I read with interest and much sympathy the comments made by Nigel Utton, headteacher of Bromstone primary School in Kent. He claims that SEN children are being let down by a system clogged with the need for schools to achieve target grades. He accuses some schools, particularly academies, of placing children in annexes and segregated provision in order to improve their performance.
It’s strong stuff and although not representative of every school, it must be increasingly difficult for headteachers to maintain their principles of inclusion when the stakes are so high and gaming so prevalent.
To some extent, the issue of the time and effort needed to support a child with additional needs has always created tension within the system. Even before accountability was so high on the list of schools’ concerns, some headteachers were juggling their school rolls and positioning to avoid accepting children with SEN.