Page 10 - SEN115 - November/December 2021

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Nadhim Zahawi, Education Secretary - the first few weeks
Nadhim Zahawi has replaced Gavin Williamson as Education Secretary in the Government reshuffle carried out in September.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT said: “We welcome Nadhim Zahawi to the post of Secretary of State for Education.
“One of the most pressing tasks facing Mr Zahawi will be to ensure that the government now fulfils its promise to deliver a properly funded recovery package so that every pupil in the country receives the support they need and deserve. With the comprehensive spending review only weeks away, there really is no time to waste.
“As always, NAHT stands ready to work with the new Secretary of State and his department to ensure that every child receives the very best education possible.”
It was at the Conservative Party Conference in October that Mr Zahawi began to give some idea of the approach that he will be taking with regard to his role, stating:
“So as the foundation of the next decade of reform during this parliament we will deliver 500,000 teacher training opportunities. We are carrying out a fundamental overhaul that will make this country the best in the world to train and learn as a teacher.
“And that means investing in our outstanding early years staff too. 40% of educational inequality is baked in by the age of 5.
“Great early education can change that. Which is why we are investing a record £180 million in developing and deepening the expertise of the brilliant men and women who care for and educate our children when they are absorbing most about the world around them.”
In addition, the education secretary has pledged to bring forward a schools white paper in the new year outlining plans to “tackle innumeracy and illiteracy”.
So we see that the training of teachers is a high priority, together with funding for early years education. Although there were no direct references to the SEN Sector made in that speech, the commitment to teacher recruitment and training and a focus on early years education does imply that there will be some funding for specialist SEN training and the early assessment and support for SEND pupils.
On 9th October he addressed the NAHT Conference and provided more detail on his plans and the thinking behind them:
“We are committed to improving services in those first, critical 1001 days, championing family hubs, and helping parents provide the best home-learning environment for their children.
This is so important because high-quality education at this stage can really boost children’s outcomes later in life, and that’s particularly true for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
■ Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi
“One-to-one tutoring is no longer going to be something that the children of wealthy parents can fall back on, but the right of every child.”
“But perhaps one of the most crucial commitments, certainly as far as I’m concerned, is that we do far more for vulnerable children and make sure they have the support they need to succeed.
For me, this is about children with SEND, or those who are looked after, getting as many opportunities as their peers.
“It is about acknowledging that we must close the disadvantage gap and do the best by every single child by focusing on the outcomes for every single child.
“And that means mental health must be better understood and support provided where it’s needed. I want us to put wellbeing at the centre of everything we do in schools alongside a drive for rigorous standards and high performance.
“But of course we can’t do this if children are not at school, so another key priority for me will be getting to the root of what is causing children to be persistently absent and then tackling it head on. Because the children who lose out the most from not being in school are likely to be the ones who can cope least, the vulnerable, the disadvantaged... You can’t help them if they aren’t there.”
These comments give a picture of a Secretary of State looking both within and outside the school environment to provide support and help for SEN pupils.
We hope that his commitment to address the important issue of school attendance is dealt with sensitively and with understanding (as reflected in our articles on this subject in Issue 114 and on Page 50 of this Issue).
So early in his tenure, it is difficult to be sure of the direction SEN education support and training will take, but rest assured, we at SEN Magazine will continue to monitor and report on any new developments.
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