• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / News Archive / SEN inquiry: report calls for end to culture of low expectations

SEN inquiry: report calls for end to culture of low expectations

By guest on 2nd December 2009 Category: News Archive

Listen

An inquiry has called for urgent and major reform of the special educational needs (SEN) system, and an end to the “culture of low expectations” for disabled children and those with SEN.

The plea came in the final report of an inquiry set up by the government to improve confidence in England’s SEN system which heard from thousands of parents and children over 21 months.

SEN expert Brian Lamb, who led the inquiry, said a “radical overhaul” should “ruthlessly” refocus the system to provide stronger rights for children with SEN, and a “culture change” in how schools and local authorities work with those children and their parents.

The inquiry’s clear message was that “parents need to be listened to more and the system needs to be more ambitious for their children”, said Lamb.

He added: “We need to act urgently to ensure we do not let a generation of children leave school ill-equipped to lead an independent life and make a contribution to society.”

Lamb said the inquiry found “many examples where disabled children and children with SEN were sidelined rather than challenged to be the best that they could possibly be”.

About one in five children in England have SEN, while just under three per cent – 222,000 – have a statement of SEN, which sets out the support the child should receive.

Lamb said children with SEN were eight times more likely to be excluded than their peers, and called for more support and new guidance to tackle the problem.

And he called for “good, honest and open communication” with parents, who should have access to independent advice through a national helpline – one of 51 wide-ranging recommendations in the report.

Lamb said many parents found assessments “stressful and difficult”, and often faced poor information and support and negative attitudes.

The report says school governors and Ofsted inspectors should focus more on SEN, while the government should do more to use the available evidence to hold local authorities to account when they fail on SEN.

It also says parents are frequently unaware of the protection offered by the Disability Discrimination Act, while public bodies often fail to comply with their duties under the act.

The report concludes: “In many places and for many parents [the SEN system] can and does work well, but for too many parents it represents an unwarranted and unnecessary struggle.”

But Lamb says in the report that there is “nothing I am recommending that is not being done by the best teachers, schools and local authorities across the country already”.

16 December 2009

Share this post:

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on Reddit

Related

‘Muddled’ blue badge reforms ‘are to blame for renewal delays’
6th February 2015
UN debate will be reminder of true inclusive education
6th February 2015
IDS breaks pledge on PIP waiting-times, as tens of thousands still queue for months
30th January 2015

Primary Sidebar

Image shows a man wearing glasses sitting by an open laptop The text reads: Free Career Support for Disabled People Our services include: 1-2-1 Coaching Online Career Resources Find Support near you Search for Inclusive Jobs Career Events and Workshops Visit the Evenbreak Career Hive today to find out how we can help you

Access

Latest Stories

Grenfell: Call for action over government’s ‘deplorable’ decision on evacuation plans

‘Severely neglected’ man found dead, three months after DWP assessment

Government brands DNS ‘vexatious’ for trying to obtain info on 90 DWP deaths

Government’s ‘milestone’ disability jobs stats ‘are meaningless when it comes to equality’

Concern over offensive LGBT+ comments at access awards event

Universal credit boss defends years of misleading information

Discrimination could be a cause of increased risk of Covid death, says ONS

Access to Work in crisis as figures show ‘massive’ waiting-list

Queen’s speech: Activists’ message to Patel over new protest bill: ‘We fight on’

Queen’s speech: Six bills that may change disabled people’s lives, for better and for worse

Advice and Information

The Department for Work and Pensions: Deaths, cover-up, and a toxic 30-year legacy

Readspeaker

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web