Too many children with SEND, who do not attend school, are missing out on help and support from local services, according to a new report by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
And where support exists it is often inconsistent and variable between areas, caused by challenges around capacity and a lack of understanding of agencies’ roles and responsibilities.
The study found that many children might have remained in school if their needs had been identified much earlier.
Although some children received effective support, inspectors found that others do not have access to joined-up services from health, social care and education partners.
Official data does not show how many children with SEND are known to not be in school, but recent research from the Children’s Commissioner estimated that a quarter of children who went into home education had SEND support.
Missed opportunities
The joint Ofsted and CCQ report said there were too many missed opportunities to identify children’s needs early on, which had led to too many children with SEND avoidably leaving school.
Inspectors, who visited six local area partnerships and surveyed more than 700 children and young people, parents, carers and practitioners, heard that parents and carers often had no choice but to home educate their child – because they believed their child’s needs were not being met in school, and they were struggling to navigate an overly complex SEND system.
However, many school leaders stressed that they lack the necessary resources – such as staff with the right expertise – to identify or meet children’s needs effectively.
Inspectors also found inconsistencies in the quality of oversight and services across local areas, with the expectations of parents not aligning which was services were on offer. Health partners were also often absent from information-sharing procedures, which meant that some children were unable to access services such as speech or occupational therapy when they were out of school.
Early identification needed
The report made a number of recommendations for both national government and the sector:
- The Department for Education (DfE) should prioritise working with local area partnerships to ensure that children’s emerging needs are identified early and accurately
- NHS England and DfE should provide local area partnerships with access to resources and training so they can support schools to take a needs-led approach to supporting children with SEND
- The DfE should lead on developing guidance for the appropriate use of home-education arrangements
- Local area partnerships should establish clear and robust processes for sharing information about children with SEND not in school, or those at risk of leaving school, making sure that health partners are involved in these arrangements
- Local area partnerships should ensure that all children with SEND who are not in school receive coordinated support to meet their education, health and social care needs
- The DfE should resolve the lack of consistency in how in-year admissions are coordinated across the country, with guidance to ensure all local area partnerships understand expectations
Out of sight
Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief inspector of schools, said: “Too many children with SEND are out of school, which is deeply concerning. As well as missing out on the school experience, it also means they are out of sight of local services and don’t always receive the help and support they need. These children deserve better.
“Although the national picture is worrying, our report also highlights some good practice where local areas have worked together effectively to ensure children with SEND either remain in school or return to full-time education, where appropriate.
“I hope this report and its recommendations support wider understanding of these issues and real improvements for children with SEND.”
Professor Bola Owolabi CBE, chief inspector of primary care and community services at the Care Quality Commission said: “Well-coordinated support – where colleagues across education, health and social care work together – can make all the difference to ensuring children and young people with SEND have their educational needs met and in the right place.
“The recommendations laid out in this report should help remove these barriers to education and empower the sector to take forward a partnership approach between health, social care, and education partners.”
