Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) have been treated as an afterthought by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic, a report has warned.
The report warns that advice to special schools was frequently published later than guidance for mainstream schools when pandemic restrictions, including lockdowns and school closures, were ordered by government.
“This led settings and young people with SEND to be seen as, and feel like, an afterthought,” the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for SEND says
The report, called Forgotten. Left behind. Overlooked, details the experiences of children and young people with SEND during the pandemic in 2020.
Remote teaching was particularly hard to access for some SEND children, found the report, which includes recommendations for change from a raft of charities and children’s organisations.
Among those contributing was the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), which said that remote learning options were not accessible for deaf children without additional communication support, such as speech to text software or sign...
With the news that everyone will be returning to school/college" from March 8th, the Department for Education has once again issued separate operational guidance for schools and for specialist settings: Additional operational guidance for special schools, special post-16 institutions and alternative provision.
Below is a bit of a breakdown of some of the important points that you should be aware of.
1. Attendance
The attendance section in the specialist and alternative settings guidance emphasises that from March 8th, attendance is mandatory for all, unless they receive a positive test result or have to self-isolate.
It is vital for pupils and students to attend school or college to minimise, as far as possible, the longer-term impact of the pandemic on their education, wellbeing and wider development. The usual rules on school attendance apply to all pupils including:- parents’ duty to secure their child’s regular attendance at school (where the child is a registered pupil at school, and they are of compulsory school age)-...
The government has pledged to focus £700m in catch up funding for education in England on disadvantaged children, as schools and early years settings recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Children & Young People Now have reported on the “Recovery Premium”:
One-to-one and small group tutoring programmes is another focus of the government’s efforts to help schools and colleges recoverThe one-off recovery premium is worth £302m. The average primary school will receive around £6,000 extra while the average secondary school around £22,000 more. The government expects schools to use this premium money to boost summer provision, such as additional clubs and activities.Schools will also be expected to use “evidence based approaches to supporting disadvantaged pupils from September”, according to the Department for Education.Of the remaining £400m, half will be used to boost tutoring in schools and language development in early years settings.The other half is for schools to develop face-to-face summer schools. The government expects these to initially target incoming year 7 pupils....
The Department for Education is partnering with broadband providers to offer disadvantaged families free data to support home learning during the latest Covid-19 lockdown.
Through the partnership schools are being urged to identify children without internet access to request the free data through the government’s Get Help with Technology programme.
Providers involved in the programme include EE, which announced this week that it is offering disadvantaged families 20GB of free data per month.
Also involved are broadband providers Three, Sky Mobile, SMARTY, Tesco Mobile and Virgin Mobile. This free data offer is available until July 2021.
The move comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this week that schools in England will close until at least February half-term as part of a fresh national lockdown to curb rates of Covid-19 infection....
It was announced last night that all primary and secondary schools and colleges would close for at least six weeks until February half-term to all pupils except the children of frontline workers and vulnerable children. Early years settings, including nurseries and childminders, special schools and alternative education providers will remain open to all pupils, Johnson said.
The Department for Education has confirmed it will go ahead with previously announced plans to increase the number of free laptops and 4G routers made available to disadvantaged children. It said it aimed to provide one million devices by the end of the current academic year having handed out 560,000 as of December.The government-funded National Tutoring Programme, aimed at helping the most disadvantaged children impacted by the pandemic catch-up with peers, has said it will continue to provide tutoring remotely – it delivered support to 62,000 pupils last term.Meanwhile, the government has admitted that GCSE, AS and A level exams are “unlikely” to go ahead...
As you will be aware, the Prime Minister introduced their COVID winter plan yesterday (you can read more on the Gov website here). This plan is fairly extensive, with more aspects (such as the three-tiers) still to be decided.
The relevant aspects that you may need to be aware of:
The COVID-19 Winter Plan ensures the current national restrictions can be lifted on 2nd December, so across all of England, regardless of tier:
The stay at home requirement will end, with domestic and international travel being permitted again subject to guidance in each tier.Shops,personal care,gyms and the wider leisure sector will reopen.Collective worship, weddings and outdoor sports can resume, subject to social distancing.People will no longer be limited to seeing only one other person in outdoor public spaces -the rule of 6 will now apply as it did in the previous set of tiers.
Information about Protecting the Vulnerable
Under recent national measures, the clinically extremely vulnerable have been advised to take...
The number of children being electively home educated has jumped by more than a third compared with last year due to health fears sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, new figures from the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) shows.
Some 75,668 children were being taught at home on 1 October, 38% more than on the same date last year. Of these, 25% had been registered since 1 September. The most common reason cited by parents is the fear and uncertainty around Covid-19.
Gail Tolley, chair of the ADCS educational achievement policy committee, warned that local authorities were struggling to deal with the jump in the number of children being home educated.
For more, you can read the full article on Children & Young People Now....
As the country continues through its second lockdown, it is a worrying time for many - particularly parents with children to care for. The Fashion & Textile Children's Trust is working with families every week who are feeling the ongoing impact of reduced pay or redundancy.
Here are some links that may help you and your family:
Help for families on reduced incomeGrants to help parents and carers whose household income has reduced as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Find out more
Redundancy GrantsIf you are a parent facing redundancy from a fashion or textile company, our grants can help bridge the gap and make sure your children have the essentials they need. Find out more
Who Can Apply?
To apply for an FTCT grant, the child's parent or carer must have recently worked for a UK fashion or textile company.This includes:
Supermarkets which sell clothing (ASDA, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, etc)Clothing companies (Matalan, NEXT, M&S, TK Maxx)Homeware and soft furnishing companies (IKEA, Dunelm Mill, DFS, etc.)Laundry...
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