The first 100 days.

Can we have a reference for the Birmingham costs and numbers of pupils involved?

Mollygo

*Keeping quiet*
Special schools for children with specific problems, multiple learning difficulties with associated medical problems or complex needs are rarely in the local area for all the children who need them.
My nephew, with some needs like those above has to be collected from home to travel 20 miles each way to his school, but it was not a case of closing one down, there was never a school nearer catering for his needs.

Despite austerity, the number of support staff in all the schools I have links with, has increased over the last 10 years. I obviously can’t speak for all schools.

What hasn’t increased are the rooms in a school to provide space for working with children with SEND when they need to be out of the classroom, even if a school has room for such extensions.

We were lucky to achieve a small extension 5 years ago, but we still need more spaces for the increasing number of children with EHCPs.

*I’m looking forward to this government allocating funds for provision of teaching spaces in existing schools and reviewing the provision for children with more severe issues.*

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

GSM Sunak talked about leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.

See below from The Independent, April 2024:
“…the Prime Minister [Rishi Sunak] has said in his strongest hint yet that he could back leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).”

Wyllow3

Can we have a reference for the Birmingham costs and numbers of pupils involved?

I looked for it, but couldn't find any original data for Birmingham. The best I could find was the BBC article. The trouble is that it's being reported in different ways.

No 10

President Zelenskiy is to attend a cabinet meeting this morning. The meeting will discuss Putin’s “phantom” tankers, that are evading the sanctions on its oil exports.

growstuff

Wyllow3

Can we have a reference for the Birmingham costs and numbers of pupils involved?

I looked for it, but couldn't find any original data for Birmingham. The best I could find was the BBC article. The trouble is that it's being reported in different ways.

Yes I did the same.
Some young people with SEND have specific and complex needs that are only met in particular educational settings. These schools may be some distance away and not even in the LA, so an ‘out of County’ arrangement needs to be made, which will add to the costs.

J52

growstuff

Wyllow3

Can we have a reference for the Birmingham costs and numbers of pupils involved?

I looked for it, but couldn't find any original data for Birmingham. The best I could find was the BBC article. The trouble is that it's being reported in different ways.

Yes I did the same.
Some young people with SEND have specific and complex needs that are only met in particular educational settings. These schools may be some distance away and not even in the LA, so an ‘out of County’ arrangement needs to be made, which will add to the costs.

Indeed. Most of the SEND children that attend the local SEND school are from outside the area.

Migration.

Labour have been investigating, since before the election, the possibility of processing asylum claims offshore.

But it must meet 3 criteria.

Complies with international law

Cost effective

Deters asylum seekers.

The Irish Taoiseach was hosted by Starmer at No 10, and given strong assurances that the GFA and Irelands roll as guarantor will be respected. The Tories had ignored this aspect of the GFA because it suited it over Brexit.

The government has launched a Curriculum and Assessment Review, which will feed into the Children's Wellbeing Bill, due next year.

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-curriculum-and-assessment-review

Way to go!
Another new National Curriculum, bigger and better than anything that’s gone before!

My newly elected Labour MP has already had a public meeting re SEND children, something she is already involved with and feels strongly about.

The UNWRA decision has been reversed by Lammy.

That isn’t, of course, what it says at all.

Siope

That isn’t, of course, what it says at all.

Do you prefer this?

The UK will resume funding UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, the foreign secretary has announced.

Judging a government at the first 100 days is entirely arbitrary. The mess left by the Tories will take years to remedy and it's the poor and old who will pay the price, not the likes of Johnson or Truss.

Grantanow

Judging a government at the first 100 days is entirely arbitrary. The mess left by the Tories will take years to remedy and it's the poor and old who will pay the price, not the likes of Johnson or Truss.

Well tbh I didn’t start the thread to judge but to mitigate the critics coming from the right who maintained that Starmer was lazy and didn’t have a plan.

And very welcome it is too WW. Thanks👏👏👏

It’s been very useful for my spreadsheet to track progress. Saved me having to look things up, so thanks.

Whoops. My last post wasn’t in reply to you, WWM, so apologies. I meant to quote Mollygo’s comment on the national curriculum.

So far so good. Adults back in charge.

Thank you yet again, WWM2, we now have a unique record of events - and please do continue.

I was going to bung on The Kings Speech, but it is a tad long. It can however be found in the HoC library.

I expect that there is a shortened bullet point version somewhere.

Re the King’s speech.
Already got that, thanks.

Education

Parents should not take their children on term-time holidays and have a responsibility to keep them in school, Bridget Phillipson said there "will have to be consequences" for parents who fail to do so.
She said punishments, like fines, are a "well-established practice" and are "here to stay”

Minimum fines, imposed by local authorities, for taking children out of class without permission for five school days will rise from £60 per child to £80 per child from August.

The education secretary has also been setting out plans for a wide-ranging review of what is taught in schools in England.
Launching the curriculum review on Friday, Ms Phillipson said all children should have a strong academic foundation in subjects like English and maths, but also have access to music, art, drama and sports.

The Department for Education said that, after the review, all state schools will have to follow the national curriculum up to the age of 16, including academies which do not currently have to do so.
Ms Phillipson also told the BBC she was committed to Labour's promise to deliver free breakfast clubs across all primary schools, but said it would "take time" to roll out.

She also promised to carry on the roll-out of the government-funded childcare hours promised by the previous government, but said it would be a "tough challenge" to ensure enough places were available and that the workforce was in place to deliver it.