Dear Colleagues 

I have put together an End of Term Update containing information and reports I think you need to be aware of. However, as I am writing this during the summer break and the government are in recess, nothing new will be announced before September. 

All change at the Department for Education

Following the General Election, a new Labour government is in place with a new group of Ministers taking up residence at the Department for Education.

Secretary of State for Education – The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP

Minister for School Standards – Catherine McKinnell MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) – Stephen Morgan MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Children and Families) – Janet Daby MP

Minister of State (Minister for Development) and Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities) – The Rt Hon Anneliese Dodds MP

Minister of State (Minister for Skills) – The Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern

The first announcement about SEND and AP was that it was moving into the portfolio of the Minister for School Standards – Catherine McKinnell MP and away from the Children and Families Minister. This should put SEND at the heart of the school’s agenda.

Apart from this the government have said very little about the future of SEND & AP. Its manifesto pledged a “community-wide approach” to SEND, improving “inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs”.

Keeping children safe in education – Updated 24th May

This statutory guidance for schools and colleges on safeguarding children and safer recruitment has been updated ready for September 2024. This is for information only pending publication of the final version which does not come into force until September 2024. Annex F on page 183 outlines the substantive changes that have been made.

Many of the updates are to ensure that KCSiE reflects the new Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) guidance and are amendments to definitions, terms and language changes, as well as links to new resources.

Funding for national professional qualifications (NPQs) – Updated 12th June

This guidance offers information on funding for courses and schools to help teachers take NPQs for their professional development. This update offers information about funding for autumn 2024 and added a ‘Settings eligible for scholarship funding’ section. The NPQ SENCO is going to be fully funded for the next year.

Education, health and care plans: England 2024 – 13th June

The DfE have published their annual statistical information about EHCPs in England. The headline figures are as follows:

• The number of EHC plans in place as at January 2024 increased by 58,914 (11.4%) from January 2023
• The number of new EHC plans which started during 2023 increased by 17,722 (26.6%) from 2022
• Requests for assessment in 2023, increased by 23,760 (20.8%) in 2022
• 3% of EHC plans issued within 20 weeks – up from 49.2% in 2022

For a full summary of all the data read the Special Needs Jungle article

Special educational needs in England: January 2024 – 20th June

This statistical analysis contains Information from the school census on pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and SEN provision in schools.

Headline facts and figures

EHC plans    434,354 pupils in schools in England – Up by 11.6% from 2023

SEN support/SEN without an EHC plan – 1,238,851 pupils in schools in England – Up by 4.7% from 2023

• The percentage of pupils with an EHC plan has increased to 4.8%, from 4.3% in 2023 and the percentage of pupils with SEN (SEN support) but no EHC plan has increased to 13.6%, from 13.0% in 2023.
• 4% of pupils in England have an identified SEND.
• The most common type of need for those with an EHC plan is autistic spectrum disorder and for those with SEN support is speech, language and communication needs.
• SEN continues to be more prevalent in boys than girls – 72.0% of pupils with an EHC plan are male, and 62.0% of pupils with SEN support are male
• 2% of pupils with an EHC plan and 38.3% of pupils with SEN support are eligible for free school meal

You can find more information in the Special Needs Jungle article

The King’s Speech 2024: What does it mean for education? – Blog Post – 18^th July

During the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17 July, the King set out the government’s priorities for the coming months. This included commitments relating to education, including children’s social care, schools, and further education. This blog contains the details of these commitments.

Government launches Curriculum and Assessment Review – Press Release – 18^th July

The government have launched a wide-ranging Curriculum and Assessment Review to ensure a broader, richer, cutting-edge curriculum that drives high and rising schools’ standards and sets all young people up for life and work will be central to the government’s vision for education.

Spanning from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 5, the independent review will be chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE, an expert in education policy, including curriculum and social inequality. 

The review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve – in particular those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, or with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

Pupil attendance in schools – 25^th July

This is the latest data for the academic year 2023/2024.

Attendance rate – 92.9%                               Primary 94.5% Secondary 91.0%  Special 87.0%

Overall absence rate – 7.1%                          Primary 5.5% Secondary 9.0% Special 13.0%

Authorised absence rate – 4.7%                  Primary 3.9% Secondary 5.5% Special 9.7%

Unauthorised absence rate – 2.5 %            Primary 1.6% Secondary 3.5%    Special 3.2%

Persistent absence rate – 20.3%                  Primary 15.0% Secondary 26.3% Special 37.3%

Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (Academic Year 2022/23)

The data for suspensions and permanent exclusions in England has been released for 2022/23 and the headline is that all of the figures are the highest annual numbers ever recorded.

The most common reason for suspensions and permanent exclusions was persistent disruptive behaviour, accounting for 48% of all suspensions and 39% of permanent exclusions.

Suspension and permanent exclusion rates continue to be higher for males, those with SEN and pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM):

                                                Suspensions                       Permanent Exclusions

Males                                    1.5 times higher                2 times higher

SEN with EHCP                   3 times higher                    3 times higher

SEN at SEN Support         4 times higher                    5 times higher

FSM                                       4 times higher                    5 times higher

Towards an effective and sustainable approach to SEND in England – ISOS Report – July 2024

The County Councils Network (CCN) and the Local Government Association (LGA0 have recently commissioned a report from ISOS Partnership on the current state of SEND across England. They declare that the SEND system is broken. the growing reality is that a combination of unexpected need and unintended perverse incentives in the system exacerbated by this demand – alongside a general squeeze on public resources – have left parents, schools, health and councils all increasingly dissatisfied and often frustrated, as well as resulting in poorer outcomes for children.

Although the report is welcome, their recommendations would have significant impact on the current SEND system and the outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Read the full report here