Latest news with #ClaireBrenner
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Oxfordshire SEND post scrapping described as shocking'
Parents have said they are "dismayed" at a council decision to no longer have a dedicated special educational needs and disabilities cabinet County Council created a SEND post in 2023, after Ofsted found "widespread and systemic failings" in its leader Liz Leffman said: "Recent feedback from inspectors has been that we are very much on the right track."But Claire Brenner, from the Oxfordshire's SEND Parent Action Group, said: "On the ground things are still getting worse… I frankly find it shocking." The Liberal Democrats won an overall majority for the first time in the county council's history in the local elections on 2 the new cabinet, the SEND brief will come under the portfolio of the new cabinet member for children and young people, Sean Leffman said: "We believe it is now the right moment to have the cabinet member for children's services focusing on SEND directly alongside all of the other hugely important services provided for children and young people by the county council."But Ms Brenner said the SEND cabinet role was already "huge". "SEND cuts across education, health, social care, transport," she said."And poor Sean [Gaul] has been given, not only that, but responsibility for all education and all of children's services. "The size of the job, for me, is too big for one person… unless the end result is less intense scrutiny." Ms Brenner said the group really wanted to work with Mr Gaul, adding: "We used to meet every month with the cabinet member for SEND."My only hope is that Sean Gaul has got a lot of energy and passion and that he's willing to roll his sleeves up and really get stuck in." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
26-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Oxfordshire SEND education scheme funding doubled by council
More than £2m of funding has been announced for additional bespoke education programmes for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).Oxfordshire County Council currently funds 20 advanced pathways across the county, with the extra money now doubling that initiative, developed within mainstream schools, provides teachers with the ability to deliver small group support for children with Claire Brenner, from Oxfordshire's SEND Parent Action group, said the additional funds were "obviously good news" as the schemes "really do work". She told the BBC: "Really importantly, you don't need to go through the rigmarole of getting one of these education plans in order to access it."The schools have the autonomy to decide which children need it which is really vital if you want to make sense of what is actually accessible to everybody, rather than just those who are able to fight their way through the process."But Dr Brenner questioned the scale of the new investment, saying: "What I don't understand is why they're not rolling it out to all 400 schools in Oxfordshire, rather than just doubling it."It feels like a sandbag trying to fix an entire flood - I'm happy I've got one sandbag, but we need to fix the entire flood."The advanced pathway initiative was first introduced in 2021 and will now be rolled out into a further 20 Gregory, the council's SEND chief, said: "More children with special educational needs and disabilities will now be able to access the right support at the right time, thanks to this commitment."She said the scheme could save the council up to £65,000 in costs per student."It has the potential to offer considerable savings in addition to the positive results that we're seeing," she added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
