(UK) Barnsley: Council to spend $808,000 to hire more SPED staff

May 23, 2025, BBC News: Teaching support for SEND pupils gets £600k boost  An extra

Central England

£600,000 [$808K]a year is to be spent by a council on employing more staff to work with pupils who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with visual and hearing impairments.

According to a report to Barnsley Council's cabinet, a hearing support team of three specialist teachers and one support worker currently helped a total of 222 children.

According to the report to go before Barnsley Council's cabinet later this month: "All these children require specialist support."

"Children with high needs who are in a mainstream setting require access to an additional curriculum, for example touch typing, visual stimulation and Braille," it said.

"For children who require support to enhance their independence, including independent travel and living skills, the caseload is currently 91 children, with one specialist and no support workers.

"Fifteen of those children are cane or pre-cane users, and 16 require the highest packages of support."

The report said that four new hearing and vision support workers would be employed by the authority at an annual cost of £173,548.

In addition to that, £426,322 would be spent on employing 11 SEND teachers and support workers.

Those workers would help SEND children who were at risk of being excluded from school, the report said.