Following on from the SEND Review Green Paper the Westminster government launched the improvement plan on the 2 March 2023. Here, we address what it will mean for support staff working in early years, schools and colleges.
No-one doubts that an improvement plan is needed. The current system is not working for any-one, whether that be staff, learners, or their families. But will this improvement plan lead to …… real improvement?
The entire plan is very focused on saving money, and whilst no-one would advocate wasting money, this does not mean that a significant level of extra investment is not needed. The plan recognises that improvement is needed in sectors that are already in a perilous state due to under-funding, namely Early Years and Further Education, and pretty much every school, college and nursery in the country is struggling to find enough staff to support learners with SEND; poor pay, lack of career progression and constant restructures have led to caring and qualified staff seeking employment elsewhere.
The plan recognises this issue to some extent – a whole chapter is devoted to the need for a skilled workforce, so what does that mean for support staff?
Immediately there is a recognition that employing staff in a cost-of-living crisis is a challenge. This is probably the closest a government document will ever admit that staff are not being paid enough at present.
Pleasingly, the government have listened to the issues we raised in the consultation that support staff are key to successful outcomes for learners of all ages with SEND. However, the document does not offer much in the way of a plan for how to address this. There is a lot of rehashing of old, proven arguments around ensuring teaching assistants are correctly deployed before culminating in a decision to commission a research project on this. In contrast, the plan is clear about the problems of the teaching workforce, addressing recruitment and retention issues and the need to reduce workload. These issues are just as prevalent and needs to be addressed urgently in the teaching assistant workforce and these should be prioritised rather than more research.
Similarly, the plan brings in the importance of the local authority SEND caseworkers to ensure that the needs of children and young people are met. The actual plan is even more vague here, with a commitment to ‘consider’ what further training and skills are needed.
There is a clear desire to build expertise, capacity and culture throughout the system, but we need to learn the lessons of the 2014 changes. Those changes had ambition and were going to change the lives of children and young people with SEND. They have not worked and if funding isn’t put into staffing, they won’t work again.
Furthermore, many of these changes are needed immediately. There are children in the system now who are not getting their needs met. There is an implication throughout the plan that the newly proposed ‘national standards’ will save the day. But they are not due to be implemented until 2025 and even then – will they work? Lack of places in special schools is being addressed, with access to funding for new buildings – just how long will this take and what happens to the children who need places in the meantime? Are they to be left in mainstream schools, clearly unable to cope despite the best efforts of the staff who desperately want to support them properly. Data will be collected on capacity – will this just be another burden that cannot be met with existing staff levels?
Staff shortages in the sector are acute and the sector is at breaking point – a short term plan to address this is needed urgently. Support staff need better pay and they need to be respected for the work they do. Without this, we will never be able to ensure that all children get the best from their education.
You can download the full plan by clicking the link below: