Minister supports calls for more school staff SEN training

Backing for extra training for teachers to provide support to children with special educational needs (SEN) has been given by the schools secretary.

Ed Balls expressed his support for recommendations made by expert Brian Lamb while speaking at a Barnardo's lecture last night (29th April).

He noted that those in teaching jobs must be equipped with the skills to help children overcome any barriers to their learning.

This will contribute to combat the trend of children from low-income backgrounds achieving poor results, the minister said.

"We are progressively breaking the link between attainment and disadvantage but there is more to do and extra help for children with special needs is vital to make progress," he stated.

Mr Balls noted that there must be a greater focus on early intervention and support for those with SEN, as well as better provision of personalised learning for struggling students.

Behaviour in schools will be improved by providing schools and those in teaching jobs with better support regarding SEN pupils, government adviser Sir Alan Steer argued recently.




Published On 30/04/2009