A Spalding primary school was brought up in the House of Lords last week as part of a debate on SEND (Special Educational Needs and/or Disability provision).
The Bishop of Lincoln Stephen Conway used St John the Baptist school on Hawthorn Bank as an example of one that has seen an increase in the need of such support.
He praised the school and its work for SEND pupils, but said that there are 1.9m young people across the country who need support, and schools like St John’s need more facilities
“The deficit in special needs education in mainstream schools is very clear,” said the Rt Rev Conway, who recently opened a new classroom at the school in May.
“St John’s is experiencing a serious rise in the number of children with profound SEND needs.
“Clare Robinson, the head teacher, emphasised to me the impossible position that her staff face when SEND funding is entirely insufficient to cover the cost to employ the requisite personnel with training and expertise.
“This is also where specialist schools come into play, as they can actually send out experts to support mainstream schools in the delivery of special education in those other places.
“Clare and her colleagues have gone to extraordinary lengths to support their students. For instance, this has involved making a new multi-purpose area to serve as both a kids’ club and a space for interventions with SEND pupils.
“I saw this for myself, and it is a marvellous development, but the measure merely scratches the surface of what is needed because the school can cater for only its youngest students in this way.
“I plead that the Government make sure that special schools not only continue and grow but continue to offer the specialist medical care, occupational and physical therapy, small class sizes, and all the activities and bespoke support which provide and ensure consistency of care for children and mitigated stresses for families.”
The debate called on the Government to improve SEND spending and meet needs ahead of the budget that was due to be released as The Voice went to press this week.
Lincolnshire County Council this year approved £6.8m of funding to increase SEND provision at Gosberton House Academy.
The Tulip Academy, which also specialises in SEND provision, in Spalding, formed by the merger of The Priory and The Garth schools has also seen investment.
