'Families should be supported through SEND reforms'

Parents will need to be supported through changes to the special education needs and disabilities (SEND) system, according to a family-support charity.

It comes after the government announced changes to the SEND system as part of its broader Schools White Paper.

Louise Ravenscroft, from Peterborough-based Family Voice, said many families were concerned.

"I agree the system needs change or overhaul. It's not working as it is. However, any change needs to be handled carefully," she said.

"Any systematic change that affects a child's educational journey is going to have an impact on their home life and on their general development.

"It's difficult to hear [the government] say this is the biggest change in a generation when that was also said 14 years ago with the previous SEND reforms.

"This is another set of children and young people that are going to be impacted by a system change."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who made the announcement in Peterborough on Monday, said the plans involved making mainstream schools more inclusive.

She announced £4bn of funding over the next thee years. That includes £1.6bn going directly to schools, early-years settings and colleges, and £1.8bn to provide more access to experts such as specialist teachers and speech and language therapists.

The National Education Union said the government "must not put more expectations on schools without real additional resources" and that "the funding currently announced is not enough".

Steph Smith, head teacher at Cavendish School in Impington, near Cambridge, said a "lot of it feels like we are renaming what we already have in place".

She added: "The funding has been missing from education for a long time.

"I am not convinced it's going to go far or is as revolutionary as it's being pitched."

Lucy Nethsingha, the Liberal Democrat leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire's Dotty McLeod that she "mildly, cautiously welcomed" the news, but she acknowledged that SEND families remained "extremely anxious".

She said: "Whether there's enough money... continues to be a big question, particularly for Cambridgeshire schools that are not well funded in comparison with schools nationally.

"The system is going to change gradually, and that is a good thing [but] we will still need to wait and see whether or not we can make it work like the way government wants [it] to."

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