Special Educational Needs: Dyscalculia

Baroness Blake of Leeds Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness in Waiting/Government Whip (Baroness Blake of Leeds) (Lab)]

My Lords, I begin, of course, by expressing my gratitude to the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, for opening this important debate on supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities generally and particularly those with dyscalculia. I know she is a champion in this space, and for all those who struggle with maths, and obviously has personal experience. She has raised this on several occasions, and we all thank her for that, and I know that she is not going to give up either. She has identified herself as a real champion and I am sure there are many people who are grateful to her for that.

I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate. I will not be able to respond to everything in the short time I have, but I value the richness and, in particular, the honesty from lived experiences, which make these debates so real and so important. We are talking particularly about children, about their progression into being young people, into the world of work, into adulthood, and we should always keep that at the absolute centre of everything we do.

Just referencing a couple of very quick points, I think that the insights of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, on self-esteem were critical, as was the personal testimony of the noble Lord, Lord Mott—I think he has set something in motion, with a potential event in the future. The noble Baroness, Lady Hunt, spoke about juggling; I am going to keep that in my mind’s eye going forward, although it certainly would not have worked for me, I have to be honest.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin, so much for his honesty about his experience with maths. Maths can be tough in many different ways and there is that whole issue of making sure that we instil confidence and make young people realise that so many things are not their fault. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Addington, as always: we await with interest to hear about additions to his mafia.

I want to be clear from the start that this whole area around SEND is an absolute top priority for this Government, and I hope that the announcements that the Government have been making have made that clear. I appreciate the honesty from the noble Baroness, Lady Barran. I think we can all see that the SEND system is on its knees, and we have to be honest about that. Children’s needs are not being met. Parents are forced into a position of fighting for support. As a local authority leader, I know that only too well, as well as all the issues around funding that go with it.

We have put at the centre of our plan for change making sure that we restore the trust of parents and making sure that schools in particular have the tools to identify and support children before things get to a crisis point. We want to commit to ensuring excellence for everyone in every area that we cover, and nowhere could be more important than that. I hope that that is appreciated and that it is reflected in the extra funding that we have been able to put in thus far, both on the teaching side and on the capital side, which of course is incredibly important.

Our ambition reflects the many reports that have highlighted the challenges facing the SEND system. It is difficult for parents, carers and young people to navigate, and outcomes for children can be very poor. I am pleased that the Education Select Committee is undertaking its own inquiry, which is underscoring the significant challenges we face.

I repeat that it is a priority for the Government that all children receive the right support to succeed in their education and lead happy, healthy and productive lives. I reassure the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, that special schools will always have a place in this system. I cannot go into detail about specific sites, but there will be many, and they are all of course being looked at and worked out in terms of priorities.

We know that it takes the whole school workforce to help children and young people thrive in education. I mean the whole range, from teachers and teaching assistants to support staff, special educational needs co-ordinators, early years educators, and as we have heard from the contributions, allied health professionals. We are investing to improve outcomes and experiences right across the country. Of course, specific professional development training will be key to this.

I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, and my noble friend Lady Thornton on the importance of early intervention. It is critical to prevent unmet needs escalating. This is often referred to for early years educators, but early intervention with any problem as it arises is critical. We have to address emerging needs through early years work. We have launched new training resources to help them support children with developmental differences and announced further training places for early years SENCOs, for example, targeted at settings in the most disadvantaged areas.

I am sure Members will be aware of the work around the national professional qualification for SENCOs, to make sure that they get the additional knowledge and skills that they need. We are supporting the kind of teaching that will support children with SEND, including those with dyscalculia.

High-quality teaching is critical, as we know. Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is fundamental. We cannot get away from this, which is why we are committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools and in our colleges over the course of this Parliament, and, as I have said, introducing a range of training reforms to ensure that teachers have the skills to support all pupils, including those, I stress, with dyscalculia. It is an area which will move up the agenda as we talk about our general approach to SEND.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Tarassenko, for sharing his experience in the important project that he has been involved in. We are also funding the maths hubs programme, a school-led network aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics for all pupils in publicly funded schools. This includes training and making sure that learning is sequenced coherently so it makes sense to pupils. That is what has come across, and through that, recognition and understanding of the needs of children with dyscalculia are going to be fundamental.

The noble Lord, Lord Hampton, raised the importance of maths in transition. We need to make sure that we have the appropriate online provisions as well. The noble Baroness, Lady Bull, mentioned the key point about qualifications linked to the curriculum assessment that is happening in the review we are undertaking, which will come out in the autumn.

We are well aware that support given across the system is variable and we want a consistent, inclusive approach to supporting neurodivergent children and young people in mainstream education. That is why we are delivering the PINS programme, deploying specialists from both health and education workforces to upskill primary schools to support neurodivergent children—I hope that answers the points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, and the noble Lord, Lord Mott.

The whole-school approach is so important, so we are not reliant on a specific diagnosis. That has come up several times and we must recognise the support and the range of needs that are out there. Not waiting for a diagnosis and getting early support in right across the system—effective early identification—are absolutely key to this.

Our Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group will be building on this and providing further insights on what provision and support in mainstream educational settings will look like within an inclusive system. We have been gathering evidence from across the piece. Professor Guldberg, the chair of the group, recently met stakeholders with lived experience, particularly representatives of those with dyscalculia and the Dyscalculia Network.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, again, for his contribution to the teaching profession and his dedicated interest. It is important to hear this. Just picking up one of his points: in all of this drive to improve teaching, AI should be seen as a really valuable tool in helping us go forward.

I could say a lot more on the curriculum and assessment review, but we will get other opportunities to move that forward. Responding to my noble friend Baroness Thornton, I agree with her analysis, and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, that dyscalculia has not received the same recognition or attention as dyslexia or those who struggle with speech and language. I also agree that parents should not need private capital to pay for specialist maths teachers and they should get the support as a right. That is why we are investing in the school workforce, to meet the needs of all children, including those with neurodivergence such as dyscalculia, and we are investing in our maths hubs and early intervention, with the needs of children at the heart of it.

I am very conscious that my time is coming to an end, but, in closing the debate, I will say that we must recognise those working across all of the systems, in the interests of our children and young people. The knowledge and understanding of children with SEND are increasing.

I want to reinforce the reason we are reforming the SEND programme. I cannot be specific about when that will come, but it is urgent. Another important aspect is that we want to make sure that we pull together children with lived experience and put their voices at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to an approach rooted in partnership, with all our work across the piece being guided by this, making sure that front-line professionals, leaders and experts listen to children and their families. We will work together in an integrated way going forward. We can transform the outcomes of all young people with SEND only if we listen and work together on solutions.

Again, I make a special plea. We all know that effective early identification and intervention can reduce the impact of the special need or the disability in the long term. There is so much evidence around this. We all have an obligation to move forward, working within the community, and improving inclusivity and expertise so that we can move forward. Again, as well as the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, I would like to pay tribute to those professionals who have worked tirelessly to help move this forward. We have several reviews coming forward and I know we all look forward with interest to making sure that our part of that interest is reflected in the reforms that we need to make, improving lives and improving the life chances of so many young people.

House adjourned at 10.25 pm.