told this newspaper earlier this year that officials were considering a shake up of the EHCPs system that would likely lead to a narrowing or new structure of support.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPart of that \u201cconversation\u201d was about whether EHCPs should only apply to special school pupils, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four principles for reform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n During today\u2019s three-hour, standing-room-only debate, scores of MPs, including those from the governing Labour Party, stood up to raise concerns about upcoming SEND reforms, due to be set out in a schools white paper this term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gould, a former leader of Camden Council, told Parliament there are “a number of principles that are guiding me … in the new role”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFirstly, that the voices of children, young people and their families, of teachers and those supporting them have to be at the forefront of reform. And over the last year, the secretary of state and my predecessor has spent a huge amount of time with families to make sure that their voices are heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe second principle I wanted to set out that I think we’ve heard from almost every speaker is that children need to get support when issues first appear, that early intervention has to be the basis of reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThirdly, that children with special educational needs shouldn\u2019t have to go miles away from their families and communities to get the right support. We need to invest in support within our communities<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd\u2026finally, the support for young people to thrive is not just for schools. I think I heard the word collaboration, co-design so many times in this debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“So it’s about play, it’s about youth clubs, it’s about local health services. It’s about workplaces that celebrate neurodiversity. This is one in five of our young people. We all know somebody who has special educational needs, and those individuals, they bring so much creativity, so many ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Always a legal right’ to SEND support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Gould added she “saw so many families let down” in her 14 years working in local government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo my commitment is as we move forward, that we need to work with the parents who\u2019ve turned up, the parents who signed the petition to get this right for families and to set out reforms that really transform young people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her speech, Gould also sought to reassure MPs that \u201cthe secretary of state for education has made it absolutely clear that under this government, no child will be left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd we will reform the system so children with special educational needs are at the heart of the education system. And there will always be a legal right to additional support for children and young people with special educational needs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Georgia Gould promises to put teacher and pupil voice ‘at forefront’ of reforms – and commits to ‘legal right to additional support’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":234706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3728,62],"post-theme":[2354],"class_list":["post-234705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-georgia-gould","tag-send","post-theme-inclusion"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t