School Funding: Special Educational Needs Debate

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Department: Department for Education

School Funding: Special Educational Needs

Lord Addington Excerpts
Thursday 23rd May 2024

(4 months, 2 weeks ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Con)
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No, I do not accept that. As I said, this Government have focused very much on supporting schools and teachers to do their critical job brilliantly, and we should not question that. The support that we have put in for special educational needs has been unparalleled compared to any previous era.

Lord Addington Portrait Lord Addington (LD)
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My Lords, the report also says that we have been cutting the use of information technology; I remind the House of my interests. Can the Minister tell us of anything that gives more promise for someone with special educational needs to function well in the school system—and in the workplace later on—than using the correct form of assistive technology?

Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Con)
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Having a highly skilled teacher to work with, combined with the assistive technology to which the noble Lord referred, is the critical part. That is one of the reasons that Huawei has worked with the sector: to reform the training not just for SENCOs but for those on their initial teacher training and early career frameworks to support children in mainstream education.