Worcester MP Robin Walker has warmly welcomed news that a new all through autism school for the County has been approved by the Department for Education as one of 33 new special schools to be funded alongside the launch of the White Paper – Right support, Right Place, Right Time.
He has previously raised a number of cases in Parliament where children with autism were not getting their needs met in school and he has encouraged Ministers to come forward with new policies to support both inclusion with targeted support in mainstream schools and specialist provision where it is needed. In November he used the occasion of a statement on SEN schools to raise the case for more investment to meet local needs.
He has long campaigned for more specialist autism provision in Worcestershire and raised concerns about the number of children with autism who struggle to find the right place, either being home educated for long period of time or being sent out of county. He has also raised on a number of occasions the difficulty of transition where children whose needs were well met in primary school find themselves struggling on transition to secondary.
Having a specialist all through provision should be extremely welcome in that regard. Robin has congratulated his Parliamentary neighbour, Harriett Baldwin for her long campaign to secure this new provision and welcomed the fact that as a school in the South of the County, it is likely to benefit Worcester children with autism and relieve some of the pressure on the special schools in the city.
Robin will also speak in Parliament today to welcome much of the Government’s White Paper and to invite Ministers to give further evidence on it to the Education Select Committee which he chairs. The White paper announces new national standards for SEND and alternative provision and sets out to produce a less confrontational system for children and parents.
This morning Robin met with Worcestershire Children First to discuss the balance between mainstream and specialist support for children with SEND and to encourage them to consider expanding the specialist provision in the city including at Fort Royal School and Regency High School. He has encouraged them to bid for some of the £1.4 billion in capital funding for specialist provision which was announced at the last spending review and to do more to ensure that the children educated out of school are better supported. This week will also see the first session of the Education Select Committee’s Inquiry into persistent absence and support for disadvantaged pupils in which Robin and his committee will delve into the evidence of what has been keeping more children, especially SEND children, away from school in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Commenting on the white paper and the new local school Robin said:
‘Ministers are right to set out to deliver a more dignified experience for children and young people with SEND and to restore families’ confidence in the system. I know from my casework that for too many parents it has felt like a battle to get their children’s needs properly identified and met. The White paper sets out a potent mix of new national standards, earlier identification of need and more investment in both mainstream and specialist provision, all of which should help if implemented well.
‘I am delighted that alongside this, one of the 33 new special schools will be in Worcestershire and that this will provide an all through specialist school for autism. I have no doubt that this is needed in our County and I was glad to provide a letter of support for the bid. I congratulate my neighbour Harriett for all the campaigning she has done to secure this in her patch. I will keep working to make sure we have the specialist provision and the support for mainstream schools to meet the needs of SEN pupils that we need in Worcestershire.’