Children with special educational needs have been let down again and again. That ends right now | Bridget Phillipson

Children with special educational needs have been let down again and again. That ends right now Bridget Phillipson Too many young people go out into the world ill equipped. We’ll change that: we’ll give more rights and support to them and their families Send support for schoolchildren in England to get £4bn overhaul T he advent of fully comprehensive education. Raising the school leaving age to 16. The introduction of a national curriculum. Each of these reforms reflected the growing value we placed on education as a society, and the growing sense that it was critical – not just for individuals, but for the country – that each and every young person was given the best possible chance to succeed. Opportunities to define the future of education don’t come around very often. That is the opportunity we have this week. Over the past decade, we have seen exponential growth in the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities. And despite the best efforts of schools and teachers, our system has failed to grow with it. The result is a mismatch, with a generation of young people emerging into the world without the foundations they need for life and work. It has to change, and this government is fiercely ambitious for children and young people with Send, but to realise that ambition, education must change. Over the past 18 months, we have carried out hundreds of hours of engagement online and in person with parents and campaign groups in England, to make sure that change is shaped by the people it will affect the most. We have already set out the foundations. There’s a £200m investment – and a new requirement – so that every teacher is trained as a teacher of children with Send. Also a new “inclusion” judgment as part of Ofsted reports, so schools are held to account for their support for children with Send, just as they are for their wider teaching and curriculum. There is also £3.7bn to build 60,000 new school places for children with Send, and intentio...