Online schools should be utilised for children with special needs says Devon based headteacher following County Councils Network report

An online school headteacher is urging government and local authorities to utilise online schools for children with special education needs following a report released by the County Councils Network (CNN) today.

Lisa Boorman of Queen’s Online School says online learning is a good alternative to mainstream school and would save local authorities, who are paying for private school places for children with special education needs, money.

The report by the CNN says the government ‘cannot keep ducking’ reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system as new research reveals a system on course for total collapse with local authorities facing ‘unimaginable’ deficits of £18bn by the end of this Parliament.

The report finds that despite councils investing £30bn more on SEND services over the last decade, educational outcomes have not improved whilst families feel increasingly negative about the system.

Last month, the government delayed publication of planned reforms to the SEND system.

One of the findings in the new research, produced by CCN and Isos Partnership, shows councils are increasingly relying on expensive private school places, which have risen 165% since 2015 and the total number of 34,000 pupils is almost one in five special school placements.

The report goes on to state that ‘with the yearly average cost of these independent and non-maintained private school placements set to reach £72,000 per pupil compared to £10,000 in a mainstream school by 2029, councils are on course to be spending £3.2bn a year on private school placements for young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs.)

Ms Boorman says she agrees with the CNN research that warns the system is on ‘course for total collapse.”

“We mustn’t forget that behind every statistic there is a child and a family who are desperate for help.”

Ms Boorman was headteacher of a mainstream secondary school in Devon for ten years and understands the struggles schools and parents face.

 “For some young people the sheer scale of mainstream schools is overwhelming,” she explains. “Add in neurodiversity and the result can be anxiety, depression and withdrawal.”

The CNN research also reports on how councils are ‘increasingly having to take money from mainstream schools to prop up SEND services, whilst losing hundreds of millions each year in servicing high-needs deficits.’

 The report reveals that last year £150m, largely from mainstream schools, was re-routed to the local authority’s high needs budget. Councils are also losing £326m per year in lost interest and debt service charges from rising deficits – a figure that could reach almost £1bn by the end of the Parliament if they are not wiped.

Cllr Matthew Hicks, Chair of the County Councils Network, said:

“As today’s research shows, the system is heading towards total collapse in little over four years. This could mean families facing even longer waits for support, councils facing a level of demand that the system was never designed for, and local authorities staring down unimaginable deficits of almost £18bn.

“Now is the time to be bold and act decisively: the government cannot keep ducking reform and ministers must use the delay to set out comprehensive and long-lasting change to the system.”

“Alongside wiping councils’ deficits, this will mean tough but necessary reforms that extend beyond making mainstream schools more inclusive – including legislative change to focus EHCPs on those most in need, underpinned by reforms to the tribunal system”.

Ms Boorman strongly believes that many children who do not thrive in crowded classrooms could achieve more in smaller, more flexible settings.

Online learning allows teachers to plan lessons around each student rather than relying on rigid timetables.

“We need different doors into education so those children who don’t fit into the mainstream setting don’t become invisible.”