This report shows that, where comparable data is available, course outcomes for young people aged 16-25 receiving special educational support are improving at similar or better rates than those for all students within this age group. This performance has been achieved while known average special education funding per head has decreased in schools and further education colleges. However, parents, students and local authorities do not always have the information they need to choose the school or college that best meets the young person's needs given the available funding. Assessments of young people's needs vary in quality, and local authorities do not always consider the full costs to the public purse of different placement options. There is insufficient knowledge about total cost of provision. In addition, there are wide variations between local areas in the percentages of young people studying in different provider types (such as schools and colleges), and in the availability and use of specialist provision. The Department, in its 2011 Green Paper, has proposed significant changes to special education from birth to the age of 25. The NAO report suggests that providing appropriate support for young people with special needs has the potential to deliver longer-term benefits for students and to the public purse. The Department should address current limitations in information, and better understand the relationships between needs, costs and outcomes so that it can secure value for money from its expenditure in this area.

Almost a third of young people with a Statement of special educational needs at the age of 16 are not in any form of education, employment or training two years later. The Government spent £640 million on special education for 16- to 25-year-olds in 2009-10, yet too many of these young people are falling through the gaps after they leave compulsory education, damaging their life chances and leaving a legacy of costs to the taxpayer. The system is extremely complex and difficult to navigate, with an array of different providers. Too many parents and young people are not given the information they need to make decisions about what is right for them. But three quarters of local authorities do not give parents any information at all about the respective performance of schools, FE colleges and specialist providers. The Department doesn't know how much money is actually spent on support. The huge variation between local authorities in funding per student suggests that a postcode lottery is at work. Students with higher-level needs are placed on the basis of statutory assessments of need; however, witnesses emphasised just how patchy the quality of these assessments can be. The opportunity for reform presented by the Department's recent Special Educational Needs Green Paper should be used to address our concerns It is right for local authorities to decide how to meet the needs of young people in their area - but local people must have access to clear information so that they can hold local authorities to account for how well they deliver

Additional written evidence is contained in Volume 3, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/educom

This volume gives scholars and students a working knowledge of the procedures, challenges, and benefits of using photo methods in their ethnographic work through studies by researchers who are currently using it. The studies are both examples of exemplary scholarship and serve as tutorials on the procedures and methodological considerations of using this personal, even intimate, method. These eight authors were asked to re-open their carefully packed-away studies, disassemble the methods and the findings, and reflect on the contents. Like looking through old photo albums, these reflective essays allowed us to have new conversations with different audiences. Each chapter contains sections that penetratingly explain the research problem, describe why photo methods were used for the study, elucidate and reflect on the method, summarize the findings, and then examine participant empowerment through the method. This unique structure is specifically designed to be used in masters and doctoral classrooms and with researchers looking for new methods or to strengthen their existing work. The editors and authors believe that using photo-methods can empower participants to become part of the research process. Each author uses photo with the same goal; to create rigorous science that has meaning for the participants.

"The guide that the Government should have written, but didn’t!" Now updated for 2017/18, this is the comprehensive guide to the Special Educational Needs & Disability Code of Practice 2014 and new SEN framework, which came into force in September 2014. From award-winning Douglas Silas, a solicitor specialising exclusively in special educational needs, it includes and links to all relevant legislation, regulations and guidance needed. As an eBook only, this guide is easily carried around on a mobile device and can be used to make searchable highlights/notes/bookmarks. This guide is for many people, amongst others: - Parents/carers, young people and their advocates; - Teachers/SENCOs/lecturers (both in mainstream/special schools or colleges); - Local Authority officers (dealing with ‘education’ or ‘care’); - Healthcare professionals (e.g. therapists, psychologists, doctors); - Anyone involved in Complaints/Appeals/Dispute Resolution.

All children deserve a good education, where barriers to learning are addressed and teachers have the knowledge and support to raise their aspirations and achievement. The Achievement for All programme is a tried-and-tested whole-school strategy for raising the aspirations and attainment of the most vulnerable learners in any school setting (0-19), including those with special educational needs, disabilities and English as an additional language. A two-year pilot demonstrated unprecedented impact for pupils with SEND, who progressed faster on average than all pupils nationally in English and Maths. Key features of the programme include: - rigorous tracking of children's progress in English and maths with intervention when pupils fall behind - structured conversations with parents - a common sense approach to learning barriers, such as bullying, persistent absence and poor social skills. This practical guide to implementing this successful model in your school includes online training tools, audit sheets and further resources to support the implementation and development of the programme and to ensure its sustainability.

