This policy brief makes recommendations to support the delivery and implementation of reform to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system in England, following the government White Paper Every child achieving and thriving. These recommendations will ensure meaningful investment for children, families, and schools and reducing systems-generated trauma.
Recommendation 1
More explicitly consider systems-generated trauma (SGT) and embed trauma-informed approaches as a pillar of all SEND reforms in the UK. This could involve undertaking a thorough SGT-informed feasibility analysis of the current reform plans, in a meaningful partnership with parents and schools, specifically considering multifaceted needs assessments, timeframes, risk analyses, implementation and monitoring processes.
Recommendation 2
To ensure meaningful change, there must be accountability from the government and its agencies involved in supporting children with SEND and their families. This includes addressing workforce and training demands for Experts at Hand, providing transparent pathways for multi-agency and cross-school sharing of expertise, which should be standard, and ensuring that SENDCOs receive additional training to effectively coordinate multidisciplinary teams.
Recommendation 3
Retain access to Tribunal with the power to name a placement and for extended appeals. Rerouting parents through school complaints systems, rather than SEND appeals, risks compounding existing SGT and further eroding parental trust in school and statutory systems.
