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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.
BBC News
05-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Oxfordshire's SEND services remain 'in absolute crisis', says mum
Oxfordshire's services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) remain in "absolute crisis", a mother has Ofsted inspection in September 2023 found few children who needed SEND services got their needs met, with many waiting years for help, leaving families with a "tangible sense of helplessness".Emma Taylor, from Henley-on-Thames, said she has been on a waiting list to get an assessment for diagnosis for her 10-year-old son for nearly three Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson said it has invested £1m since 2023 to support SEND services. But Ms Taylor said navigating the system has been so stressful she has considered moving out of Oxfordshire."[The county's SEND system] is in absolute crisis. I know that the council deny that but it is and if they were listening to parents they would know that it is," she said."I don't know a single parent of a child with special educational needs who is happy with their provision or feels supported. We are joining forces on WhatsApp groups and supporting each other and everybody is struggling."We're being failed and our children are being failed." Dr Claire Brenner, from the Oxfordshire SEND Parent Action group, said: "I think the key message is that on the ground, parents aren't feeling like anything is improving."If anything, things are getting worse and it feels like there's an increasing mismatch between the council's narrative, which is they are doing things to make improvements - but the improvements aren't having an impact..."The spokesperson said the council was "delivering a programme of new and expanded special schools, aimed at providing additional SEND capacity closer to where pupils live".They said Bloxham Grove Academy opened near Banbury in early 2024 and another school should be built in Faringdon in 2026 or two could be built in Didcot by 2028. "These four new schools, along with a programme of expansions planned at existing schools, will add over 600 special school places between 2023 and 2028," they added."We are also working to increase specialist provision within mainstream schools and promote fully inclusive education." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
