As someone who has been actively engaged with SEND education for many years, it has been an honour – and at times a heavy responsibility – to be part of a small group of MPs on the Education Select Committee who have been leading a new inquiry focused on finding solutions to the crisis in SEND education.
The priority has been to move beyond simply pointing out the problems and focus on finding solutions that are realistic and practical for the Government to implement.
Today we’ve published our report. From the start, we were clear that we needed to hear from the people who are at the heart of the SEND crisis and who can help us unlock the solutions – parents and carers, early years settings, schools, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations, professionals and more. We also saw examples of best practice both in the UK and overseas.
This report is the result: a vision for how the Government can realise its laudable aim of making mainstream education inclusive to the vast majority of children and young people with SEND, who are present in every classroom.
I’d encourage anyone who is interested in SEND education to read the report and, as always, I would welcome your comments and discussion.