SEN0538
Written evidence submitted by GMB Union
GMB Union represents over 100,000 school support staff in schools and academies. Irrespective of their role, GMB support staff will undoubtedly encounter a child with SEND, however it will mainly be in the teaching assistant roles where our members will be working with children and young adults who have SEND.
Teaching assistants are often working one to one with children with SEND and or delivering complex interventions as many local authority specialist posts have been deleted, meaning that our members are expected to fulfil functions previously performed by school nurses, physiotherapists, and speech and language therapists.
Teaching assistants play a pivotal role in the education of children with SEND and it is vital that their voices are heard when developing policy designed to improve and enhance the education, health and well-being of children with SEND.
A report commissioned by the DfE in September 2024 Use of Teaching assistants (under the previous government) said:
“TAs across all school settings most commonly support pupils with SEND, which includes those with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. However, the way this is performed differs depending on the setting. A TA is typically allocated to each class in primary schools, alongside dedicated one-to-one support delivered by an additional TA where stipulated in an EHC plan. TAs are responsible for providing whole class teaching and learning support and the delivery of one-to-one and small group interventions both in and outside the classroom to identified children”.
The importance of teaching assistants was recognised by teachers and leaders surveyed in the DfE report:
“Leaders and teachers highly value the support of TAs, with the view that TAs are
essential to the classroom being particularly strong in primary schools. Interviewees suggest that having more than one teaching professional in the classroom allows teachers and TAs to make their way round all pupils, ensuring that they have understood the concepts being taught. This is seen as especially important for lower attaining pupils or those with SEND.”
We welcome the government’s reset of the relationship with the trade unions and employer organisations, however, to address the current crisis voices of GMB members working in early years, schools, academies, colleges, further and higher education must be considered. GMB have provided responses to some of the key questions asked in this enquiry below.
GMB members are willing to discuss their views and experiences in more detail if required.
Defining what inclusivity in mainstream schools and early years settings should mean and look like in practice.
Inclusivity in mainstream settings starts with the environment. All children should feel that school is a happy place and one where they can learn without prejudice. All children regardless of ethnicity, background, religion, disability or gender should feel safe in school and the school should be resourced and staffed in a way the inclusivity is part of the culture and community of the school. A diverse staffing structure, and resources that enable all children to learn, a broad curriculum including vocational subjects are essential.
How can inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and early years settings be improved to achieve consistent, high quality SEN support? What is the DfE's role in this?
Improved training, career progression and renumeration for classroom support workers. The DfE’s role in this is to work with trade unions and employers to build structures to do this, the SSSNB is the vehicle to affect change on a national level.
What substantive training is needed for teachers, teaching assistants and all those who work with children with SEND to improve knowledge of SEND and pedagogical approaches to teaching SEND Children to increase their inclusion in schools?
GMB believe apprenticeships are a vital component of the Government’s policies to foster credible vocational alternatives to sit alongside expanding higher education initiatives. They provide the chance to “earn and learn” in a wide range of jobs and sectors and give people the chance to develop skills, experience and qualifications and the opportunity to address skills shortage.
GMB supports fair pay and equal treatment in the workplace and assist our members to ensure the apprenticeship are high quality and that apprentices are properly supported in the workplace.
GMB are aware that despite their being many excellent apprenticeship schemes, some people find themselves on sub-standard schemes where employers simply employ apprentices as a cheap source of labour using the National Minimum Wage apprentice rate of pay.
We support high quality apprenticeship programmes that offer progression, realistic job opportunities, a progressive wage and built in union support, which are accessible to all. These programmes should be run by sectoral bodies made up of employers and employee representatives and training run by established training providers. All apprentices need to be monitored to ensure they are trained appropriately and issued with indentures on completion of the full term of the scheme and that they lead to realistic job opportunities and or remuneration.
The new Level 5 specialist teaching apprenticeship in SEND and SEMH offers all the above, however support staff have reservations about applying as previous experience has led to them completing an apprenticeship and then being used as cheap labour. Support staff working with children with SEND must receive proper investment to allow the children they are working with to have excellent outcomes. There must be a national training framework for SEN support staff roles. The SSSNB needs to be the vehicle to address this.
The role of and capacity of specialist schools, independent schools and Alternative Provision
State funded specialist schools are at and above capacity. As a result, independent schools are making large profits out of Local Authority High Needs Grants. Investment in state funded mainstream and specialist schools is required to increase capacity and capability. In the longer term this will save local authorities money.
How can waiting times for EHC Plans be improved?
Increased funding for resources to ensure children receive timely intervention and support. Shrinking budgets and reduced money for children with an EHCP makes it harder for a school to achieve the best outcomes for the child.
What can be done to support parents, carers and children or young people before, during and after the EHC Plan process?
Interim funding should be made available so that children can access TA support while waiting for a formal EHCP to be completed, while noting that EHCPs are not the only designation of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and children classed under SEN support should have access to this provision. Additional funding must be available and prioritised to schools with higher proportions of SEN students. Education authorities must review funding for this to be possible. No child should be left without support due to bureaucratic delays in the EHCP process.
