According to Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief inspector of Ofsted, the most pressing issue that English schools currently face is special educational needs and disabilities (Send). In a recent interview with the parliamentary education committee, Sir Martyn stated that current high costs and inadequate outcomes pose a “lose-lose situation” for the Send system.
Government figures state that by the 2023/24 academic year, the number of children with Send will increase to approximately 1.6 million, reflecting a 101,000 increase from 2023. Ofsted currently duty-bound to support the government in its efforts to provide for all Send children, with the Department for Education (DfE) recently announcing £740 million of funding for mainstream schools to increase their capacity to include Send pupils.
Sir Martyn said that Ofsted’s new report card inspection system aims to acknowledge the work done by schools in helping Send pupils join mainstream education. The system is to include a review of overall input as well as outcomes and is due to be implemented in September. It follows the scrapping of one-word judgments in 2020 after an incident where, following her school receiving an ‘inadequate’ rating during an Ofsted inspection due to safeguarding issues, a head teacher committed suicide.
Although the DfE has said it aims to improve safeguarding in schools with an annual review, Sir Martyn believes that safeguarding should not be part of the assessment process. Instead, it should be treated separately, with an annual visit from an Ofsted inspector costing £45 million per year. According to Sir Martyn, safeguarding is not the most important concern for schools in the current climate, noting that Send has the more significant need instead. The byproduct of the pandemic, including distance learning programs, have left various students behind, and resources such as SENDco and other disability resources are essential for successful integration upon return to the physical classroom.
Ofsted also carries out extensive inspections of local area partnerships between schools and local authorities to ensure that there is adequate working together to improve the experiences and results for students with Send. In the previous year, Ofsted completed 38 Send inspections in local areas, with 12 councils failing, 16 being inconsistent, and 12 being positive. Sir Martyn added that report cards that look at education, health, care, and leadership at the local level would help address systemic failings
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