Bringing SEND education to the people – improving the lot of marginalised children in Birmingham

Today, national and local politicians engaged with the SEND sector in Birmingham to discuss the issues around the SEND Green Paper, and how this will effect and improve the chances of people locally in Selly Oak.

Whilst the group were pleased they had a second opportunity to influence central government policy in SEND provision, it was obvious in the group that there was an element of scepticism regarding how the Government are going to ensure that the strategy is properly delivered.

Steve McCabe said: “We have waited a long time for this Green Paper, and it needs to fix the system.  Locally, the parents should be right and centre of our SEND strategy. We need to therefore make sure that the Green Paper focuses on things that actually work and that access to education is rights based and we need to extract the things that really work.”

Paul Keenleyside, Director of the Nisai Education Trust: replied: “This meeting allowed a frank discussion between key local players to ensure that the Green Paper makes a real difference is made locally”.