In the second of a series, Rik Chilvers takes you through the key recommendations in Supporting Education Group’s submission to the Commons Education Committee inquiry into the SEND system.
We all know the extent of the SEND challenge facing our education system and in my previous blog, I outlined how training and development will play a crucial role in turning the tide of what has been described in several quarters as a crisis.
But training is just part of the answer. As a 2024 NAO report outlined, there are real limitations on the data that schools and trusts and the wider system can gather in order to produce evidence and tracking in relation to SEND needs, provision and impact.
And if this information can’t be gathered then it can’t be used to produce accurate insights that can then be actioned upon.
The efficient and effective gathering of data insights and tracking forms the second element of Supporting Education Group’s comprehensive submission to the inquiry into the SEND system, launched by the House of Commons Education Select Committee at the end of last year. Our submission is based on feedback, data and evaluation from our work with school and trusts, teachers and leaders from around the country.
Why does this matter?
Digital tools that assess and track SEMH needs provide essential insights to ensure that interventions are both timely and effective.
Schools that adopt data-led approaches can tailor support to individual pupils, monitor progress and evaluate the impact of their interventions at every level, from whole-school and across the trust, to local authority and even nationally if shared with the DfE.
The benefits of this approach are obvious: if we know what interventions and support works the best we can target precious resources in a far more effective way.
How?
Implementing a national digital system for SEND that securely integrates with all School MIS could enable the correlation of SEND provision and spending in areas such as pupil attendance, behavioural incidents, progress attainment outcomes, pupil and staff engagement and wellbeing.
And this would generate a wealth of insights into what works, which could be further enhanced through AI-driven analysis. The findings could then be widely disseminated to schools through a range of channels, including EEF reports, and DfE-backed Inclusion Insight Events based on real data rather than anecdote.
These insights could also be included in relevant National Professional Qualification modules, and the framework for ITT and ECF.
Data and tracking is an area that we are working hard on at Supporting Education Group, and we will have plenty to say about our progress in the coming months.
In the meantime, we’ll wait with interest for the publication of the Education Select Committee’s findings and how we can play a part in contributing to solving the SEND challenge.