The government is set to invest £200 million in comprehensive training for all teachers supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (Send).
This substantial funding, allocated over the course of the current parliament, will develop new courses for teachers.
These programmes aim to equip educators to adapt their teaching methods for diverse requirements, including speech and language needs or visual impairments.
The Department for Education (DfE) has also announced a new expectation for all staff across schools, colleges, and nurseries to receive Send training.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Every child, wherever they live and whatever their needs, should have the opportunity to go to a local school where they can achieve and thrive.
“That’s why we’re equipping staff across every stage of education with more training on Send and inclusion than ever before – helping to deliver our vision of a truly inclusive education system.
“This is a key part of our mission to reform the Send system so that schools can take children from forgotten to included and give parents the confidence that the right support will be there at every stage of their child’s education.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said investment in Send training is “too important to be a one-off block of training”.
“Whether this investment is sufficient to deliver training of the depth and quality required at massive scale across a system in which there are around half a million teachers remains to be seen,” he said.
“The expectation that all staff in every nursery, school and college should receive training on Send and inclusion is good in principle, but is a huge undertaking and it will clearly take time to deliver in practice.”
The new expectation for teachers to be trained on Send will be set out in the Send code of practice.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT school leaders’ union, welcomed the investment in Send training, but said “training alone will not be enough”.
“Both mainstream and special schools need better access to specialist staff and sufficient funding,” he added.
“Pupils with additional needs often require additional adult support and schools must have enough resources to deliver this.
“Investment under the previous government failed to keep up with increased demand, leaving families at the mercy of a messy local authority postcode lottery – made worse by shortages of specialists like educational psychologists and speech and language therapists in some areas.
“It is vital that the Government rebuilds the supports services that have been decimated under previous administrations.”
The Government is expected to set out its Send reforms in the spring in the delayed Schools White Paper.
In December, the DfE announced £3 billion funding would go towards creating around 50,000 new schools places for children with Send.
Some of that cash will go towards creating places across the country in local mainstream schools for children with Send so they are less likely to have to travel far for their education.
