BARNSLEY headteachers attended a roundtable event at Penistone Grammar School to discuss sought-after reforms to special educational needs provisions.
Hosted by MP Marie Tidball, eight school leaders attended in order to share ‘valuable insight’ on the government’s recently-published SEND white paper.
Marie will be using the feedback collected on SEND as part of her written submission to the Department for Education’s open consultation on reform.
She said: “The government is doing some great work on breaking down the barriers to opportunity for our children and young people.
“I’m keen to make sure that the years of experience, from educators in our constituency, are fed back to national decision-makers so that we can do the best for our young people across the constituency.
“I’m particularly excited to work with our headteachers and local employers on building up this network to highlight the range of opportunities for young people, so that they can stay near and go far in their careers.
“I’m so grateful to the headteachers who attended for their time, energy and expertise that they contributed to a really productive evening with me.
“If you’re a local headteacher that wasn’t able to attend, there’ll be more opportunities to take part in this over the next year, and I’ll be reaching out to you about this soon.”
Backed by £200m, new courses available to all teaching staff will deepen knowledge of how to adapt their teaching to meet a wide range of needs in Barnsley’s classrooms, including visual impairments and speech and language needs, according to the government.
Teachers will learn about the things that can transform how children access education, such as using assistive technology like speech to text dictation tools and building awareness of additional needs amongst all pupils.
Underpinning the training will be a new expectation set out in the SEND Code of Practice, confirming that all staff in every nursery, school and college should receive training on SEND and inclusion.
In April, Marie will be holding on online consultation event, for parents and carers across the constituency, to share their views on the proposals.
“As a former SEND statemented child myself, and now as a member of the Education Select Committee, I am determined to drive through improvements to SEND education,” he added.
“Having the input of young people, parents, carers, teachers and school support staff is crucial if we are going to get this right, and the local input was extremely helpful.
“Fixing this requires listening to the SEND young people and their parents to ensure they have a strong voice in achieving the solutions we need.”
