News story

Statement from Children’s Minister Sarah Teather on SEN

Sarah Teather responds to the Ofsted report on special educational needs (SEN) and reinforces her commitment to working with all involved parties to improve the SEN system.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

In response to the Ofsted report on special educational needs, Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

Ofsted’s report presents some challenging but familiar criticisms of the system supporting children with special educational needs (SEN) and disability. It is clear that we have a consensus on some of the issues with the SEN system - now I want to work with parents, charities, teachers and other organisations to find a consensus on the solutions.

Last week I launched a call for contributions to the Government’s SEN and disability Green Paper, which will focus first and foremost on meeting families’ needs. Children with SEN and disabilities should have the provision they need to succeed and parents should not feel they have to battle the system to get help. Improving diagnosis and assessment will be central to our commitment to overhaul the system to ensure families get the appropriate support at the right time.

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Published 14 September 2010