Bridget Phillipson Unfortunately many disabled children can’t get to school (unless their parents give up work) due to transport cuts by LAs. All children needs to mean just that.

If your child with SEND is entitled to LA Transport, have there been any issues ahead of going back this year? #SEND #SENDTransport

What if.. there were no special schools? As part of a new series, Seamus Murphy uses this question to highlight how inclusion is much further from reality in mainstream schools than many think and what it would take to fix that. A fascinating read.⬇️ tes.com/magazine/leade…

During this period, the Street Foundation, a charity set up to support “individuals and organisations involved with children/young people with a disability/special needs”, has given rightwing groups £749,000.

🚨 Call for Abstracts! 🚨 We're interested in discussing the nuances of #disability representation in fairy tales, interrogating how we use such tales to empower disabled people and preserve the disabled characters that have survived through generations. 🧵 #CallForPapers #CFP

In addition, pupils with SEND are clustered in certain schools. For example, FFT Education Datalab showed that in 2022, while 276 mainstream schools in England had no 11 yr old pupils at all with an EHCP, 400 schools had at least double the national rate of 2.5% ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2023/06/how-we…

A difficult fiscal environment not only limits schools’ #SENDprovision, it hampers external support too. National Foundation for Educational Research data shows a high proportion of teachers either cannot access or do not feel supported by external agencies further exacerbating challenges faced by SEND pupils.

In his parliamentary debate on #SEND provision, Richard Burgon MP called for the scrapping of Safety Valve ✅, the cancelling of LA high needs debt ✅ and for government to discourage the demonisation of "pushy parents" who are forced to fight for their children's support. We concur

Our next Doctoral #phd student support meeting takes place 7-9pm on Thu 26th Sept, with Dr Louise Folkes (Office for Students) and Ruth Winden University of Leeds) talking about non-academic research careers. If you are interested in attending, please email [email protected].

NEW POST: The SEND “Emergency” debate: scrap safety valve, write-off high needs debt and stop piling trauma on to families- a recap of what happened in Richard Burgon MP 's parliamentary debate specialneedsjungle.com/send-emergency…

A very happy 5th birthday today to the DfE’s SEND Review, still in the planning & testing stage

Returning from #cds24 to this beautiful card on my mat A timely reminder that (even, or perhaps especially, in academic spaces) we should be outraged, it’s ok to say so And we have a duty to use that rage to bring about change All of us

NEW POST: The SEND “Emergency” debate: scrap safety valve, write-off high needs debt and stop piling trauma on to families- a recap of what happened in Richard Burgon MP’s parliamentary debate specialneedsjungle.com/send-emergency…

For those who missed the debate yesterday, here’s a recipe from SNJ - there was recognition of a lot of the issues our children face and a lot of MPs speaking out. Now we need to see action.

downs-syndrome.org.uk/news/our-voice…

The number of MPs at yesterday's SEND debate is genuinely remarkable. Westminster Hall debates normally have only a handful there. We've been trying for years to get disabled children up the political priority list. It's there now - now we must make sure the right change happens.

Our children are being let down due to poor SEND schooling. In Parliament this week, I highlighted how the hardline approach to absence and use of isolation - coupled with a lack of funding and unachieveable targets - are harming both pupils and parents. Things need to change.

"two mothers who are coping with children with autism". I think, BBC reporter, that "caring" would be a less judgmental word.

Updated school transport guidance and the impact on disabled children - Cerebra - cerebra.org.uk/legal-rights/u…

I’m really looking forward to speaking with Natasha Devon 🌈💙 on LBC this evening at 8.30pm about the need for #sendrevolution & the open letter to Bridget Phillipson, delivered this week. See the letter here: bps.org.uk/news/decp-supp… Or here: aep.org.uk/articles/open-… #twittereps