Compelling attendance won’t result in more autistic pupils in school

by BeckiNo Comments
Originally posted by www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk The Government today published its Schools Bill with Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi announcing a 'strict' and 'non-negotiable' approach on school attendance.    The Bill will order schools across England to produce plans for addressing absenteeism. The Government also plans to issue new central guidance on the best approach to fining parents whose children are absent from school. Over 40,000 autistic pupils (31%) were persistent absentees in 2020/21.   Responding to the bill, Jolanta Lasota, Chief Executive of Ambitious about Autism, said:    “These measures are a regressive step and miss the point entirely about why many autistic pupils can’t attend school.   “Autistic young people tell us they desperately want to go to school, just like everyone else, but many can’t because of inaccessible school environments, teaching, and expectations that they be something they are not: neurotypical.  “Compelling these young people to be at a school they can’t access, without the support they need to attend, will not help them learn. Punishing their...
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Disabled Children and the Equality Act 2010: What teachers need to know and what schools need to do

by BeckiNo Comments
The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) has recently updated its guide, Disabled Children and the Equality Act 2010: What teachers need to know and what schools need to do. The updated guide has been funded by the Department for Education. Schools have a range of duties under the Equality Act 2010: to staff, as employees; to parents and others, where the school is providing a service to other people using the school; and to pupils, staff and others who share other protected characteristics as well as disability. This guide is designed to help teachers understand the legislation and how it applies to their work with disabled pupils in their school. It explains what the Equality Act requires of schools and of governors, trustees and others who are the ‘responsible body’ for the school. The guide draws on examples of practices that may amount to discrimination or that may help schools to avoid discrimination. Many of these examples are drawn from the decisions of...
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Inquiry launches into mental health and behaviour in schools

Inquiry launches into mental health and behaviour in schools

by BeckiNo Comments
A coalition of more than 200 charities, academics and children’s professionals is launching an inquiry to explore links between mental health and behaviour among school pupils. Concerns around schools in England using punitive approaches to tackle challenging behaviour have prompted the inquiry, which is being launched by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition. Tactics used by schools include exclusion and placing children in isolation in so-called removal rooms. The coalition fears there has been an increase in tough measures to curb challenging behaviour by schools following Covid-19 lockdowns. It warns that such measures come amid escalating mental health problems among young people. One in six pupils aged between six and 16 have a mental health problem as of 2021, compared to one in nine in 2017, said the coalition. Often challenging behaviour can be caused by “underlying conditions, unmet emotional needs, difficulties at home, at school or in the community, and exposure to trauma”, it added. The inquiry will look at how current school...
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Key measures proposed in SEND and alternative provision green paper

Key measures proposed in SEND and alternative provision green paper

by BeckiNo Comments
Legal requirements for councils around inclusion and the creation of national standards focussed on support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are among a raft of proposals laid out in the government’s SEND green paper. The SEND and alternative provision green paper has been published following the completion of the Department for Education’s long-awaited SEND review which was launched in 2019. The proposals, backed by £70m of new funding, will be subject to a 13-week public consultation due to close on 1 July, DfE has announced. https://youtu.be/Ut_LI2sK1R4 Proposals Increased early intervention for children with SEND and a single system combining SEND and alternative education provision feature highly in the plans. The creation of new national standards across education, health and care to build for a higher performing SEND system are also among measures set out in the paper. The national standards will build on the Children and Families Act 2014 which is currently the subject of an enquiry by peers. The standards look set to...
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Leicester health, care & wellbeing delivery plan 2022-27

by BeckiNo Comments
"The Leicester health, care and wellbeing delivery plan has been designed to improve future health outcomes of the people of Leicester. It sets out high-level priorities that local health and care organisations will work together on over the coming years. We want to hear your view on which sections of the plan should be given priority over the next few years." To fill in the survey, visit the website here: https://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/public-health/hcwb/ Survey closes on 9th January 2022....
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SEND review ‘steering group’ appointed to push through reforms

by BeckiNo Comments
Children's minister defends delays to landmark review and warns Covid has 'intensified' issues Children's Minister: Will Quince The government has named 23 members of a steering group set up to help push through its much-delayed SEND review, as a minister warned Covid had “intensified” issues. In an open letter to parents of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, children’s minister Will Quince said improvements to the system were “needed, and overdue”. The steering group will “help us move forward” with the review, he added. The SEND review was first promised in September 2019. The government has now missed three of its own deadlines to publish it, with Covid cited as a major contributor to the delays. Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said last week that he was hoping to have it out “in the first quarter of next year” so it can “dovetail” with a planned schools white paper. In his letter, Quince said the pandemic had “intensified some of the issues in the system, and...
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Survey: Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Carer Strategy Refresh

by BeckiNo Comments
A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, substance misuse or a mental health need or an addiction cannot manage without their support. The carer strategy is a plan that includes things that we think should happen in Leicester to make life better for carers. The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) carers strategy is due to be updated. It can be found on here. The original strategy was put together before COVID19. The past 18 months has therefore impacted on many things, and the LLR are looking at what needs to be updated to account for the needs of Leicester City carers. LLR Statement: "The information you provide in your answers will be collated alongside information we have already collected in our conversations with carers, the work we have done together with carers and from local and national information. All of this will be used to develop the LLR Carers Strategy 2022-2025....
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Education Secretary Backs Home Education Register

by BeckiNo Comments
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has reiterated his support for the introduction of a home education register. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi was giving evidence to the Education Select Committee. Image: Parliament TV Speaking at a Parliamentary hearing this morning (Wednesday), Zahawi said he was “absolutely committed” to the creation of a register of elective home-educated (EHE) children, which would be maintained by local authorities. The measure was a key proposal in the Children Not in School consultation paper published in April 2019 alongside a planned duty on parents to register their child as being home schooled and for councils to provide additional support for EHE children. The government has yet to publish its response to the consultation, which was criticised by members of the Education Select Committee who were questioning Zahawi. Caroline Johnson, Conservative MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham, said: “I am unsure why it is taking so long? This is a safeguarding issue…we know that some people are not doing a good job [home...
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Parent/Carer views on how Health services prepare Young People with SEND to transition to Adult Health Services

by BeckiNo Comments
Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group are looking for your views as a parent/carer of a child/young person with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities. We are asking for your help to understand how well all health services in the City are preparing Young People with SEND for their transition to adult services. We also want to know if we have communicated well with you about a recent development that all partners across health and education are part of called the SEND Joint Commissioning strategy. This survey will help to improve and shape the service that is provided to children and young people as they transition into adult care. You can access the survey here....
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