Children with special needs are being ‘failed by system’
THE “chronic crisis” affecting education in Gloucestershire, with some children acting as translators, has prompted civic chiefs in Cheltenham to call for answers.
Cheltenham Borough councillors are so concerned over the challenges schools are facing in the spa town that they want education chiefs at Shire Hall to brief them on the situation.
They are concerned that in some schools children with special educational needs, and those children with particular issues in relation to the speaking and understanding of English, are not receiving the help and support they need.
Councillors backed a motion last week which says too many children who have such needs are being failed by a system that is grossly underfunded by central government.
They say this is leading to additional stress and workload being placed on teachers and teaching assistants and their desire to remain in the service, and is adversely impacting those children who are already disadvantaged, their parents and carers. In some schools, young children are being asked to act as translators, as assistance is not being provided to those whose first language is not English and who have little or no English language ability.
Council leader Rowena Hay (LD, Oakley) will be asking Gloucestershire County Council’s education cabinet member for information about the situation, funding and what impact it is having on schools. Councillor Flo Clucas (LD, Swindon Village) said she was prompted to put forward the motion due to the shocking report into Child X – a Gloucestershire child with complex behavioural needs who was groomed and sexually abused while in care – and the concerns from teachers and headteachers worried about the state of education.
“Children being excluded from school have doubled in the last year or so,” she said. “Just think about that for a minute. Those children requiring educational certificates, help, car plans are waiting and waiting and waiting for assessments. Some of them are in classrooms they should never be in. One school tells me they have children who are waiting for an assessment.
“Children are staying at home because that is what they want to do and nobody is challenging that.”
She said there has been a 10 per cent rise in SEND numbers and the amount of funding going towards that is four per cent. She said: “You are not going to meet the need.”
Councillor Paul Baker, who seconded the motion, said there is a crisis in schools when it comes to dealing with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
He said since 2015, the number of young people eligible for health and care plans has doubled to half a million. “In Gloucestershire there are 6,000 children with these care plans. The numbers are just going up and up and up.
“The numbers are mind-blowing. In some classes in schools in Cheltenham a third of the pupils have got special educational needs. I don’t think we can understand the impact that has in the classroom for that teacher, the impact it has on morale, workload and stress load and the impact it has on their health and other children in that school.”
He said the situation is chronic and it stems from years of underfunding. An amendment by the Conservative group to invite the cabinet member and their relevant officer to the overview and scrutiny committee was accepted.