Today’s Education in the Media blog looks at what the Industrial Strategy means for the education system and skills, as well as coverage on school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND.)
Industrial Strategy
Today, Monday 27 November, the government launched a new Industrial Strategy. This has been reported by the Today Programme, BBC Breakfast and Sky News.
The key goals of the government’s Industrial Strategy are to:
- Build on UK strengths and extend excellence into the future
- Close the gap between the UK’s most productive companies, industries, places and people
- Make the UK one of the most competitive places in the world to start or grow a business
Central to this ambitious new strategy is recognising that we need to invest in skilled workers and ensure we have an education and skills system that allows everyone to fulfil their potential.
Education Secretary Justine Greening has written a piece for the Huffington Post about what the strategy means for skills and education Read the full article here.
Special Education Needs and Disabilites
Today, Monday 27 November, BBC Breakfast started their week long package about children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). As well as an introductory piece there was also a longer report by the Education Correspondent, Branwen Jeffreys.
The package focused on the issues surrounding children with SEND in England. They filmed at the Royal School in Manchester, a special school, and spoke to a number of parents about the struggles their children faced, while highlighting the intricate care that the children require from staff.
We are committed to ensuring every child gets the education they deserve. The Department has allocated £215m of capital funding (over and above basic need funding) to help build new places at mainstream and special schools, and to improve existing places to benefit current and future pupils.
In 2014, the Government fundamentally reformed support for SEND children, including introducing the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans for those with more complex needs.
Local authorities are also able to commission new schools, including special schools, to meet local need. Further information on the process can be found here.
Children and Families Minister Robert Goodwill said:
We have taken action to fundamentally reform support for children with special educational needs making sure that families are at the heart of the process and care plans are tailored to individuals.As part of this we are giving over £222m to councils over four years to help them implement these reforms and have provided £215m to help create school places, including at special schools.We recognise the importance of ensuring that schools have the necessary resources to meet a wide range of special educational needs. All schools have a duty to admit children with special educational needs and where additional support is required they are eligible to top up funding from their local authority.
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