Ed Balls today announced measures to provide better support for pupils with SEN and disabled children.

The proposals aim to make life easier for parents and help their children maximise their potential. The measures will: 

• Test easier ways of assessing children with special educational needs
• Review current and future supply of teachers trained to meet the needs of pupils with severe learning difficulties 
• New guidance for schools to tackle high exclusions of children with SEN

Writing in response to Brian Lamb�s letter which highlighted ways of improving parental confidence in the SEN system, Ed Balls announced trials to test different ways to assess children�s needs.

To ensure pupils had the highe t quality teaching in special schools, Ed Balls announced he was commissioning Toby Salt to lead an independent review into the supply of teachers trained to meet the needs of children with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD). He also announced that the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) would be taking forward a �550,000 project to develop special schools as leaders in teaching and learning practice for children with the most complex learning difficulties, meeting a commitment in the 21st century schools system White Paper. 

Finally, ahead of the new behaviour strategy he said that new statutory guidance on Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships will have a clear expectation that partnerships with high levels of exclusions of children with SEN should address this as a priority, especially as children with SEN are eight times as likely to be excluded from school.

Ed Balls said:

�The provision of care and education for disabled children and children with SEN has greatly improved over the last 10 years. The vast majority of parents are happy with the support they receive and pleased with the school their child attends and teaching assistants play a crucial role in helping some children with SEN. Teacher training now includes specialist modules on SEN and we are funding training for up to 4,000 specialist dyslexia teachers over the next two years. However, it is still the case that children with SEN are more than eight times as likely to be excluded, that some parents can find it hard to access the right support for their child and that pupils with SLD and PMLD need even more teachers with the right level of expertise, particularly because of those 20 per cent of children not getting to the expected standard in English over two-thirds have a special educational need. These measures will tackle these concerns.

�Parents have told me that they want the assessment process to be clearer and more transparent and that is why I have decided to ask local authorities to test out their assessment processes further. I am keen that we look at greater communication between Local Authorities and parents on how we can make the process less stressful and whether an assessment process which is more independent can improve parental confidence.

�It is important that we continue to support schools working with children with the most complex needs, and that we have sufficient staff using the most effective teaching strategies. That is why I am asking Toby Salt to lead an independent review into the supply of teachers for pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties. This will run alongside the work by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, led by the international expert Professor Barry Carpenter, OBE, to evaluate what teachers at the leading edge of practice are doing and share this across schools.

�The new behaviour guidance will make tackling exclusions of SEN pupils a priority. I expect Behaviour Partnerships to work hard to address the specific needs of pupils, and draw on the support of partners to tackle behaviour issues early, before they become serious problems.�

Brian Lamb said:

"Accurate and transparent assessment is a crucial part of promoting parental confidence in the SEN system and ensuring children get the right support to achieve and thrive. Testing out new ways of ensuring this process is easier for parents by introducing greater independence and access to advice is an important strand of increasing overall confidence in the system. I welcome the new pilots to test out how this approach might work within a local authority framework.

�I also welcome that the Secretary of State has accepted my recommendation that behaviour and attendance partnerships should look at the worrying level of disproportionate exclusions of children with SEN and promote statutory guidance to reduce this trend. We know that there is excellent practice in schools and local authorities across the country on how existing partnerships have reduced exclusions through early intervention, schools working in partnership, effective staff training and multi-agency support and I want all partnerships to use these approaches to drive down the level of exclusions for children with SEN."

Toby Salt said:

�I�m delighted to be asked to chair this review. The National College is determined that all children should have the best possible education. This review will help ensure some of the most vulnerable and complex learners in our system have the focus they deserve.