Responding to a new Institute for Government report which found the government will struggle to narrow gaps in educational outcomes and address the special educational needs (SEND) crisis within its current spending plans, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“We need sustained long-term investment from the government in schools and their staff in order to better equip them to help all children thrive.

“The government rightly has high ambitions for our children and for our schools. However, high ambitions alone are not enough and will not in themselves deliver for young people. New initiatives and policy ideas must be matched with sufficient funding if they are to succeed. School leaders are becoming increasingly concerned about how much more they are being asked to deliver without the requisite resources.  

“Specialist external support services from social care to mental health also need to be better resourced to help families with challenges in their lives which can impact children’s ability to attend school and flourish in the classroom.

“There is a real need for funding for pupils with additional needs to better reflect how demand has grown in recent years, but also for reform of the broken SEND system to ensure more timely support for children starting in the early years.

“Rather than reducing funding or closing schools with falling rolls due to demographic trends which can sometimes be short-lived, we would urge the government to continue to invest and support local authorities to maintain staffing and resources.

“This could help schools build capacity for greater SEND inclusion, enabling them to offer smaller classes and more targeted help for pupils who need it.”