By Mark Vickers MBE, Chair APSEND MAT CEO network, CEO Olive Academies 

 

The APSEND MAT CEO’s network was created informally during the first covid lockdown in 2020 as a way for MAT CEO’s working in AP and SEND to share experiences, crisis responses, and to disseminate and discuss the multiple policy updates that schools faced during that period.

 

By March 2022, when the government published the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper, we had evolved into a respected voice for the sector. As such, it was an absolute privilege for me, as Chair of the network, to be able to represent colleagues and contribute to the development of the reforms alongside others from the network and wider school system.  It has been heartening to see how the views of so many of our members have been listened to by the DfE, either through engagement in various stakeholder groups or through their input into our network meetings with DfE officials over the last two years. We have truly welcomed this engagement and look forward to continuing to work closely with the department over the years to come.

 

In my view the publication of the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper and subsequent Improvement Plan was a pivotal moment for a set of reforms that have the potential to change the way that children and young people’s needs are both identified and met within our school system. These reforms, alongside the Schools White Paper, set out bold (and in my view the right) proposals to deliver a generational change for a more inclusive system for all, and the publication of the SEND and AP Improvement Plan in March and the Trust Strength Descriptions in April reinforce the government’s current ambition to transform the experience and life outcomes of vulnerable young people. 

 

I don’t think that any of us can argue with the ambition as set out in the Improvement Plan to establish a new national SEND and alternative provision system with the mission to:

  • fulfil children’s potential: children and young people with SEND (or attending alternative provision) enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes and are well prepared for adulthood and employment;
  • build parents’ trust: parents and carers experience a fairer, easily navigable system (across education, health and care) that restores their confidence that their children will get the right support, in the right place, at the right time;
  • provide financial sustainability: local leaders make the best use of record investment in the high needs budget to meet children’s and young people’s needs and improve outcomes, while placing local authorities on a stable financial footing.

I am extremely positive about the potential impact of the recently published ‘High Quality and Inclusive Education’ descriptor as one of the five pillars of quality for multi academy trusts which were published in the Schools White Paper. As trust leaders, members of the APSEND MAT CEO’s network fully support this ambition as we work towards a school system that consistently meets more of the needs of many of the country’s most vulnerable learners. These new reforms are an important step in achieving that ambition. 

 

The network looks forward to continuing to play its full part in supporting the implementation phase of the reforms over the coming years, and we are grateful for the opportunity we have had to ensure that the voices of our colleagues, young people and communities have been heard and valued throughout this process.

 

"The publication of the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan was a significant milestone and an opportunity for us to set out next steps for delivering reforms across the SEND and AP system. Our work with sector stakeholders (including the National MAT CEO Network for Alternative Provision and SEND) enabled us to gain an understanding of how our proposals would work on the ground or indeed could be challenging and I would like to thank all sector stakeholders for your input and support. Together we have made great progress in our ambitious plans to deliver more consistently for children and their families." 

Alison Ismail

Director of SEND and Alternative Provision 

Department for Education