The thing is, if a child genuinely needs specialist provision only available in the private sector then that should be funded by the state (this happens in Scotland, certainly, though it's relatively rare). In many cases I suspect it's not quite as straightforward as that, with the reasons for going private being a mix of parental preferences and meeting the child's needs (and plenty of parents of non-SEND children would say they're going private to meet their child's needs). Continuing to subsidise the minority of parents of SEND kids who can afford 83% of the cost of private education rather than funding provision that everyone who need it can access is bonkers.
The thing is, if a child genuinely needs specialist provision only available in the private sector then that should be funded by the state (this happens in Scotland, certainly, though it's relatively rare). In many cases I suspect it's not quite as straightforward as that, with the reasons for going private being a mix of parental preferences and meeting the child's needs (and plenty of parents of non-SEND children would say they're going private to meet their child's needs). Continuing to subsidise the minority of parents of SEND kids who can afford 83% of the cost of private education rather than funding provision that everyone who need it can access is bonkers.
Ok, now do children with SEND provision that the state is paying for the delivery of through private schools because of lack of capacity in their part of the state sector (usually county).
But where the SEND children are not the majority of the children, but it’s the sort of 4th division private school that has kept its head above water because of the SEND children but is now closing because so many of the non-SEND parents have had to withdraw their children because they can’t pay the increased fees…
The sort of schools which are a heady mix of local authority funded SEND children and children of those who can just about afford the fees (but there’s no particular academic distinction - usually small independent day schools) are the eye of the storm here - councils in England spend £3.7bn annually on funding SEND pupils at independent schools.
Basically demand for special assistance has far outstripped state provision (that in any case had been shrunken by cuts) so it’s *increasingly* the case that the independent schools were picking up the slack on government money. But when the school closes (as two are now doing locally to me) the funding stream that was paying for their places won’t build or pay for a state special school.
The thing is, if a child genuinely needs specialist provision only available in the private sector then that should be funded by the state (this happens in Scotland, certainly, though it's relatively rare). In many cases I suspect it's not quite as straightforward as that, with the reasons for going private being a mix of parental preferences and meeting the child's needs (and plenty of parents of non-SEND children would say they're going private to meet their child's needs). Continuing to subsidise the minority of parents of SEND kids who can afford 83% of the cost of private education rather than funding provision that everyone who need it can access is bonkers.
Ok, now do children with SEND provision that the state is paying for the delivery of through private schools because of lack of capacity in their part of the state sector (usually county).
But where the SEND children are not the majority of the children, but it’s the sort of 4th division private school that has kept its head above water because of the SEND children but is now closing because so many of the non-SEND parents have had to withdraw their children because they can’t pay the increased fees…
The sort of schools which are a heady mix of local authority funded SEND children and children of those who can just about afford the fees (but there’s no particular academic distinction - usually small independent day schools) are the eye of the storm here - councils in England spend £3.7bn annually on funding SEND pupils at independent schools.
Name a school in that situation.
As far as I know the private SEND schools are typically specialist charitable institutions that are set up specifically for the needs of SEND children. I doubt any of this type of school has any non-SEND children.
A blind school doesn't somehow accept non-blind children because middle class parents think that this might be a way to get an advantage.
"4th division private schools" may well have SEND children but I highly doubt that local authorities are paying for them to go there.
And it's also a vicious cycle where the academy system in particular fails SEND kids so badly (via exclusion and discrimination as well as lack of provision) and local authorities don't have the funding to provide alternative provision. And so many SEND kids have parents who are also disabled, and just not able to homeschool even if they wanted to (not that non-disabled parents necessarily can do it either but ykwim) and don't have the energy to sue the local authority.
Aside from the issue of SEND provision, academies are just Not Great for kids with other specific pastoral needs. Even many non-private faith schools are academies now. And I would bet anything that the really serious and concerning misogyny from even very young boys in schools now due to Andrew Tate etc is driving more parents to seek girls' schools for their daughters, and I can't say I blame them - yes there are single-sex state schools but even fewer now than when I attended one (and it may be a surprise to know that I actually think going to a girls' school was a positive thing for me). I'm not arguing that single-sex private schools should have been VAT exempt btw, just that I do understand that there are what I think are legitimate reasons to seek that option.
