Specialist dyslexia school warns SEND reforms risk creating "loophole" for local authorities
The co-principal of a specialist dyslexia school, whose pupils rely entirely on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), has welcomed parts of today's landmark government announcement on SEND reform but issued a stark warning that without careful management, the changes could leave vulnerable children worse off.
The government today unveiled sweeping reforms to the SEND system in England, including £4bn of new investment in mainstream schools over three years, and plans to reassess children's EHCPs as they move between phases of education from 2029. By 2035, EHCPs will be reserved for only the most complex cases, with the majority of children with SEND moving to a new school-led Individual Support Plan. The announcement also includes a price cap, reported to be set at £60,000 per year, on what independent specialist schools can charge for placements.
Dr Daryl Brown, Co-Principal of Maple Hayes Hall School in Lichfield, which has been transforming the lives of dyslexic pupils for over 40 years, said he broadly welcomed the principle of reviewing children's plans at transition but warned the reforms carried serious risks.
"A review at the end of the primary phase should happen. It would show whether a child's needs have been met and whether their plan needs to be strengthened for secondary school," he said. "What concerns us is how the new funding will be used. If it goes towards support, keeping children afloat in the classroom with a teaching assistant, rather than genuine intervention designed to address their learning needs, then when that review at the end of the Primary Phase comes the problems will simply be bigger than before. Support does not improve a child's independence in learning. Intervention does."
Dr Brown also raised concerns that restricting EHCPs to only the most complex cases could create a dangerous gap in provision for children whose needs fall between the two systems.
"Our parents already face anything up to three years going through the whole process of an EHC Plan and an appeal to tribunal to get the help the local authority is required to give their child. An EHC Plan is currently put in place if a school cannot meet a child's needs from its own resources. The danger is that these changes create a loophole where a child's needs cannot be met by the school but are not 'complex' enough to make the authority issue an EHC Plan. Further delaying help for many SEN children."
"Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide an appropriate education for every child with special educational needs. If EHC Plans are restricted, there must be a robust mechanism to ensure that duty is still fulfilled. Without that, we risk further delays for the very children this reform is meant to help."
Maple Hayes Hall School, founded in 1982 by Dr Neville Brown, uses a distinctive morphological approach to teaching English, developed as an alternative to phonics-based instruction which frequently proves ineffective for dyslexic learners. All of the school's pupils are placed by local authorities under EHC Plans.