School transport
The Department for education issued new guidance on school transport in June 2023. Eleanor Wright of legal charity SOS SEN expects it to have mixed results. The good news is that it helps to clarify the guidance, and there are elements which promise to be useful to parents in making LAs comply with their transport obligations. They are reminded of their duty to consider each transport application on its own merits and not to rigidly stick to their policies.
The bad news, according to Ms Wright, is that the guidance ignores equality and case law that protects disabled learners. More pointedly, the transport duty is limited to children attending the nearest suitable school. She says that this does not mean the most suitable school, and for most children the nearest school to the child’s home will be the nearest suitable school if it can offer a place. Click icon above for her article in Special needs jungle.
Click icon for guidance issued in Jun 2023.
See also: Exclusions update Better value in SEND EHCP cuts?
Special schools upgrade
Did you see the article in County news magazine in Dec 2022? It says that the council is spending £86m to improve and expand 13 special school sites. It highlights building work at St Bernard’s School in Louth, Eresby School in Spilsby and St Christopher’s School in Lincoln. There is also more work under way at several more school sites. Click icon for specifics. See also our Schools page.
SEN funding
A primary school head in Liverpool is complaining that the support system for children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools is “not fit for purpose“. He says that government funding for each child on the SEN register does not meet the cost of one-to one support needed. See article Dec 2022.
In Sep 2022, The Guardian reported that the number of complaints from parents about special needs education had risen by three-quarters in the previous four years – according to figures from the local government ombudsman. Click icon for the more about this.
All this despite government proposals of Mar 2022 and and a tripling of the SEN budget to £2.6 billion in the Sep 2022 budget. Perhaps things might start to improve in the new year if Leeds city council budget is anything to go by.
SEND proposals
Ambitious about autism published its response in March 2022 to UK government proposals for Special educational needs. It is a mixed review. Click icon to find it after any adverts.
Reception places 2022
Do you want your child to start reception in September 2022? If so, be sure to apply for a reception place at a school. The date of birth for children would be between 01/09/2017 and 31/08/2018 and you can apply from 15 Nov 2021 to 15 Jan 2022.
a. Lincolnshire parents can pick up a letter from any Lincolnshire primary school which will provide them with the information they need to apply.
b. They can request a paper application form or make a phone application by contacting the Education Team at 01522 782030.
c. Click icon to apply online. See also for information about school admissions.
Lincolnshire SEND plans
A £50m investment was approved by Lincolnshire County Council for SEND provision some time ago. Click icon for summary. The council is working with Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum to develop a new strategy for special education.
County news reported construction getting underway in Dec 2020.
Ombudsman complaints
Children with special educational needs and disabilities are increasingly being failed by the system designed to support them, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The Ombudsman is now upholding nearly 87% of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan cases. Click icon for full article.
Educational psychologists
Following a report showing an insufficient number of educational psychologists, £30 million extra for training has been announced. Click icon to read about it.
SEN crisis
The mother of an autistic son, aged seven, wrote about her fight to get him assessed and placed in a school that could meet his needs. Click icon to read the article of 26/Oct/2018.
Robot coding
Click icon for a video about a computer coding project that is believed to stimulate children on the spectrum to take an interest in and develop social & communication skills.
Lincolnshire SEND strategy
Lincolnshire County Council is developing a new strategy for special education. They give it the title: Building Communities of Specialist Provision for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Lincolnshire. The Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum has dedicated a section of their website specifically to these developments. Click icon to find out about it.
Parliament inquiry
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism has produced a report. The Click icon to see the Special Needs Jungle’s (SNJ) take. The SNJ is a parent led group. See our SEN Information page for more about them.
Teenage geek
Autistic teenager creates artificial intelligence but ‘can’t get school place’. It took Kari Lawler only a week to build her own virtual assistant, which operates on the same lines as Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. It’s incredible when you consider what the large technology companies have spent on producing something not very different to what Kari has managed to achieve in such a short space of time. Her parents have not yet been able to get a school place for her since she was diagnosed and finished at primary school.
SEND Reforms
How are the SEN & Disability reforms of 2014 going? The picture does not seem to be all bad but there is room for improvement.
- Updates continue to be added.
- If you are experiencing difficulties you are not alone and it might be worth looking for helpful details. For example, one survey revealed that only just over half of pupils with SEND (54%) believed that teachers and other school staff were preparing them well for adult life once they leave school/college or training … Could this perhaps reflect a generalised insecurity felt by pupils as they look ahead to the future?
Click icon above to browse articles about reforms. See also:
What Parents told the government
Botched job?
From–statement–to–EHCP
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