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SEN

Changing behaviour

Change is coming in the world of special needs and behaviour policy, but is it the change teachers want, asks Rosamund McNeil.

What’s changing?

The category of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) is to be reformulated by the Department for Education (DfE). Over half (52 per cent) of respondents to last year’s Green Paper Support and aspiration: a new approach to special educational needs and disability said the category is too broad and unhelpful to teachers in identifying a child’s underlying needs.

The system of School Action and School Action Plus is also to be replaced from 2014 by a single assessment category. The existing graduated approach – set out in the SEN Code of Practice – will go, with the system of statements of special educational needs being replaced with new Education, Care, Health (ECH) plans. The Government promises these will provide the same statutory protection to parents and children as the current statements.

This summer will see the publication of a draft Children and Families Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny. The NUT will examine it to ensure children’s entitlements and the clarity given in statements are not watered down. Although the current system of statements is not perfect and can be overly bureaucratic, the Union fears the proposals will not correct the flaws in the current system, nor deliver a better process than the SEN Code of Practice.

What do teachers want?

Teachers tell the NUT that lack of time impedes management of pupil behaviour and liaison with colleagues about pupils’ needs and behaviour triggers.

They also report that they don’t always receive emotional and practical support from senior colleagues to cope with challenging pupil behaviour. It is essential that teachers feel able to raise issues about a challenging pupil without fear of accusations of ‘inadequate’ teaching or incompetence.

The NUT campaigns for practical policies and legislation to allow teachers to meet pupils’ needs, wherever they teach. We are calling on the Government to re-introduce the statutory requirement for all schools, including academies, to collaborate within behaviour partnerships.

The Labour Government invested heavily in the Every Child Matters reorganisation and the Common Assessment Framework, which significantly improved multi-agency working and information sharing. Replacing statements with ECH plans and revoking School Action Plus will, however, not in itself remove the pressures on time-poor and overstretched professionals or address the drastic cuts to SEN and behaviour support services.

Excluded pupils

The Government has indicated that it wants to shift responsibility for excluded pupils to head teachers. Several local authorities are taking part in DfE pilots to explore what happens if schools plan and monitor alternative education provision for students post-exclusion. The NUT will be watching the pilot closely.

The Children’s Commissioner, Maggie Atkinson, is also investigating the issue of school exclusions and why rates vary

Further reading

• Support and aspiration: a new approach to special educational needs and disability www.education.gov.uk (search ‘CM8027’)

• They Never Give Up On You www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

• The Taylor Review of alternative provision www.education.gov.uk (search ‘Taylor alternative’)

• The NUT response to the Taylor Review www.teachers.org.uk/node/15391

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