Lord Addington – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Addington on 2016-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the minimum required number of trained special educational needs support staff within a school.

Lord Nash

In order to be awarded qualified teacher status (QTS), all teacher trainees must satisfy the Teachers’ Standards, which include a requirement that they have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with SEN, and are able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

Schools are responsible for deciding what external support to seek and for setting their own priorities for the continuous professional development of their staff. The SEN and Disability code of practice makes it clear that high quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN. Schools should review, and, where necessary, improve teachers’ understanding of strategies to identify and support vulnerable pupils and their knowledge of the SEN more frequently encountered.

The SEN and disability local offer, published by each local authority, must include arrangements in schools for securing expertise among teachers and other professionals to support pupils with SEN or disabilities. This should include professional development to secure that expertise.

All mainstream schools, including Academies and free schools, and mainstream nursery schools are required to designate a member of staff, a SENCO, to co-ordinate provision for pupils with special educational needs. That person must be a qualified teacher. If that person has been a SENCO for less than twelve months, he or she must achieve a National Award in Special Educational Needs Co-ordination within three years of appointment.