What the New Schools White Paper Means for the Sector

The new schools white paper, ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ is set to be the landmark reform of Labour’s educational policy. It will come as no surprise that tackling the crisis in the SEND System is the overarching theme of the paper.  

With significant financial backing and structural reform, the paper signals a decisive shift in how support for children and young people with SEND will be delivered. But what exactly is changing — and what will it mean for schools, trusts, and sector leaders? 

The Key Headlines

The White Paper outlines a bold package of investment and reform:

• £4 billion investment to make every school truly inclusive and transform outcomes for children with SEND
• A new Inclusive Mainstream Fund of £1.6 bn over three years, provided directly to early years, schools and colleges to make sure children get support where and when they need it
• A new ‘Experts at Hand’ service, investing £1.8 bn over three years to create a bank of specialists like SEND teachers and speech and language therapists in every local area which schools can draw down from on demand, regardless of whether children have an EHCP
• Invest over £200 million so every community’s Best Start Family Hub provides a dedicated SEND outreach and support offer
• Invest £200 million to ensure all local authorities can transform how they operate in line with our reforms while maintaining current SEND services
• Every school with have some form of inclusion provision, this is intended to reduce the need for children to travel long distance for their school and reduce cost on special needs provision.
• Schools will be expected to offer a baseline in terms of provision to meet the needs of all pupils.
• EHCP’s will be enacted after a specialist provision has been delivered, not before hand. Should a child be deemed not to require an EHCP, the local council will work along side the school to ensure adequate support is provided. There will, also be new thresholds for obtaining an EHCP
• New National Inclusion Standards to be developed
• Changes to the SEND code of practice, focusing on accountability
• New SEND clusters, schools working in local groups and partnerships alongside councils and integrated care boards
• Funding will be directed to schools

From Policy to Practice

With so much to unpack, the Schools & Academies Show London this May is packed full of content assessing the implications of this reform across the sector. We have to ensure that our event reflects the content of the White Paper alongside broader issues in the sector. 

We have some of the leading experts in the country speaking on this panel in our Main Stage:

The Schools White Paper and What it Means for the Sector
10:35pm – 11:35pm | Main Stage

This panel will explore:

• How the White Paper will influence different stakeholders across education
• What changes to behaviour expectations might look like in practice
• Whether the reforms go far enough to support the most vulnerable pupils

Whilst this panel looks to explore the underlying issues in the sector and how much impact the white paper will have:

The Need for Sector Led Improvement – No One is Coming to Save you; a White Paper Doesn’t Change That
13:20pm - 14:05pm | Main Stage

• Where are the gaps currently between policy and recommendations, and everyday practice in the education sector and why do these occur?
• Why do we need to empower decision makers to push forward with change and improvement instead of waiting on policy updates and how can we achieve this?
• How can the different arms of the sector work together to increase standards and outcomes for staff and pupils?

Looking to understand the impact of the white paper on trusts, we have curated the following panel in our NGA MAT Conference Theatre:

The White Paper and How This Will Impact Trusts
15:40pm - 16:25pm | NGA MAT Conference

This panel will explore: 

• What the contents of the White Paper will mean for trusts
• How much impact should policy documents, such as the White Paper, have on trusts with a strong ethos, clear goals and belief in the value of their offering?
• The future of trusts in the context of the White Paper

Whilst in our SEND Conference, our flagship opening panel looks to explore the white paper and how this will shape inclusive practice and provision in schools:

This panel will explore: 

How Much Difference Will a White Paper Make to SEND and Inclusion?
11:55am - 12:55pm | SEND Conference

 This panel will explore:  

• What are the effective elements of inclusive practice we are already seeing within the sector and teacher training?
• How will the aims and intentions of the White Paper shape provision going forward?
• Leveraging multi-disciplinary teams, broader stakeholders and staff development to ensure practice and provision are to the highest possible standard.

In light of the focus on mainstream schools broadening their provision and offering for pupils with additional need, we are pleased to share that the following panel in aligns with the content of the white paper and will offer practical tips for mainstream leaders looks to enhance their present offering:

Making Mainstream Work for Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
14:55pm - 15:25pm | SEND Conference

 This panel will explore:  

• What are the lessons to be learned from special schools when offering mainstream provision?
• The inclusive role of resourced provision, specialist units and pupil support units in mainstream schools
• How can mainstream settings adapt and support increasing numbers of pupils with significant need?
• Exploring the organisational competencies, capabilities and capacities required to deliver an effective SEND provision in a mainstream setting

The role of training and CPD is clearly outline in the paper and our panel in the School Improvement explores who schools and trusts can develop a staff capable of meeting the demands of the policy:

Staff Improvement is School Improvement - Building The Best Team for Your Setting to Drive Excellence
10:00am - 10:45am | School Improvement Theatre

This session will explore:

• Ascertaining the strengths and weaknesses of your provision and team.
• Recognising opportunities for school and trust improvement both through internal development and external recruitment.
• What are some of the challenges of recruiting and retaining a highly skilled and collaborative school workforce?
• Putting together and executing strong CPD and onboarding strategies to help raise standards across your setting

The Schools & Academies Show London comes at a perfect time for school and trust leaders who are looking to hear national experts and thought leaders speak to these topics. With this landmark policy announcement the sector is poised to embark on historic reform, we are fully aware of the importance of this change and have crafted a CPD agenda to speak to these issues and challenges.

We hope to see you at the London show for discussion, analysis and debate around the policy changes and direction of travel for the education sector.