The organisation Achievement for All engaged in international projects in England, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, the United States of America and Wales with the aim of raising the aspirations, access and achievements of vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people. These projects were united in bringing Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) back into the classroom by focusing on the relationship between parents, leaders, teachers and wider professionals. Achievement for All in International Classrooms examines these projects, looking at the context of each and the research findings, before considering how this could enhance knowledge and understanding in other international settings. Sonia Blandford examines the policy implications needed to bring SEND into the classroom, understanding of the scale of the issue, moral purpose, belief, commitment, collaboration and determination, through evaluation, research and practice. She also considers what it takes to change practice, bringing Achievement for All and SEND into the classroom, looking in particular at the implications for: - Leadership - Teaching and learning - Parent and carer engagement - Wider outcomes and opportunities - Professional development for all staff Drawing on her wealth of experience and expertise, Blandford then makes recommendations on what it would take to introduce Achievement for All in policy to bring SEND into the classroom, with particular reference to changes at national, regional and school level, as well as parental and carer engagement and a desire to improve outcomes for all children and young people.

Learning to teach involves hard work and careful preparation. To become an effective teacher requires subject knowledge, an understanding of your pupils and how they learn and the confidence to respond to dynamic classroom situations. Learning to Teach in the Secondary School 6th edition offers a comprehensive, in-depth and practical introduction to the skills needed to qualify as a teacher, and is designed to help you to develop those qualities that lead to good practice and a successful future in education. With a focus on evidence-based practice and written by expert practitioners, 35 units cover key concepts and skills, including: • Managing behaviour to support learning • Ways pupils learn • Planning lessons and schemes of work • Motivating pupils • Assessment • Inclusion and special educational needs • Using ICT and digital technologies • Pupil grouping, progression and differentiation • Managing time, workload and stress • Getting your first teaching post This fully updated 6th edition includes five new units: • Primary-secondary transition • Developing critical thinking • Creating a language rich classroom • Education across the four home countries of the UK • UK education in an international context The book contains many examples of how to analyse practice to ensure pupil learning is maximised. Activities and tasks in each unit offer opportunities for you to analyse your own learning and performance. Masters level tasks and annotated further readings respond to the requirements for teachers to engage in M level work. Learning to Teach in the Secondary School provides practical help and support for many of the situations and potential challenges you are faced with in school. Supported by the Learning to Teach Subjects in the Secondary School Series by the same editors, it is an essential purchase for every aspiring secondary school teacher.

Each of the areas in the Whole-Place Community Budgets scheme has identified potential benefits from taking a more integrated approach to frontline services, focusing on outcomes like preventing avoidable hospital admissions or reducing reoffending. Greater Manchester, which covers ten local authorities, has estimated net savings of some £270 million over five years, while in West Cheshire savings of £56 million are estimated for the same period. In general, government has only limited information for identifying opportunities for integration or making an assessment of costs and benefits, which is needed to support the case for integration. In some instances where government has identified integration opportunities, benefits have not been achieved because of implementation difficulties. While the centre of government has recognized the importance of integration, it does not have clearly defined responsibilities to support or encourage frontline integration initiatives across government. It is early days for Whole-Place Community Budgets, central government and the four local areas have worked together effectively to assess the case for local service reforms. The true scale of potential benefits will become clear only if projects are implemented and evaluated robustly. Foundations have been laid but continuing collaboration - including sharing of data - between local and central government and delivery partners is essential to maximize the potential of Whole-Place Community Budgets. Accompanying this report, the NAO has released a case study looking at the four Whole-Place Community Budget areas, finding that these areas have taken a positive first step in assessing the case for integration (HC 1040, ISBN 9780102981339)

Living Life to the Fullest forges new understandings of the lives, hopes, and desires of children and young people with ‘life-limiting’ or ‘life-threatening’ impairments. Aimed at undergraduate students, this book contributes to contemporary political and theoretical debates about the human in an age of global precarity and austerity.