Ensuring every child gets the best possible start in life
This week the Government released its plans to raise school standards and improve provision for students with special educational needs and disability (SEND). We have a duty to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life, and that includes tailoring their school experience to give them the support they need to achieve their full potential.
Any child who falls behind in the core skills of literacy and numeracy will get the dedicated support they need to get back on track. Schools will identify children who need help, provide targeted support with proven methods such as small group tuition, and keep parents informed about their child’s progress.
The Schools White Paper also includes two key changes that I have been asking for for some time:
- OFSTED inspections for schools that have been rated 'outstanding' to ensure those standards are still being maintained
- Inspections of Multi-Academy Trusts to make sure that they are providing the necessary support and oversight to the schools in their Trust
I'm also pleased to see new measures for improving the recruitment and training of teachers, and a register for children not in school to make sure no child is lost from the system.
In terms of SEND, the Government is proposing a single national SEND and alternative provision system across education, health, and care, to set clear standards and bring consistency to how children and young people’s needs are identified and met. Alongside which there will also be a significant investment of £2.6billion to deliver new places closer to home and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND.
In a question to the Education Secretary after these announcements, I raised the importance of giving families the support they need to help their children thrive in school. The first wave of the new Family Hubs that will be announced soon will make a big difference to families across the country. I've been calling for one of these trial Family Hubs to be located in either the Barnsley or Sheffield council areas, so that families in our constituency will be amongst the first to benefit.
Debate on the Schools White Paper | March 28
"As a parent and a former teacher, I wholeheartedly welcome this White Paper. It is ambitious, but it is also a common-sense approach. I particularly commend the use of common-sense, plain English in the White Paper, which is very accessible to parents. Perhaps my right hon. Friend could pass on some tips to other Departments. I want to pick up on a phrase that is mentioned a couple of times in the White Paper, which is that
the quality of teaching is the single most important in-school factor in improving outcomes for children.
I completely agree with that and I welcome the reforms to teacher training, but does my right hon. Friend acknowledge that children spend most of their time at home, rather than in school, so can he set out how this will work alongside the Government’s programmes on strengthening and supporting families, because that will have just as important an effect on improving outcomes?"
Nadhim Zahawi, Secretary of State for Education
"My hon. Friend raises a really important question. I have focused the Department on skills; the skills Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Alex Burghart), and the Minister for Higher and Further Education are both on the Front Bench. Later today, we will vote through what will then become, I hope, the revolution in the skills landscape that this country so badly needs and deserves.
From skills to schools: the schools White Paper delivers on what we want to achieve—making sure that every child has the opportunity of a great education in the right place and at the right time for them. Then there is family: families are important, whether in mainstream education or when it comes to children and the social care system. My hon. Friend will hear more from us about the family hubs that we will deliver in half of England’s local authorities."
