The planned Schools White Paper, delayed from last year until the spring term, will contain the Department for Education’s (DfE) SEND reforms.
There has been a great deal of speculation around what it this will mean for the sector, and parents groups and school have voiced concern about some of the speculation around the reforms – which apparently will include a reduction in support for children and young people with EHCPs.
With this in mind, at the beginning of December the Department for Education (DfE) launched its SEND reform national conversation. The final event will take place on January 14.
The face-to-face, and virtual, meetings across England and the online feedback form, were not a consultation but an opportunity, the DfE stressed, to gather insights from parents, educators, and stakeholders to shape future policies. A consultation will be launched once the paper is published.
The Schools Minister, Georgia Gould, was present at the meetings, along with specially selected panel members from a range of organisations.
Not surprisingly, the meetings filled up very quickly, with many parents and other prospective participants complaining about the distance they would need to travel to get to their “regional” event. More virtual meetings were organised to accommodate the strength of interest.
Was this a play at collaboration when, in reality, important decisions have already been made?
I attended two of the online meetings that have taken place to date, and these focused on the five areas of engagement:
- Early intervention
- Local provision
- Fairness
- Effective practice
- Shared working
At the first one, I was unable to access the chat or the Q&A facilities, so was therefore unable to share my thoughts.
The second one did have a Q&A facility but there was no time for anyone to answer the hundreds of questions and points that were raised during the one-hour session.
It would be interesting to know how the DfE is going to sift through all of these questions from each event.
Furthermore, there will be the hundreds of responses from the on-line questionnaire. Who will be analysing all of these?
Given the recent speculation about what will be in the White Paper in regard to the SEND reforms – and amid concerns that some children will lose their legal rights to support – it would appear that decisions have already been made and the White Paper had already been written way before these “conversations” had taken place.
If the DfE genuinely wants everyone to be part of the “conversation”, and it plans to act upon the messages received, then it is almost impossible to believe that the White Paper will be published this term, as scheduled.
All of which leads me to ask – was this a play at collaboration when, in reality, important decisions have already been made?
