The Week Ahead: Hinds under pressure on SEND funding

18/6/2018

Welcome to this week’s edition of ‘The Week Ahead’  (18th June 2018) Here you will find the latest updates on literacy and SEND policy from Parliament and beyond.  

Things to know:

 

  • Councils and unions call on government to act on ‘dangerously inadequate’ SEND funding The School Cuts campaign and 39 Local Authorities have signed a letter to Damian Hinds stating that over 2,000 SEND learners are without a school place and that a fair and fully funded settlement for SEND provision is required. Schools Week and The Independent cover the story.

 

  • TES profile of DYT Director of Education Jules Daulby was in last week’s TES to talk about our mission to give teachers the confidence to work more effectively with pupils with learning differences in mainstream settings.

 

  • EEF publish new guidance on literacy The Education Endowment Foundation published Preparing for Literacy, a guidance report to offer early years professionals practical “do’s and don’ts” to make sure children start school with the foundations they need to read and write well.

 

  • DYT launch SEND Governance Review Guide Commissioned by Whole School SEND and co-funded by the Department for Education and Driver Youth Trust in partnership with leading governors and trustees, this guide aims to ensure that all boards have a positive impact for young people with SEND in their setting. Download the guide from sendgov.co.uk.

Attend the launch of the SEND Governance Review Guide
 

If you missed it:

  • The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Literacy launched a report highlighting the problems schools and children faced in trying to tackle the issue of fake news. The report found that just 2% of UK children have the critical literacy skills to decipher fake news stories.

 

  • In a speech to the Grammar School Heads Association, Schools Minister, Nick Gibb urged grammar schools to team up with comprehensives and help them to achieve their academic potential.

 

  • Education Committee Chair, Robert Halfon called for an expansion of alternative provision in years 12 and 13.
This Week:

 

Monday 18th June 

The Adjournment debate to end the day is on ‘Accessibility challenges for people with invisible disabilities’ led by Martin Whitfield MP.

Tuesday 19th June 

At 10:15 am the Education Committee will hear evidence on their school funding inquiry with witnesses from the Education Policy Institute and National Foundation for Educational Research.

The Petitions committee will question social media companies on the online abuse and experience of disabled people at 2:15 pm.

Wednesday 20th June

At 9:30 am there will be a Westminster Hall debate on the Government response to the report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. The debate is will be opened by Rosie Duffield MP.

Thursday 21st June

The House of Lords will debate the benefits of yoga for school children.

Sunday 24th June 

Deadline to feed into Labour’s National Education Service policy. DYT will be engaging with the opposition to ensure that SEND and learners with literacy difficulties are a fundamental part of the proposals going forward. Find out more. 

Submit your thoughts to Labour’s review

 
Bercow: Ten Years On  

The petition calling on the Government to implement the recommendations of Bercow: Ten Years On now almost has 8,500 signatures. At 10,000 signatures, it will receive a written response from the Government.

On Wednesday 20 June we will be sharing the petition on social media to mark three months since the launch of the report.

Sign and share the petition!

 

  • Giving teachers ongoing SEND training would reduce the chances of pupils being segregated, says DYT’s Jules Daulby (TES)
  • Interim National Schools Commissioner appointed (Gov.UK)
  • Maidenhead school asks parents to buy toilet roll (BBC)
  • Schools in rich areas are more than twice as likely to be ‘outstanding’ (Schools Week)

Get in touch: 


Dan Baynes
Policy & Research Executive
daniel.baynes@driveryouthtrust.com