VIEWS & OPINION
Are pupils with SEND really central to Ofsted reforms? Comment by DR REBECCA LAWTON, Director of Quality and Compliance at Outcomes First Group
Tom Rees, Chair of the Department for Education’s Expert Advisory Group for Inclusion, stated that changes to the Ofsted inspection framework will place greater focus on children with SEND. While the intent is commendable, in reality the proposed changes may not fully account for the complexities of specialist education. Is there a risk that these reforms may marginalise the children they are designed to support?
Working with over 100 schools supporting
children with SEND, it’s evident to me, that there are three key areas where the proposed framework may misrepresent SEND schools and their pupils.
1. Assessing attendance. Using attendance as a key performance indicator, may be a reasonable measure for mainstream schools, but it does not necessarily reflect the unique challenges faced by pupils in specialist settings.
Many SEND pupils, particularly those with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) or complex needs, struggle with regular attendance - even stepping into a classroom can be a significant achievement. Therefore, judging these schools on attendance rates, risks penalising institutions that are successfully re-engaging pupils in education. Specialist schools offer highly tailored support to address these challenges - a child previously out of education who now attends 65% of the time, is making enormous progress.
2. Achievement as success. SEND curriculums are broad and highly personalised, focusing on academic learning, essential life skills, social development, and emotional well-being. Many settings don’t follow the national curriculum, making Ofsted’s proposed definition of ‘achievement’ as a standalone measure particularly problematic.
If achievement is solely measured by traditional academic results, the framework risks failing to capture the full scope of progress made by SEND pupils. Success can include improving communication skills, developing greater independence or learning to self-regulate emotions. We need a broader definition of achievement, reflecting the diverse goals of SEND education. Only valuing conventional academic progress will fail to recognise the holistic growth of pupils who require a different, yet equally valuable, measure of success. 3. Inclusion - recognising the role of specialist settings. There’s a strong emphasis on mainstream inclusion, which is essential, but fails to recognise the crucial role of specialist schools. While mainstream schools work towards greater inclusivity, SEND settings are designed entirely around the principle of inclusion.
Specialist schools are designed to meet the needs of pupils requiring more tailored support, and appropriate interventions and learning experiences. A truly balanced approach to education policy should celebrate and support both mainstream and specialist provisions. A more holistic approach
If the government is committed to ensuring that pupils with SEND are at the heart of Ofsted’s reforms, then the framework must reflect the realities of specialist education. Inspections must adopt a more nuanced, holistic approach that acknowledges the diverse challenges and strengths of SEND schools.
Attendance measures should consider the starting points and progress of each pupil, rather than relying on blanket benchmarks. Success should not be measured solely by academic grades but by a wider range of outcomes that reflect the true achievements of SEND pupils. As mainstream schools move to become inclusive, it should be acknowledged that specialist settings are inclusive by design, These factors must be taken into account, to ensure these proposed reforms genuinely support the most vulnerable in our education system.
Closing the education gap by paying it forward Comment by DR TREVOR D. STERLING, Senior Partner at Moore Barlow and founder of the Be The Ladder Foundation
It is no exaggeration to say that the UK is in the grips of an education crisis. The educational attainment gap for disadvantaged pupils has reached its highest level since 2012, fuelled in part by the pandemic and its aftermath as well as by deeply entrenched structural inequalities. As a result, many of our country’s most vulnerable children are being left behind.
Sadly, this is nothing new. From my own personal experience growing up in the Sixties and Seventies, I know all too well what it feels like to be failed by the
education system. I started life as a working-class kid from Mitcham, South London, whose Jamaican parents left school at 13 and immigrated to the UK as part of the Windrush generation. When I left my low- achieving school with four GCSEs, my less-than-helpful careers adviser (what a misnomer his job title was) gave me three options to choose from: tennis racket stringer, warehouseman, or outdoor clerk at a law firm.
I chose the latter option, and through sheer tenacity managed to gradually carve out a successful career in the law that has seen me make history as the first black senior partner of a top-100 law firm, Moore Barlow, where I’m now in my second term. Getting to where I am today took not just a lot of hard work and determination on my part, but also the help of many people who lifted me up along the way. They were my ladder, and I will be forever grateful to these mentors and friends for helping me climb my way up to success.
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www.education-today.co.uk
Paying their help forward is hugely important to me. Having overcome so many obstacles to achieve my current position, what matters to me is that other solicitors with similar backgrounds shouldn’t face the same hurdles. Hence my motto ‘Don’t just aspire to climb the ladder. Be the ladder’.
This is why I am launching the Be The Ladder Foundation: to help close the education gap faced by disadvantaged kids like I once was, by giving them a helping hand. Through this initiative, we will provide tools and support for children not achieving their academic potential and ultimately give them better opportunities in life.
The plan is to conduct a pilot with three schools before rolling out the foundation more widely to provide greater access to mentors and skill- building opportunities for children across England. My ambition is that the Be The Ladder Foundation will open doors for hundreds, if not thousands, of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and give them a step up in whatever career path they aspire to.
Our approach will centre around helping these children to feel that education is for them, rather than something that they have to endure. When conducting research in preparation for launching the foundation, I was shocked to learn that attendance at primary school for those receiving school meals is only around 35% in some areas, which speaks to the importance of the kind of enrichment we intend to provide. I am now calling for other people to join me in being the ladder for these disadvantaged children: to offer advice, share your experience and pay it forward. It is my mission to continue to help as many people as possible to realise their dreams of joining and flourishing in the legal profession. And when they do, I hope they too can see that in order to make a real difference, they also should and must help others along the way – to be the ladder rather than merely climbing it.
March 2025
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