Making inclusive, high-standard schools a reality for children with SEND
Every child deserves an education that enables them to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Yet amid the Department for Education’s national conversation on special education needs and disabilities (SEND), too many children with SEND - particularly those facing economic disadvantage - are still being left behind by schools that are not fully inclusive and struggle to meet their needs.
As the government prepares to publish the Schools White Paper, the Fair Education Alliance and the Disabled Children’s Partnership are calling for bold, system-wide reform to make inclusion for all the norm, not the exception.
Our shared vision is clear:
Mainstream schools should meet the needs of the vast majority of children, regardless of whether a formal diagnosis has been received.
Teachers and school staff should be equipped with the skills, knowledge and tools to meet children’s needs as they arise.
Behaviour policies should be relational and flexible, recognising behaviour as a form of communication and responding to underlying need, rather than punishment.
This is not about lowering standards - it’s about raising them for every child. Across the country, there are schools and trusts already showing that inclusive practice can sit alongside strong outcomes, reduced suspension and exclusion rates, and better long-term futures for young people.
Our Vision Statement sets out the changes needed through the Schools White Paper to support earlier identification of need, inclusive behaviour approaches, and accountability systems that value inclusion as rigorously as attainment.
We want to create a fairer education system where every child belongs, achieves, and thrives.
