Page 51 - SEN113 SEN Magazine July-August 2021-V3

SEN law About the author Specialist SEN solicitor Douglas Silas is the Managing Director of Douglas Silas Solicitors. SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk @douglassilas @douglassilas “They are not automatically considered to be disabled” 3. Designate a teacher to be responsible for coordinating SEN provision (e.g. the SENCO) (although this requirement does not apply to 16-19 academies) 4. Inform parents when they are making SEP (special educational provision) for a child/young person with SEN. Are pupils/students with SEN also considered to be disabled? No, being said to have SEN does not always mean that you are disabled and vice-versa! Although it can often be quite a straightforward thing, this can sometimes be a bit of a tricky issue to determine. For example, even if a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), they are not automatically considered to be disabled. However, if a child’s parent or a young person makes a request for a particular state-aided mainstream nursery, school or post- 16 institution (e.g. maintained nursery schools, maintained schools, any form of academy/free school, a non-maintained special school, a state-aided further education/sixth form college (or independent school or specialist colleges which have been approved by the Secretary of State \\\\\\\[called a ’section 41’ institution\\\\\\\]), the LA must comply with that preference and name the school/college in the EHCP unless it can show that: • it would be unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or SEN of the child or young person, or • the attendance of the child or young person there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources If the LA considers a particular mainstream place to be incompatible with the efficient education of others, it must also show that there are no ‘reasonable steps’ that a mainstream nursery, school, or post-16 institution in its areas could take to prevent incompatibility. What are ‘reasonable adjustments’/‘reasonable steps’? There can be many reasonable adjustments that placements are already making for disabled pupils (such as the use of auxiliary aids, like coloured overlays for dyslexic pupils/students, pen grips, adapted PE equipment, adapted keyboards and computer software). Reasonable adjustments are often inexpensive and only sometimes involve a change in practice, rather than the provision of expensive pieces of equipment or additional staff. There are also many examples of ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent a mainstream place from being incompatible with the efficient education of others, but there also may be cogent reasons why it may not always be possible to take reasonable steps in any given situation. However, any decision not to educate a child or young person in a mainstream setting against the wishes of the child’s parent or the young person should not be taken lightly. How has Covid-19 affected things? Where do I start! Covid-19 has really turned the world upside down these past couple of academic years hasn’t it? Between March 2020 and March 2021, it felt for schools/colleges to be a bit like the ‘hokey-cokey’ (‘in, out, in, out...). One thing that became increasingly clear though whilst schools/colleges were closed, was that children/young people with SEN were being affected disproportionately. However, things seem to be getting back to a bit of normality as I write this. In terms of plans from the Government/Department for Education (DfE), I’m afraid that there seem to be new announcements regularly, so it would be foolish of me to try and say things here, as information may have changed during the time between my writing this and my article being published. However, one issue that has been agreed to is the need for ‘catch-up funding’ What is ‘catch-up funding’? ‘Catch-up funding’ is to support children/young people to catch up on missed learning caused by the Coronavirus/Covid-19. It is said to be especially important for the most vulnerable pupils and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who have been most affected. In June 2020, the Government announced £1 billion of funding to support children/young people for a number of mainstream and special schools (including funding to LAs for pupils with EHCPs educated in independent special schools based in their area). However, recently, the person asked by the Government to report on what was required, Sir Kevan Collins, estimated that over £15 billion was needed and he subsequently resigned from his position when the Government only said that £1.4 billion would be made available. Sir Kevan was quoted as saying that this funding for school recovery “does not come close” to what was needed. senmagazine.co.uk SEN113 51