What can be done to improve the effectiveness of multi-agency and joined up working cross education, health and social care?
All partners need to work together to ensure a streamlined approach to a child’s journey through the education system, this needs to be manageable enough to not see a child slipping through the net, resources and meetings need to begin at a local level to then feed into a regional board and so on. Health partners, educators including voices of teaching assistants who work with the child regularly and often daily, community support workers, family outreach workers, social workers, college leaders, AP providers, all services and partners working together and not too far away from place to make an impact. There needs to be an easy-to-use system to capture information for all those services to have access to the information.
This can be tackled by integrating as many children presenting with heightened behaviour and dysregulation as possible in mainstream state funded schools by investment in classroom support workers and facilities. Investment in new state funded specialist provision, both in units attached to mainstream and specialist schools.
What funding is currently provided and what is needed for early identification of SEND, including in Early Years settings?
Early years funding, SENDIF, is not adequate, it does not provide for the for 1-1 staff who children with SEND need and greatly benefit from. Early identification needs to include parents, staff who work with the child regularly and professionals’ knowledge. Children with health needs should have access to a trained healthcare professional who is given this responsibility rather than a teaching assistant without the correct training and remuneration.
What actions or reforms are needed to achieve financial stability and sustainability, both in the short and longer term, across the SEND system?
Investment in classroom support staff and additional facilities for mainstream schools at transition points (Foundation years 1 and 2) and Year 7 in secondary schools.
Is reform needed for funding of SEN support provision in schools, where currently the school is responsible for funding the first £6,000 of provision?
Yes, reform is needed as it creates a disincentive to identifying children with additional needs for support at an early stage. Children who need the provision are not always receiving it as a school is concerned about budget pressures.
Accountability and inspection of SEND provision.
What should Ofsted's new 'inclusion' criterion for the inspection of mainstream schools look like?
GMB submitted evidence into Ofsted’s Big Listen in the summer of 2024 and were asked what Ofsted’s priorities should be when reporting on provision, AP or services for children with SEND and why, and what they thought they could improve.
If Ofsted want to truly understand the provision for SEND children in mainstream schools, they need to consult with support staff. Teaching assistants spend the majority on their day working one to one with SEND children and know them best, Ofsted must prioritise the voices of the adults who predominantly work with the child and consult with parents.
Do not compare SEND provision in a mainstream school to a specialist school. Mainstream schools do not have the finances, resources and specialist teachers to run a SEND provision akin to what a specialist school can provide. SEND provision in a mainstream school needs to be judged within the context of the school.
Ofsted should be assessing the quality of training that the school offer and provide to their support staff. GMB members want quality training in SEND and SEMH but are not offered it due to budgetary pressures.
How best to hold all schools, irrespective of how they are constituted or their governance arrangements, to account for their SEND provision?
Listen to all staff without prejudice. Support staff are often acting as family support workers, social workers, speech and language therapists, councillors and SEND practitioners without additional pay, support or time and they feel currently that their voice is not taken into consideration. They hold a wealth of experience and knowledge that should be harnessed.
There needs to be an adequate means of assessing staff to pupil ratios when supporting SEND children to ensure staffing levels are safe. Risk assessments, policies and procedures in school should not only be in place but be regularly reviewed with trade union input and visible and accessible to the whole school community. Behaviour policies and SEND policies should be in place and accessible, there should also be adequate methods of reporting incidents of assault and verbal aggression from children with SEND for our members. There does need to be stronger workplace safety measures to protect staff from violence. All schools should have neurodiversity policies in place to support the workforce.
There needs to be more scrutiny at local level, local authorities distribute funding but then discharge responsibility for how the money is spent and how SEND children receive support. Often budgets are so tight that the money received via EHCP’s is distributed across the school, to cover for deficit budgets. Holding schools to account for their SEND provision when the funding they have received has not covered the basics is unfair and inherently flawed. Schools should receive adequate budget to enable to discharge their SEND duties in an effective way.
January 2025
In summary GMB recommends:
• Increase funding for support staff to improve student-to-staff ratios.
• Recognise and financially compensate SEN support staff appropriately.
• Develop a national training framework for SEN support roles.
• Establish structured career progression opportunities.
3. Policy Changes for workplace safety and Inclusivity
• Implement stronger workplace safety measures to protect staff from violence.
• Develop neurodiversity policies for school employees.
4. Increased specialist provision
• Invest in more state-funded specialist schools.
• Provide interim funding for SEN support while children await EHC plans.
5. Financial Stability of SEND Provision
• Reform SEND funding to ensure all children who need one-to-one support receive it.
GMB Union urges policymakers to take immediate action to address workforce shortages, improve training, ensure fair pay, and enhance support for both children and staff. Without urgent reform, the most vulnerable children in our education system will continue to be failed.