Catherine McKinnell told The i Paper that teachers would get support on SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) as part of their initial teacher training and professional development so that they could meet all needs of pupils.
The Government wants more pupils with SEND taught in mainstream schools. An increase in demand for SEND education has filled up state special schools, forcing local authorities to pay for places in private alternatives that can cost nearly three times as much.
Now McKinnell, the minister leading on SEND, has revealed that the DfE is “making sure that all teachers are teachers of special educational needs, that teachers have the training and the support and the professional development to be able to meet all the needs of children within their classroom”.
Schools minister Catherine McKinnell has said ‘all teachers will be SEND teachers’ (Photo: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor)‘We won’t take away support – we want to improve it’
The minister added that there was a focus on the early years and identifying need “at the earliest opportunity” through a “whole variety of early speech and language interventions”, “neurodiversity initiatives” and “phonics screening”.
But her comments have worried teachers. Matt Wrack, Acting General Secretary of the NASUWT union, said that as the proportion of pupils with SEND increased, schools’ support staff and resources needed to increase as well.
Parents’ anxiety has been increasing as they wait for full details of the SEND changes, which it is understood were originally due to be consulted on this Spring.
A local government source said Number 10 had got “cold feet” about the optics of the SEND plan, which will be key to the future of many local councils that fund special educational needs.
“There’s a real hesitancy in Government about the perception of this when it’s published,” they added.
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Despite the lack of an official announcement, Government figures have been giving some indication of just how big the SEND changes could be and how they could hit the education health and social care plans (EHCPs) that legally guarantee pupils with SEND a specified level of extra support in schools, often with dedicated staff and funding attached.
EHCPs could be cut
And last week The i Paper reported how McKinnell had declined to rule out cutbacks to the SEND tribunals that many parents rely on to secure the support their children need, and to enforce EHCPs.
But Hayley Harding, a parent of two boys with SEND, and founder of the campaign group Let Us Learn Too, said it was unreasonable to expect all teachers to be SEND teachers.
Hayley Harding with her children, Matthew, 10, and Connor, eight (Photo: Supplied)
The DfE has not given a clear picture of how the reforms will be funded.
DfE won’t explain why SEND reform cash drops away
The department said this was not “the sum total of SEND funding” and pointed to “a significant increase of £1bn in high needs funding for 2025-26”.
Wrack from the NASUWT said: “Our concern is that the reforms will actually be driven by cutting costs.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have been clear that special schools will always be available for those who need them.
“We will improve the SEND system so parents and children get better and earlier support, while protecting provision currently in place, including the SEND tribunal.”
‘I’ve had sleepless nights over SEND reform’
Aimee Bradley, a mother of three pupils with SEND, said the uncertainty over the Government’s reforms was causing her “sleepless nights”.
The 41-year-old from Hampshire said her son Ashton, six, who is autistic with severe mental impairment, would “not cope in mainstream school” – even with the additional support outlined by McKinnell.
Aimee Bradley with her husband, Davin, and children Autumn, 12, Ashton, six, and Blake, three (Photo: Shannon Marie Photography)“It’s not enough to alleviate parents’ worries,” she said. “What they’re expecting of teachers in mainstream school is too much. It’s not fair on them.”
She said: “The amount of training that teachers go through in a SEND school is quite vast, like the amount of programs that they have to deliver in a one-to-one basis for children.
“It’s not just about the training. It’s about class sizes, environment, having provisions in place like… sensory spaces, the ability for children to be able to get up and have movement breaks whenever they want to. These are things that I just don’t feel feasible within a mainstream setting.”
The mother added: “We fight so hard, like I’m exhausted from paperwork and fighting, trying to get support, mediation, tribunals, and things like that. It [reform] is just another thing that we have uncertainty about.”
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