Responding to the government's new Education Estates Strategy, which includes an aspiration for all secondary schools to have SEND units, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“SEND units can play a valuable role in supporting children with additional needs, offering the flexibility for them to receive support in regular classes as well as within specialist units on site.

“While the government’s aspiration for every secondary school to have a unit is welcome, early support with children’s emerging needs is vital. Clarity is therefore needed on the government’s plans for these facilities in primary schools, where we know they can also have enormous benefits.

“Sustained investment in these spaces, will be vital, but if the government is to succeed in its ambition of enabling more children with SEND to thrive in mainstream settings, so too will a focus on ensuring schools have the staff and training they need.

“There will remain the need for more funding for sufficient special school places, and to ensure all schools are better supported by health and social care services, alongside the systemic reform and investment so desperately needed. It’s important that pupils with SEND can access the right school placement that best meets their needs.

“However, no child, whether they have additional needs or not, is likely to flourish, if they are learning in schools with leaky roofs or in draughty portable cabins.

“Too many pupils and staff have been let down for too long by a school estate which too often falls far short of the standards they deserve. While this renewed estates strategy was much-needed, bringing the estate back to a condition that is safe, modern and fit for purpose will require sustained commitment.

“We warmly welcome the new funding announced, as well as the move to scrap the unfair competitive bidding process used to address building issues, but the National Audit Office has estimated that the cost of restoring crumbling school buildings to at least a satisfactory condition at £13.8bn. This shows the scale of the challenge ahead.”