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75% Croydon teachers say SEND provision is getting worse

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CROYDON COMMENTARY: Teaching provision for children with SEND – special educational needs and disabilities – continues to be a huge issue nationally and in Croydon, where many pupils across the borough haven’t got the placement required to meet their needs. JENNY WILLIAMS writes about the findings of a recent teachers’ survey

Measuring success: SEND pupils in Croydon often lack the essential support that they need

The SEND crisis in England’s schools continues to impact many thousands of the most vulnerable pupils in the country, including here in Croydon.

The number of complaints upheld by England’s local government ombudsman over Special Educational Needs and Disability education has surged by more than 60% since last year. As well as being an unacceptable situation for SEND pupils, this is costly to local authorities, many of which, like Croydon, are in deep financial difficulties.

Croydon Council is one of about 40 local authorities nationally that has signed a “Safety Valve” funding agreement with the Department for Education. There is growing disquiet about these “Safety Valve” agreements, with many teachers and those working in the education sector fearing that further harsh cuts in SEND provision are on their way.

The SEND crisis is multi-faceted, but at its heart lies many years of underfunding amid a growing complexity of need and fragmentation of provision. Sadly, a chronic lack of investment by successive governments has led to costly crisis management by local authorities rather than investing in schools and services that would start to solve these problems.

The National Education Union in Croydon conducted a survey of its members working in SEND and received a large response from leaders, teachers and teaching assistants from across the borough’s mainstream and specialist schools.

Survey results revealed that lack of funding is the main area of concern, followed by lack of time and insufficient outside agency support such as CAMHS, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, and speech and language therapies.

Almost 75% of respondents to the Croydon NEU survey felt that SEND provision for pupils in their school had been reduced significantly over the last two years. Many expressed frustration at not being able to get assessments and support quickly enough for the vulnerable pupils in their care. Others pointed out the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, particularly teaching assistants. Poor pay compared with other employment was cited as the main driver of this problem.

Following this survey, Croydon NEU is hosting a SEND networking event for members this Friday May 24. Opportunities to access high-quality training in supporting pupils with autism and speech and language needs will be on offer, as well as an opportunity to share experiences in Croydon schools (click here for Croydon NEU contacts).

Campaigning on SEND issues is consistently a high priority for the NEU, the largest education union in England. Reversing school funding cuts, improving SEND funding, improving support services and curriculum/assessment reform are campaign issues. In addition, the NEU provides access to high-quality training on a range of SEND issues to its members.

Read more: Education’s deepest crisis is being ignored by Westminster – and even harsher cuts are on the way (from The Guardian)

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