Special school staff could be given extra training and pay to act as consultants supporting mainstream schools, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.
In a written submission to an inquiry into solving the SEND crisis, the Catholic Education Service has said the system would benefit from an expansion in the support provided by special schools.
Its report to the Commons Education Committee, published today, said that special schools could be recognised as centres of excellence and special school staff “could receive advanced training and remuneration and could then operate as consultants, as is the case in the fields of medicine and social work”.
This would allow them to offer more support to teachers and leaders in mainstream settings.
A Tes investigation last year highlighted concerns that special school expertise was not being harnessed by government SEND reforms.
Call for ‘significant investment’ in specialist places
The Catholic Education Service’s submission to the MPs’ inquiry has also called for there to be “a significant investment” in specialist provision school places for children with learning difficulties and those with social communication needs.
It warned that many children are now “only attending on part-time timetables or using alternative provision, as their needs cannot be met within the mainstream environment”.
It highlighted an example it received from one mainstream school class with a number of children with special educational needs, all of whom “qualified for a place at a specialist provision school.”
The Catholic Education Service report added: “Three are on waiting lists and are likely to be waiting two years for a place after having waited another two years for an EHCP. In total, [this amounts to] four years waiting for a place at a special school - most of which is spent in a mainstream primary school.”
Last month, Tes revealed concerns among special schools leaders over a squeeze on places, following the government’s own submission to the MPs’ inquiry.
The DfE’s submission had said that the last government had sent mixed messages on mainstream inclusion by “creating very large numbers of new special school places, including for needs that could reasonably be met in mainstream schools”.
But headteachers questioned what the DfE based this claim on, and warned that special schools face a places crisis, with demand far outstripping supply.
‘Frustration’ at slow pace of change
The Catholic Education Service submission also highlights frustration within the sector that the Education Select Committee inquiry is covering areas and issues where proposals had been put forward in the last government’s SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, published in 2023.
The submission said: “there is some frustration within the sector that familiar areas are being revisited when little has been implemented or changed”.
National standards needed
It said that having national standards and standardised funding levels for all schools could help to alleviate inconsistencies of SEND provision between local authority areas.
And it said that Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) documentation and assessment could be streamlined and made uniform across the country. It said that “at present there are variations across local authority areas, which cause difficulties for children and families living near local authority borders and results in inconsistent experiences for parents, children and schools”.
Creating national standards in SEND and standardising EHCPs were both planned reforms in the last government’s improvement plan.
