MiSS Public Statement - The SEND Green Paper
Right support, right place, right time (30th March 2022)
The headteachers who lead the Medicine in Specialist Schools group welcome the publication of the government’s Green Paper on SEND ‘Right support, right place, right time’ because we recognise that the government has been listening to feedback from the sector about how variable SEND provision is across the country, and the DfE has produced an ambitious agenda for change in this document.
What the Green Paper sets out is wholescale systemic change that will require widespread structural changes to be made; therefore the key to success will lie in the detailed plans to be set out in the legislation that will follow. The scale of the challenge this presents should not be underestimated, but the opportunity to make a ‘once in a generation’ improvement in SEND services is welcome and we believe headteachers are ready to respond positively.
We want to work with our colleagues in specialist schools to support the development of effective legislation by making sure that our sector responds clearly to the consultation, both by answering the questions asked in the Green paper, and also by promoting solutions that we know can bring improvements to the health and therapy services that the most vulnerable children rely on.
The breadth of these proposals includes re-design of the architecture of NHS services for children with SEND, which are already underway. The MiSS group will highlight the need for immediate actions by Integrated Care Boards as they come into existence, so that service improvement is an urgent priority that does not wait for the full implementation of the SEND legislation in the years to come.
To download a PDF copy of this statement, please click here.