Fixing systemic problems with Send funding and inclusion | Letters
Jan Shapiro calls for a searching examination of the assumptions and culture that shape practice across the Send system. Plus Mary Smith sets readers and journalists a challenge based on her granddaughter’s revision sheet
Your report highlights the impact of the inadequate funding of special educational needs and disabilities provision (Schools forced to cut back on support for Send pupils in England, poll finds, 23 April). However, this moment should prompt not just concern about diminishing support, but a more fundamental examination of the system that produces these pressures in the first place.
I lead a school with a significantly higher-than-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils with Send. For us, inclusion is not an add-on but a commitment embedded in relationships and practice. The issue is not solely financial. It is also about approach, language, culture and what schools are incentivised to value. Without that foundation, increased funding alone will not deliver what our Send children need.
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