(UK) Reforms call for only students with "very highest needs" in special schools
- 37 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The head teacher of Britain's largest private special needs school has warned Labour reforms risk 'pushing children out' of education.
Jonathan Hetherington, head of More House School in Surrey, said the overhaul of special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision may lead to 'woeful outcomes' for pupils like his.
And he also said it could lead to a 'shrinkage' of the special needs sector, meaning a 'loss of expertise'.
In future, ministers want all pupils with Send to be educated in mainstream schools, with only those with the very highest needs sent to special schools.
This will reduce the amount of public money used to fund places at private special needs schools.
Every mainstream school will have an 'inclusion base' – a classroom where Send pupils can be catered for – and teachers will get extra training.
However, Mr Hetherington said that while he 'supported' making mainstream schools more inclusive, some children would still be unlikely to cope.
He told the Daily Mail: 'It doesn't matter how inclusive you try to make that environment, there are so many children for whom it's not going to work. I think there's a real danger that many of those students are going to get pushed out.
The head teacher of Britain's largest private special needs school has warned Labour reforms risk 'pushing children out of education' (pictured: Jonathan Hetherington, head of More House School in Surrey)
'We may find that the number of children falling out of education increases, and the outcomes for those students are likely to be woeful, compared to what is possible given the right sort of investment.' . . .
More House provides tailored support for 500 boys aged eight to 18 with 'literacy and language-based' issues including dyslexia.
Mr Hetherington warned the same level of individualised help would be hard to replicate in big mainstream schools.
'Removing opportunity from such children would be a disastrous move, and it will definitely have an impact on their futures,' he said. . . .
Mr Hetherington said he was not concerned about the viability of his own school under the reforms.
However, he fears it could mean More House will become 'less accessible for children whose families cannot afford to do it privately'. . . . .
Mr Hetherington said special school fees reflect the costs involved in catering to a high level of complex need.
He is chair of the Independent Schools Association (ISA), which represents the heads of 802 private schools including 205 which are specialist provision or Send schools.
At the weekend, the ISA published a report arguing the private sector is a 'supporting pillar' to the entire Send system. It said ISA schools support more than 11,000 students with EHCPs in specialist provision, adding they are crucial to 'maintaining system capacity'. . . .
'This comes alongside £3.7 billion [$5B] to create 60,000 specialist places across the country and help drive our target of inclusion bases in every secondary school, so that more children can thrive in a school that's right for them and remain part of wider school life.. . . .
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