Our response to the Government’s announcement of 10,000 new places for pupils with SEND
Responding to The Government’s £740 million allocation for 10,000 new places for pupils with SEND, Jane Harris, Chief Executive of Speech and Language UK, said: “All investment in SEND is positive – but today’s announcement comes just four days before the Government closes the biggest national training programme for early years staff, the Early Years Professional Development Programme (EYPDP).
“This vital programme provided training in speech and language and personal, and in social and emotional development – the two biggest areas of SEND required since Covid-19, helping children to enter school with the communication skills required to thrive.
“This £740m announcement also raises many questions: Who is going to teach the children who take up the 10,000 new places? Who is going to train the extra specialist staff required? Where are we going to find the extra speech and language therapists needed to ensure mainstream school are inclusive and all pupils thrive?
“There is a risk of this investment being wasted if it is only used for improving the school buildings and not what happens inside them.
“We need serious investment in and a commitment to the training for all school and early years staff, and an immediate recruitment campaign for school-based speech and language therapists to really change the fortunes of children with SEND.”
Notes to Editor:
Spokespeople are available for interview. For more information or contact Peter Simpson, Media and Publicity Manager, Speech and Language UK. Email: peter.simpson@speechandlanguage.org.uk
Phone: 0207 843 2557 Mobile: 07803 051 848
About Speech and Language UK
For at least 1.9 million children in the UK, learning to talk and understand words feels like an impossible hurdle. We work to give every child the skills they need to face the future with confidence. We design innovative tools and training for thousands of nursery assistants and teachers to use in their classrooms. We run two special schools for children with complex speech and language challenges, Dawn House in Nottinghamshire and Meath in Surrey. We give families the confidence and skills to help their children. And we put pressure on politicians to prioritise help for speech and language challenges.
We demand a country in which every child with challenges in talking and understanding words has the skills they need to face the future with confidence.
