An explosion in the number of children with special needs is prompting mainstream schools to join multi-academy trusts that specialise in SEND.
Billingborough Primary in Lincolnshire has been given the go-ahead to join a trust to work with its team of special needs experts. This will also allow it to “continue to adapt and evolve [its] mainstream provision to match the needs of all pupils”.
Leaders of multi-academy trusts with special schools are reporting a spike in the numbers wanting to join their organisations to access support.
‘They need specialist help’
John Winter, the chief executive of the eight-school Weydon Multi-Academy Trust, three of which are special schools, said: “The profile of children coming into primary is becoming more complex… Schools are finding it very difficult to meet some youngsters’ needs. This is becoming particularly apparent in single-entry primaries.
“They need very specialist help and given the nature of the increasing number of special needs children, understandably, local authorities are finding it difficult to keep pace.”
Analysis of government data has revealed 212 trusts – nearly one in ten – have at least one special school, up slightly from 202 four years ago. But this compares to the overall number of chains falling by 16 per cent over the same period, from 2,661 to 2,247.
About 29 per cent of the academies in the 212 trusts are special schools. That stood at 32 per cent in 2020 – suggesting they have taken on a growing number of mainstream schools.
Meanwhile, the number of special school-only trusts has dropped to 87, down from 107.
SEND characteristics are changing
Billingborough was given the go-ahead to convert to academy status four months ago after “a change in pupil make-up” triggered by a rise in the number of youngsters with “complex and additional needs”.
Nearly 1.3 million children (13.6 per cent) have SEN support, up from just under 1 million (11.6 per cent) in 2015.
But the “characteristics” of Billingborough’s SEND children changed over the past year, according to Department for Education advisory board minutes, with more diagnosed with social, emotional and mental health needs.
The Community Inclusive Trust (CIT) was Billingborough’s “preferred option” as it could “benefit from the experience and expertise of practitioners in special school settings”.
This would allow it to “continue to adapt and evolve [its] mainstream provision to match the needs of all pupils”.
Peter Bell, the chief executive of CIT which runs seven special schools and seven mainstream primaries, said he was “proud of the range of leaders and experienced teachers we have”, who “support one another, as well as other schools outside the trust”.
Winter added that one of his newest academies, Crondall Primary in Farnham, Hampshire, in part joined because of “the expertise we have in special needs”.
He is due to take on another in November for the same reason. A “major attraction” is the team of “specialists in most of the primary needs”.
Two more special schools are due to join, taking the tally to five. He aims to eventually have an equal split of special, primary and secondary schools.
‘Build more capacity’
Warren Carratt, the chief executive of the Nexus MAT which runs 16 special and one mainstream school, has seen an increase in the past couple of years of primary schools “opening discussions” on academisation, often because the trust could provide help and support with SEND pupils.
But he said there were risks. Primary schools could become proxy specialist settings, taking more out-of-catchment pupils without additional funding.
He also warned that the “the shorthand of ‘being in a MAT with special schools will help us with our SEND provision’ isn’t as simple as it sounds”.
A report commissioned by England’s councils earlier this year called on the government to invest in building capacity – such as therapists, educational psychologists and wider inclusion support – in mainstream settings.
It argued this would reduce the reliance on specialist school places.
Trust quality descriptors, criteria unveiled last year to inform academy commissioning decisions, also said that leaders should operate “fair access” by effectively teaching local SEND children.
The guidance added that MATs should create a “culture” in all their “schools motivating and ambitious for all, including disadvantaged children and children with SEND, so that pupils can achieve their full potential”.
The government’s plan to improve the SEND system is anchored on mainstream schools better supporting pupils with additional needs. Reforms are being trialled.
