News

Keep up to date with all of the latest news, headlines and features from across the SEND sector.

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News listing

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Inequality gap widening may be due to absence levels for vulnerable groups

A new blog from the Education Policy Institute (EPI) has examined the data released by the Government regarding absence in the autumn term 2022.

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Government committee calls for evidence on transition from education to employment for young disabled people

The Public Services Committee has launched a new call for evidence for its new inquiry, the transition from education to employment for young disabled people.

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Children’s Commissioner hails the Help at Hand service in supporting young people over the Summer

The Children’s Commissioner has hailed the Help at Hand service as a huge support for young people over the long summer holidays.

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Help shape Advocacy Awareness week

The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) are planning their Advocacy Awareness week for 6-10th November this year and want to hear from you.

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PMLD intensive support trial recruiting

INTERACT is exploring intensive interaction to support communication skills in children and young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD).

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Government rejects call for support on young people with SEND accessing Child Trust Funds

Tens of thousands of young people with SEND are facing being locked out of their own savings accounts, with calls from parents and advocates resulting in seemingly no action.

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UNESCO calls for global ban on mobile phones in classrooms

UNESCO, the culture, science and education arm of the UN, has called for smartphones to be banned from the classroom to improve learning and protect children from online bullying.

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nasen Awards 2023 - shortlist announced

Thank you to all of those who sent in their nominations for the nasen Awards 2023. We were hit with an incredible amount of inspiring provisions and individuals this year for our 16 categories. Our shortlist is now published.

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Call for evidence on use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in Education

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on the use of generative AI tools in education settings in England.

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Children with SEN accessing Early Years rises to all time high

The percentage of children registered for the 15-hour and 30-hour entitlements who have SEN has increased across all age groups, with the latest figures being the highest in each series.

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Staff shortages highlighted by BBC report

The BBC has reported that special school pupils around the country are not getting the education they are entitled to due to national recruitment shortages.

Free NHS eye tests will be available to special schools from April 2024

Following campaigning from SeeAbility and a pilot ‘proof-of-concept programme’ by NHS England, the government has committed £10m to ensure that all pupils in special schools will have access to sight tests in their setting.

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2022-23 SEN data released

The government have issued the latest full set of data relating to Special Education needs in England.

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Research on cyberbullying recruitment opportunity

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) are looking for professionals and practitioners who have experience of working with children and young people to take part in their research on cyberbullying among children and young people in the UK.

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New episode of youth-led podcast “Our Turn to Talk”

“Our Turn to Talk” is the National Children’s Bureau’s (NCB) youth-led podcast programme. All episodes are developed and directed by young people and focus on topics that are important to them.

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National Co-Production Week 3rd July

National Co-Production Week is back for its eighth year celebrating the benefits of co-production and sharing good practice.

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Commtap launches resource packs for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN)

A new set of 60 resource packs are being made freely available for SLTs, schools and parents between now and August 2023 to support early progress with speech, language and communication targets.

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Workforce statistics present bleak picture

The Department for Education released the workforce statistics last week and this proved interesting reading when considering the current issue of a recruitment and retention crisis.

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British Sign Language GCSE one step closer

Students will soon be able to study British Sign Language (BSL) as a GCSE following a consultation into the course content.

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New report on Assistive Technology calls for more awareness in mainstream society

The ATech Policy Lab has published a report into the awareness and use of ATech across frontline workers in public service.