I am pretty confident in saying that everyone in this thread at least wants the same thing in terms of provision of the support for SEND kids (and all kids) that they need in the state sector as well as the private sector - there are enough neurodiverse people in here that we know how shit school can be when the support isn't there. But personally I think dismantling the academy system is absolutely key to SEND reform and neither Labour nor the Conservatives (don't know about the others) have any interest in doing so.
But personally I think dismantling the academy system is absolutely key to SEND reform and neither Labour nor the Conservatives (don't know about the others) have any interest in doing so.
The problem is that the process of academicisation has meant that local education authorities are denuded of the experience and expertise of running schools, and reversing this is going to be a significant project.
83% of all secondary schools in England are academies, and there's a high chance that some LAs don't manage a single secondary school, indeed playing around here seemed to find quite a few:
Though that’s a bit like not having any trade negotiators left in the run-up to post-Brexit trade negotiations. Where something is innately sensible (not Brexit, but certainly when it had happened the need to have trade negotiators) then you have to just bite the bullet and build the capability rather than using absence as a reason not to do something.
I just have to point out that having worked for a local authority for ten years, I have no confidence in the competence of local authorities.
Worst employer I've ever had.
I got out seven years ago and I'm still having nightmares!
I work for a local authority central education team, having previously been a teacher in the same authority. As an employer they've been pretty good for me (managers, on the other hand, have been a mixed bag) over 13 years and counting. I'm not always impressed by the quality of decision making, but it's stellar compared with, say, churches. Local authorities suffer from having a huge and varied set of responsibilities and not enough money to manage them, along with staff shortages in key areas like social work and educational psychology.
Lack of money to manage all the responsibilities local authorities have isn't the only problem, and potentially is a symptom of a deeper problem. There's a strong tendency among the political parties that have formed our national governments for decades to centralise power, and treat local authorities as definitely inferior. A view that's commonly shared by the mass media (who tend to ignore local politics), and also the members of most parties who would see serving in Parliament as more important than serving in local government - in some cases resulting in more talented individuals leaving local government for national Parliaments, and it being common that any Parliamentary election is followed by local by-elections with a more rapid turn over of councillors. One of the consequences is that national governments often see funding for local authorities as a soft target, and these budgets end up being among the first that get cut with the consequences then not right at the door of national governments (hence why I say that lack of money is a symptom of a deeper issue). It also means that pay for council staff is lower than comparable roles in national civil service, which again leads to movement of talent from local authorities to the centre. Too often local authorities are not given the support they need, not just money but also in recruitment and training of staff and access to the best legal advice and other support.
Academies are a very tangible expression of this view, a deliberate move to take schools from the control of local authorities.
Yes, certainly I'm aware of how huge a task dismantling academisation would be. And I know there are academies that do a good job, but as a system it is so heavily weighted against SEND pupils and other groups experiencing discrimination (I know for eg that Black and Muslim students often come up against racist policies wrt hair and facial for example).
Yes, certainly I'm aware of how huge a task dismantling academisation would be.
Yeah, to be clear I wasn't saying that it shouldn't be done; it's just that it runs against multiple trends in government at the moment (when even the ostensible 'centre-left' are taken with ideas like DOGE).
Yes, certainly I'm aware of how huge a task dismantling academisation would be.
Yeah, to be clear I wasn't saying that it shouldn't be done; it's just that it runs against multiple trends in government at the moment (when even the ostensible 'centre-left' are taken with ideas like DOGE).
Oh totally, that's why imo *some* of the measures targeting private education are short-sighted. I've never personally been in private education but I have been up close to enough of them to know how diverse private education is. Yes, it's a minority of children being educated there, but it's not all Eton and cathedral choir schools.
The government negotiated a one in one out policy with France over immigration. I guess this is sensible but still pandering to Reform types somewhat.
50 a week though apparently. 700 arrived yesterday. Whether or not you agree with the principle of the agreement, even a hard of thinking Faragist will probably rightly recognise this agreement as a joke.
I mean, I don’t even agree with the principle and my gut reaction even so is still ‘is that honestly the best you could do?’
