System ‘is punishing children with SEN’

By Sunil Peck with Labour in Manchester

Pupils with special educational needs (SEN) are being punished by a system riddled with failure, campaigners have told a fringe meeting.

Speaking at the event on improving inclusion for pupils with SEN, Steve Broach, campaign manager for Every Disabled Child Matters, said almost all exclusions involving pupils with SEN are discriminatory because they relate to the child’s impairment.

He asked delegates whether there should be a change in the law to stop pupils with SEN being automatically excluded.

He said that their needs could instead be reassessed and if necessary an alternative place found for them.

Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said reassessments are preferable to exclusions because a pupil out of school cannot be taught.

Referring to EDCM figures which suggest that pupils with SEN are nine times more likely to be excluded, she added: “It is a scandal that children with SEN are much more likely to be excluded from school.

“We need a cultural shift to an ethos which says that we should include everyone when we can. That means government moving back but still making sure that schools are facilitated in doing the things that they need to.”

Brian Lamb, director of advocacy and policy at RNID, which organised the meeting with the autism charity Treehouse, said that one of the scandals of SEN provision was that schools often resorted to excluding disabled pupils because they lacked support to pursue a more inclusive agenda.

He said that teachers and head teachers should not be blamed and added: “There is a crucial need to make sure that teachers are properly supported to deal with often quite difficult and challenging children who, given the right support, like behaviour management programmes, can be included.

“If you don’t get that right, the way it is dealt with is by excluding some of the most profoundly disabled children.”