms funding, has left schools facing an increasingly challenging context for supporting all pupils - but especially those with SEND.
Yet while the SEND and AP Improvement Plan published by the Government last year calls for a ‘united workforce’ around the child, it does not identify collaborative school groups such as multi-academy trusts (MATs) as among the key system stakeholders.
On Thursday, we published a new report that looks to address this gap by providing insights into how some MATs are looking to better support their pupils with SEND, and what lessons school groups of all kinds may draw from this.
