Tuesday 1st November 2022 - 11:29
3rd November 2022
STAMMA signs a letter urging the Government to invest in support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Together with over 120 charities, professional bodies and associations, trade unions, parents and carers, we have signed a letter addressed to two MPs following a recent government review.
The green paper review, released earlier this year, recognised that the current system for providing support for children with SEND and their families is not delivering. With the Government planning to release an Improvement Plan by the end of the year, this is a crucial opportunity to campaign and push to address urgent gaps in the specialist workforce.
This specialist workforce includes a wide range of professionals that play a huge role in the development of many young people — including by providing direct support, identifying needs early, and supporting teachers to develop their knowledge and skills.
But while the need for specialists is increasing, not enough people are being trained to meet demand. Many are failing to be retained, and many are leaving the public sector altogether. This must change.
We are calling on the Government to use their response to the SEND Review to address gaps in the specialist workforce and ensure there will be sufficient specialist professionals to help children — now and in the future.
You can download and read the letter below.
Signatories
Here are a list of the organisations and bodies that have signed the open letter, which is addressed to Gillian Keegan MP (Dept. for Education) and Steve Barclay MP (Dept. for Health & Social Care):
ACE Centre - Anna Reeves, CEO
Action Cerebral Palsy - Amanda Richardson MBE, Chief Executive
Action for Stammering Children - Ria Bernard, Chief Executive
ADHD Foundation - Dr. Tony Lloyd, CEO
Afasic - Linda Lascelles, Chief Executive
Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE) - Amelia McLoughlan, Policy and Research Officer
Ambitious About Autism - Jolanta Lasota, Chief Executive
Angelman UK - Emma Goodson, Trustee
ASLTIP - Ruth Crampton, Chair
Association of Colleges - David Holloway, Senior Policy Manager – SEND
Association of Educational Psychologists – Kate Fallon, General Secretary
Association of Mental Health Providers - Kathy Roberts, Chief Executive Officer
Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists - Alan Macdonald, Chair and Paediatric
Physiotherapist
Association of School and College Leaders - Geoff Barton, General Secretary
Association of Youth Offending Team Managers - Jacqui Belfield-Smith and Diz Minnitt,
Chair and SEND and Speech and Language Lead
Auditory Verbal UK - Anita Grover, Chief Executive
Autism Early Support - Laura Gomersall, Head of Children's Services
Autistica - Dr. James Cusack, CEO
Better Communication CIC - Marie Gascoigne, Director
British and Irish Orthoptic Society - Veronica Greenwood, Chair
British Association for Community Child Health (BACCH) – Dr Doug Simkiss, Chair
British Association for Music Therapy (BAMT) - Andrew Langford, Chief Executive
British Association of Educational Audiologists (BAEA) - Teresa Quail and Simon Blake,
Chair and Secretary
British Association of Social Workers - Julia Ross, Chair
British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (BATOD) - Martine
Monksfield, Paul Simpson and Teresa Quail, President and Co-National Executive Officers
British Dietetic Association - Liz Stockley, Chief Executive
British Dyslexia Association - Chivonne Preston, Chief Executive Officer
British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA) – Dr. Dan Lumsden, Secretary
British Psychological Society - Sarb Bajwa, Chief Executive
Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE) - Dr. Artemi Sakellariadis, Director
Chailey Heritage Foundation - Gareth Germer, Chief Executive
ChatterPack - Claire Ryan, Founder
Children England - Kathy Evans, CEO
Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) – Claire Cunniffe, CEO
Cochlear Implanted Children's Support Group - Tricia Kemp, Group Coordinator
Commtap CIC - Neil Thompson, Director
Communication Matters - Helen Whittle, Chair
Contact - Amanda Batten, CEO
Coram Family and Childcare - Megan Jarvie, Head of Coram Family and Childcare
Council for Disabled Children - Christina Welsh, Education Programme Manager
Cystic Fibrosis Trust – Ben Kind, Head of Policy and Public Affairs
Deaf Experience - Jill Jones, Chair
