Boost for children with SEND accessing inclusive PE and sport

New data released by the Youth Sport Trust has revealed PE and school sport experiences have rapidly improved for children with SEND through the Inclusion 2024 programme. The three-year Government programme has supported more than 70,000 young people, including many with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), to access inclusive PE and school sport.

Young people have been taking part in more inclusive and accessible PE lessons, school swimming, para sports as part of fun festivals, and learning key life and leadership skills. The programme has brought about change by building support systems, working with a range of stakeholders and empowering an expert network of schools which have a wealth of insights and experiences in making PE and sport inclusive to help other schools around the country.

Ali Oliver MBE, Chief Executive at the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Inclusion 2024 has been a game changer. It has built capacity, confidence and creativity in the PE and school sport system – ensuring both the curriculum and out of school hours provision is accessible, inclusive and empowering for disabled children. Alongside this, Inclusion 2024 has been building awareness and understanding in disabled and non-disabled young people through inclusive youth leadership training and peer-to-peer coaching. This is not only ensuring the time young disabled people spend in PE lessons or doing sport is meaningful and high quality, but it is also helping them to become healthier and happier by achieving the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance of at least 20 active minutes a day.”

The full report is available here: https://bit.ly/3NbvjFU

Updated guidance for permanent exclusions and suspensions published

New guidance has been published by the DfE to come into effect from September 2023 regarding the use of permanent exclusions and suspensions (https://bit.ly/43AmYm5). The guidance has been updated to reflect specific changes to the legislation governing the disciplinary school suspension and permanent exclusion processes. These include: amended regulations about a headteacher’s ability to rescind an exclusion and the processes to be followed; allowing a governing body reinstatement meeting to be held via the use of remote access if requested by parents providing given criteria are satisfied.

These changes come on top of those updates made in 2022 which require notification to parents and to the social worker or Virtual School Headteacher (VSH) and the Local Authority to be made without delay. Further guidance on managed moves and off-site direction was provided along with the rights of pupils to be included within the process appropriate to their age and ability to understand. They have published a guide for parents and carers to accompany the schools guidance.

(https://bit.ly/3P8tQm0)