Even when they set themselves up as a Reform tribute act it’s all so depressingly *amateurish*
In fact, it’s worse than amateurish - it’s conceding (in the most tokenistic of ways) Reform’s point, while acting on it in the most half hearted way imaginable. Which is an invitation/permission for a party to offer to do it ‘properly’ - and so the ratchet tightens.
Comments
Ok, now do children with SEND provision that the state is paying for the delivery of through private schools because of lack of capacity in their part of the state sector (usually county).
But where the SEND children are not the majority of the children, but it’s the sort of 4th division private school that has kept its head above water because of the SEND children but is now closing because so many of the non-SEND parents have had to withdraw their children because they can’t pay the increased fees…
The sort of schools which are a heady mix of local authority funded SEND children and children of those who can just about afford the fees (but there’s no particular academic distinction - usually small independent day schools) are the eye of the storm here - councils in England spend £3.7bn annually on funding SEND pupils at independent schools.
Both my children are in the state system btw.
Name a school in that situation.
As far as I know the private SEND schools are typically specialist charitable institutions that are set up specifically for the needs of SEND children. I doubt any of this type of school has any non-SEND children.
A blind school doesn't somehow accept non-blind children because middle class parents think that this might be a way to get an advantage.
"4th division private schools" may well have SEND children but I highly doubt that local authorities are paying for them to go there.
Aside from the issue of SEND provision, academies are just Not Great for kids with other specific pastoral needs. Even many non-private faith schools are academies now. And I would bet anything that the really serious and concerning misogyny from even very young boys in schools now due to Andrew Tate etc is driving more parents to seek girls' schools for their daughters, and I can't say I blame them - yes there are single-sex state schools but even fewer now than when I attended one (and it may be a surprise to know that I actually think going to a girls' school was a positive thing for me). I'm not arguing that single-sex private schools should have been VAT exempt btw, just that I do understand that there are what I think are legitimate reasons to seek that option.
I am pretty confident in saying that everyone in this thread at least wants the same thing in terms of provision of the support for SEND kids (and all kids) that they need in the state sector as well as the private sector - there are enough neurodiverse people in here that we know how shit school can be when the support isn't there. But personally I think dismantling the academy system is absolutely key to SEND reform and neither Labour nor the Conservatives (don't know about the others) have any interest in doing so.
The problem is that the process of academicisation has meant that local education authorities are denuded of the experience and expertise of running schools, and reversing this is going to be a significant project.
83% of all secondary schools in England are academies, and there's a high chance that some LAs don't manage a single secondary school, indeed playing around here seemed to find quite a few:
https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2024-25?subjectId=c46d3214-e869-4cee-4f5c-08dd736a5cea
Though I agree with your post.
Worst employer I've ever had.
I got out seven years ago and I'm still having nightmares!
I work for a local authority central education team, having previously been a teacher in the same authority. As an employer they've been pretty good for me (managers, on the other hand, have been a mixed bag) over 13 years and counting. I'm not always impressed by the quality of decision making, but it's stellar compared with, say, churches. Local authorities suffer from having a huge and varied set of responsibilities and not enough money to manage them, along with staff shortages in key areas like social work and educational psychology.
Academies are a very tangible expression of this view, a deliberate move to take schools from the control of local authorities.
Yeah, to be clear I wasn't saying that it shouldn't be done; it's just that it runs against multiple trends in government at the moment (when even the ostensible 'centre-left' are taken with ideas like DOGE).
Oh totally, that's why imo *some* of the measures targeting private education are short-sighted. I've never personally been in private education but I have been up close to enough of them to know how diverse private education is. Yes, it's a minority of children being educated there, but it's not all Eton and cathedral choir schools.
50 a week though apparently. 700 arrived yesterday. Whether or not you agree with the principle of the agreement, even a hard of thinking Faragist will probably rightly recognise this agreement as a joke.
I mean, I don’t even agree with the principle and my gut reaction even so is still ‘is that honestly the best you could do?’
In fact, it’s worse than amateurish - it’s conceding (in the most tokenistic of ways) Reform’s point, while acting on it in the most half hearted way imaginable. Which is an invitation/permission for a party to offer to do it ‘properly’ - and so the ratchet tightens.
https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/keir-starmers-deep-regret-over-island-of-strangers-speech
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35805873/now-keir-insists-he-stands-by-island-strangers/