Editor’s View: SEND must be a Priority

While the consensus on the main party manifestos seems to be that detail is generally scant (see Analysis, page 6), nowhere is this more true than in the area of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

It has recently been reported that councils in England are facing a massive shortfall in budgets for supporting children with SEND, but this is not a fact which jumps out of any of the main parties’ manifestos.

At Nursery World’s Business Summit earlier in the year, the SEND crisis in early years was a hot topic. A large number of delegates confirmed they were having to turn children away from their settings, because the resources and funding to support them is not there. The rise in SEND since the pandemic is well documented and this has placed huge pressures on staff; many say they are physically exhausted and mentally demoralised. Nurseries pride themselves on their inclusive practice, but they now find they simply can’t deliver it because they are having to fund the extra support themselves.

Meanwhile, councils and charities are warning that there will be fewer nursery spaces for children with SEND as the expansion of funded hours in England ploughs ahead.

In last month’s issue, Ivana La Valle’s feature highlighted why there are now many two-year-olds who are not entitled to funded early education, but who would have been eligible for the ‘disadvantaged’ entitlement when the policy was first introduced in 2015.

On the subject of SEND support specifically for early years, most of the parties seem to have little to offer. However, the Lib Dems say they will triple Early Years Pupil Premium Funding and introduce a national body for SEND to end the postcode lottery of provision (see Interview, NW, May 2024).

A future government will somehow have to address the twin crises of SEND provision and local government funding. It will be a mighty challenge.