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The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) Participation Team is pleased to share the findings of their latest report ‘Lessons Learnt from Lockdown: The highs and lows of the pandemic’s impact on disabled children and young people.’ Between February and March 2021, as part of the Making Participation Work programme, the CDC commissioned Kaizen to deliver the largest consultation to date with children and young people with SEND. The consultation was co-designed between Kaizen, CDC and the FLARE young advisory group, and is based on the feedback of children and young people participating in CDC and KIDS led youth groups. Over 600 children and young people, 128 parents and 110 professionals contributed their views and experiences to this report – this report is the largest consultation to date with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives, and to hear directly from children and young people to understand what support they need moving forward.

Educational Pathways and Work Outcomes of Disabled Young People is a 3-year research project funded by The Leverhulme Trust. They are based in the Department of Sociology at the University of Warwick. Their aim is to explore the factors that lead to disability inequalities in educational and occupational attainment in England.

They want to hear young people’s views about their experiences of disability and schooling, and their plans and aspirations for the future. The first wave of (online) interviews will take place between April-August 2021. For each completed interview, participants will receive a £20 Love-to-Shop voucher. Should you want to take part and/or discuss more, please get in touch with Dr Angharad Butler-Rees at disabled.transitions@warwick.ac.uk

New research published today by nasen and Bath Spa University has found that millions of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) will be left vulnerable for decades to come if the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) workforce isn’t given more time, resources and support to meet the needs of all children with SEND.

The new report, The National SENCO Workforce Survey: time to review 2018-2020, estimates that 55% of primary SENCOs and 70% of secondary SENCOs are not allocated enough time to complete their role effectively – with 75% and 79% of primary and secondary SENCO’s highlighting that they were routinely pulled away from their role to perform other duties.

The survey also highlights that between 2018 and 2020, SENCOs time allocation has seen only slight increases at just 18 minutes per week and 54 minutes per week for primary and secondary phase respectively. Based on this trajectory, it would take almost 150 years (primary) and more than 40 years (secondary) for all SENCOs to become full time – a recommendation outlined in previous SENCO Workforce reports to fully support the needs of children and young people with SEND.

The children’s social care system in England is a “30-year-old tower of Jenga held together with Sellotape: simultaneously rigid and shaky,” an independent review of the sector has concluded. The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care ‘Case for Change’ report, which was published the other week, found that the service is riddled with bureaucracy and risk aversion and needs urgent systemic change.

Ofsted published a report on the experiences of children and young people with SEND during the pandemic. The report is well worth a read but it’s long, and if time is short then you can read a summary by Special Needs Jungle.