Deafblind UK - Stephen Conway, CEO
Dingley's Promise - Catherine McLeod MBE, Chief Executive
Disabled Children's Partnership - Stephen Kingdom, Campaign Manager
Down Syndrome Association - Carol Boys, Chief Executive
Elklan Training - Henrietta McLachlan, Director
Embracing Complexity Coalition - Dr. James Cusack, Chair
Empowering Deaf Society - Mangai Sutharsan, Director
English Speaking Board (International) Ltd - Tina Renshaw, CEO
English-Speaking Union - Jane Easton, Director-General
Ewing Foundation - Sarah Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer
Guide Dogs - Emma Foulds, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer
Headlines - Karen Wilkinson-Bell, Director
Institute of Health Visiting - Alison Morton, Executive Director
KIDS - Katie Ghose, CEO
Max Appeal - Claire Hennessy, Development Officer
MENCAP - Edel Harris OBE, Chief Executive
Microtia UK - Tina Rycroft, Non-executive director of fundraising and communications
Muscular Dystrophy UK - Catherine Woodhead, CEO
NAHT - Paul Whiteman, General Secretary
NAPLIC - Stephen Parsons, Chair
NASS - Claire Dorer OBE, Chief Executive Officer
NASUWT - The Teachers' Union - Dr. Patrick Roach, General Secretary
National Acquired Brain Injury in Learning and Education Syndicate (NABLES) - Dr. Emily
Bennett, Chair
National Association for Hospital Education – Cath Kitchen and Stephen Deadman,
Chairperson and Director
National Autistic Society - Jake Runacres, Policy and Parliamentary Officer
National Day Nurseries Association - Purnima Tanuku OBE, Chief Executive
National Deaf Children's Society - Mike Hobday, Executive Director of Policy and
Campaigns
National Development Team for Inclusion - Paul Marshall, CEO
National Education Union - Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries
National SEND Forum - David Bateson OBE, Chair
National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) - Lindsey Rousseau, Facilitator
Natspec - Clare Howard, Chief Executive
NCFE - Janet King, Sector Manager for Education and Childcare
NNPCF - Mrunal Sisodia and Tina Emery, Co-Chairs
Pace - Ian Sansbury, Chief Executive
pdnet - Diane Caesar, National Project Lead
Prospect ECS Group - Tony Bell, Secretary
PRUsAP - Angela Ransby, Executive Committee Member
Rett UK - Robert Adamek, CEO
Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD) - Amanda Casson Webb, Joint Chief Executive
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health - Dr. Mike McKean, Vice-President for Policy
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists - Kamini Gadhok MBE, Chief Executive
Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) - Caireen Sutherland, Head of Education
SAPHNA - Sharon White OBE, CEO
Sen.se - Julie Walker, Executive Officer
SENSE - Richard Kramer, CEO
Signalong - Tracy Goode, CEO
SMIRA - Dr. Shirley Landrock-White, Chair
Society for the Advancement of Philosophical Enquiry and Reflection in Education
(SAPERE) - Grace Lockrobin, Director of Philosophy for Children, Colleges and
Communities
Speaking Citizens - Dr. Tom Wright, Reader in Rhetoric and Principal Investigator
Special Needs Jungle - Tania Tirraoro and Renata Blower, Co-directors
Speech and Language UK (formerly I CAN) - Jane Harris, CEO
Speech Bubbles - Elizabeth Kennedy, Administrator
STAMMA - Catherine Woolley, Children and Families Programme Lead
SPTS – Julie Walker, Lead
Stroke Association - Charlotte Nicholls, Head of Policy and Influencing
Symbol - Julie Wagge, Director, Speech and Language Therapy
The British Association of Dramatherapists - Karen Eastwood, Education Committee
Convener
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy - Professor Karen Middleton CBE FCSP MA, Chief
Executive
The Children's Trust - Dalton Leong, Chief Executive
The Elizabeth Foundation for Preschool Deaf Children - Julie Hughes, CEO
The Makaton Charity - Stephen Hall, Chief Executive
The Migraine Trust - Steph Weatherley, Information and support team advisor
The National Organisation for FASD - Sandra Butcher, Chief Executive
The Neurological Alliance – Georgina Car, Chief Executive
UKABIF - Chloe Hayward, Executive Director
Unique - Sarah Wynn, PhD, CEO
UNISON - Christina McAnea, General Secretary
Up The Adult Cerebral Palsy Movement - Emma Livingstone, Founder and CEO
VIEW - Caireen Sutherland, Vice Chair
Voice 21 - Rebecca Earnshaw, Chief Executive
Young Minds - Tom Madders, Director of Communications and Campaigns
