This document sets out 10 principles for a new SEND system, based on previous research by CST and consultation with member trusts.
There is wide acceptance that our current approach to education for children with special educational needs is broken. Despite the best efforts of many dedicated professionals working within it, it too often doesn’t not deliver for the children it is meant to help. Its bureaucracy causes frustration for parents and professionals. Its cost is rapidly riding and, if fully realised, would leave many local authorities insolvent - while at the same time many providers report being under resourced.
There have been attempts to reform the approach. However, we believe there are fundamental flaws that mean iterative changes are not a sensible option. We need a new approach, and a new concept of what a good outcome looks like for all involved. That includes seeing the SEND system as one that ensures high quality specialist provision but intrinsically involves mainstream schools.
The principles set out here seek to provide a framework for that new approach. They build on previous work set out in our A good life and Five principles for inclusion reports, and have been informed by discussions with our member trusts.
SEND is a complex system – indeed a key criticism of the current approach is that SEND itself is a blanket term that hides complexity and leads to seeing children as a series of labels rather than individuals. That complexity means ten principles cannot hope to reflect every intricacy of a new approach and more detail will be needed, but we believe these principles provide a good context for those discussions.
