***(UK) NE Lincolnshire: SPED is in 'deep crisis'; teachers...'just do not have the training'

Mar 4, 20219, Grimsby Live: Lincolnshire to call for more Government funding https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/send-national-crisis-march-lincolnshire-2595872 A concerned parent is planning to stage a Crisis March to highlight the problems facing special educational needs services in North East Lincolnshire and across the nation. Jenny Loughran, whose two sons have special educational needs, is organising the event on Thursday, May 30, in line with hundreds of other events across the country, including a main march in London, where they are calling on the Government to fund SEND services properly. … It aims to send a message that more needs to be done to support the most vulnerable children in our society, and ensure that they are able to have a proper education, with the support that that entails. Jenny feels that the academisation of schools has played a part in this crisis developing. Sbelieves that the lack of local authority control or intervention in these schools is leading to SEN children to be sidelined from mainstream education, putting further pressure on children's services as more and more frustrated parents apply for education and healthcare plans, which would guarantee support for their child. She also would like to see schools have less involvement with a child's SEN diagnosis, as currently they play a vital role in whether or not a child can be diagnosed, with their opinions often outweighing that of a child's parent. Furthermore, she wants more SEN training to be provided to teachers and teaching assistants, so that they are able to understand these children better, and know how to give them a proper education, rather than excluding them or putting them in isolation. … "SEND services at the minute are in a deep crisis, and the children and families that these services are supposed to support are really struggling. It is the same issues in schools, where there is just not enough support provided to these children and it is leading them to be sidelined from mainstream education. "Teachers and their teaching assistants just do not have the knowledge or training to help them understand how to deal with a child with special needs. It is not fair on them to have to try to educate a special needs child, whilst also trying to teach the rest of their students, without the proper training. …