Vulnerable pupils are ‘missing out’

A CHARITY claims that up to 1,800 Oldham pupils are potentially being “cheated” out of vital provision.

The number of pupils identified as having special educational needs (SEN) has risen from 5,900 (14.7 per cent) to 7,720 (19.6 per cent) in the last five years,

But the number of pupils given a formal statement of SEN has only risen from 370 (0.9 per cent) to 523 (1.3 per cent).

Martin Dean, from the charity SOS!SEN, said: “Achieving a statement of SEN is a crucial step in ensuring a pupil gets the provision they need, because it binds a local education authority to funding the specialist support and tuition required.

“Parents value the formal recognition of their child’s needs provided by a statement, and it provides added rigour to planning for their needs.

“However, it is gravely concerning that the number of pupils with reported SEN issues in primary and secondary schools in Oldham has risen so significantly while there has been only a meagre increase in the number receiving these invaluable statements of SEN.

“It points to potentially hundreds of pupils being cheated out of the support they could be legally entitled.”

The charity is also concerned that parents are put off from seeking redress through the tribunal process.

Mr Dean added: “There is no denying that the process of achieving a statement of SEN is stressful. Most of the parents we speak to report that they really had to fight to have their child’s needs assessed because in initial stages their local education authority (LEA) simply did not want to pay for more specialist support for their child.

“Parents are often left feeling bombarded by too much information, full of technical terms and jargon they don’t understand.

“LEAs also often instruct legal experts such as barristers for the tribunal process, which makes it a real David versus Goliath fight.”

Councillor Jack Hulme, Cabinet member for children and families said: “From the start of this academic year there has been a change in how SEN is dealt with, with funds delegated directly to schools to invest in their individual SEN provision.

“This means that schools now have the resources to enable long-term planning of their low-level SEN needs, leaving the council to focus on children with a higher need.

“Oldham Council is working in line with current government requirements to make the whole SEN process as easy as possible and trying to reduce bureaucracy at every level.

“As schools are able to manage SEN more effectively it is hoped that more parents will feel that the needs of their child is being dealt with effectively without having to follow the process of a formal statement of SEN.”