Aug 29, 2019, Independent: Give schools incentives to admit more special needs children, councils urge https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/schools-special-educational-needs-children-councils-ofsted-a9082381.html Mainstream schools should be incentivised to admit more pupils with special educational needs as parents are losing confidence in the sector’s ability to cater for their children, councils say…. The body said the watchdog should also hold schools with low numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to account in inspections. It comes after a survey of councils found that mainstream schools are increasingly unable to meet the needs of SEND pupils and more parents are concerned about the provision on offer. A lack of money, accountability pressures and curriculum changes have reduced non-special schools’ capacity to offer good quality provision for children with SEND, the councils say. Their claims come just weeks after MPs warned that the education sector needed a multi-million-pound cash boost to prevent it reaching “breaking point”. That intervention, in which MPs described current funding levels as “bleak”, itself followed reports of headteachers begging parents for donations, and not being given the money to accommodate pupils with special needs or disabilities.
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