In my latest podcast, @eleanorrrlouise.bsky.social from @thedifferenceed.bsky.social explained why it is essential that the Government works hard to show parents they will be better off as a result of any reforms to the SEND system. Listen to the full episode here: insideyoured.com

And honestly I don't give a fuck if it's popular or not. It's going to make a lot of kids' lives better. That's the point of government. Not an opinion poll.

🚨NEW PODCAST🚨 Everyone agrees the SEND system is broken, but how do you fix it? @realgeoffbarton.bsky.social and @eleanorrrlouise.bsky.social joined me to talk through the analysis and proposals in their new @ippr.org report on reforming SEND. Listen here: insideyoured.com

America: No Kings Britain: No Dukes of York

This is a must read. 💬“you cannot magic quality into existence by writing it on a legal document.“ The legislating of rights does not necessarily equal quality of support or good outcomes. Our focus must be on securing the latter, not lobbying for a status quo that fails so many.

Frustrating how "it's hard to change people's views" has metastasised into "there's no point ever making an argument".

There is no solution to any of these problems that doesn’t involve building 500k or so homes a year that will bring real negative pressure on rent by materially outstripping new housing demand.

Israeli tactics: 1. Stop aid entering Gaza 2. Deny famine is taking place 3. When famine becomes undeniable, stall as long as possible 4. When western pressure mounts, do the minimum possible 5. When western attention moves on, return to step 1.

‘There is nothing to buy’: Gaza’s descent into mass starvation https://on.ft.com/4o5I46b

In policy terms, the search for 'things that are not scrapping the limit but tackle child povery' has just led to a bunch of policies that don't work all that well. Labour well on its way to spending enough on 'things to make Labour MPs less unhappy about not doing two child' to have done two child.

Great illustration of getting schools right for SEND in this post - kids who needs the most teaching, getting the best teachers: “Double staffing for classes with higher levels of need or vulnerability reflects building teaching and learning for the needs of the most vulnerable first”

Hidden in this post is a really important point on education & ‘white working class boys’. 💬 “We’d be much better off talking about persistent or multi-generational disadvantage than ethnicity and it would lead to the same policy solutions.”

Great to see another piece of ace research by @thedifferenceed.bsky.social helping shape inclusive school practice

After good conversations with @eleanorrrlouise.bsky.social and @rlrossi64.bsky.social I now think the root EHCP problem is: There are too many and lots shouldn't need them. Some do need them and will drown if they are taken away. We can't tell the difference between the two groups.

A Brief History of Young People Today Don't Want to Work 🧵

The unbelievable condescension we’re already seeing today towards working class people- suggesting they don’t travel to Europe or their kids might not want to go to university and study in Europe- is quite something to behold.

🚨 NEW POST 🚨 ‘Learning Barriers, not labels’ “Would you teach differently if you were to learn about the designation of the special educational need?” alexquigley.co.uk/learning-bar...

We launched @inclusioninpractice.org.uk to understand more about the good work already taking place across the school system. More on this from @andrewoneill.bsky.social here in @schoolsweek.bsky.social and how you can contribute before next week's deadline of May 1st.

‘What goes up, must come down: Promoting pupil independence through scaffolding’ - a @kirstinmul.bsky.social blog unpacking different practical scaffolding approaches - visual, verbal and written: educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/what-go...

A great read 👇 “But voters are not going to tell you how to govern the country. It is not their job. Relying on their opinions to try to deduce what to do leads not only to incoherence, but to a negative loop… if they just get their existing views fed back to them, there is nothing to learn from.”

Brutal and scary picture of how teenage girls are feeling ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2025/04/the-...

This is an interesting idea. I was always shocked by how common poor performance was in the civil service and how making cuts often led to the best people - who could find other jobs - leaving, rather than getting rid of under performers.

What’s incredible is that men have hardly smashed this leadership thing for the last six years…

“We are not naive to the fact that the jaw of the American President is made of glass & any perceived slight could shatter it into a thousand narcissistic shards.” Enjoying my @bylinetimes.bsky.social more than ever these days. @peterjukes.bsky.social

Absolutely brilliant to see the launch of this hugely important report from @thedifferenceed.bsky.social @ippr.bsky.social The report provides 10 recommendations to improve our school system for all. Informed by input from a Solutions Council, the recommendations are based on real expertise.

🫥 'With the publication of our report today, we are calling for every school to have leaders with inclusion expertise' @thedifferenceed.bsky.social CEO, Kiran Gill and @ippr.bsky.social research fellow, Efua Poku-Amanfo schoolsweek.co.uk/tackling-inv...

Attendance, exclusions and SEN are deeply related. How do we address this? Eleanor Harris, Head of the WiLL campaign at @thedifferenceed.bsky.social, shares three key points from the report: 1. Inclusion is the solution. 2. We need expert leaders. 3. We need measurable data systems.

It’s been an absolute pleasure and privilege to write this report with some of the most knowledgeable, committed & passionate educators in the country

Well this is terrifying

It’s been an honour to be involved in this work during my time @ippr.bsky.social, & to have helped author next week’s report, highlighted in @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social’s speech @ascl-uk.bsky.social conference today. Looking forward to hearing people’s thoughts on our big recommendations next week…

What a moment for the Who is Losing Learning Campaign. In a conversation with Pepe Di'Iasio, Bridget Phillipson shouted out our work. She emphasised how crucial this work is to improving outcomes for all students. Stay tuned for the release of our solutions report on Tuesday! #ASCL2025

Really ace piece in TES on how thr SEND system could look and feel different for children and schools

Campaign to make all civil service submissions to Ministers have this as an option. Evidence base for “cash transfers”- i.e. just giving people money - is really strong & we should do it more.

On Monday our Senior Policy Advisor @cristinobrien.bsky.social presented at the Bromley Discussion Forum giving a sneak preview of our upcoming report on inclusion👀 The meeting discussed how inclusion is measurable and what that looks like for schools and local authorities. More coming on March 18!

Anyone who wonders why it’s so hard to get health to do more on SEND should read this👇 Health is a “hotchpotch of agencies & organisations, mashed together & torn apart by reforms, initiatives and reorganisations, by concessions & compromises so ancient they have formed their own sedimentary layers”

“The Trump administration is a soap opera. The purpose of every episode is to demonstrate the star’s brilliance. The reason why this story has yet to run its course is the main theme of the Trump soap opera: that the star is especially brilliant when it comes to making deals.”

Ukraine: Some disparate thoughts on a horrifying day... This is basically a scream of hatred and anguish, which gradually develops into something marginally more positive. I'm going to have a drink. It's not too early. iandunt.substack.com/p/some-dispa...

“Ofsted ratings and league tables rightly reward academic performance but fail to capture how schools support their most vulnerable pupils. Too often, those who need the most help are quietly moved on to protect results.”

Great article from Freddie on the balance between standards & engagement. Although I’m becoming increasingly skeptical of the supposed trade-off between the two. Surely, school standards can only be “high” if children are actually attending & included? Otherwise it’s just “high standards” for some?

“‘high standards’ currently too often means ‘high standards for some’."👈 Our report found that children living in poverty, with identified SEN, in contact with social services, & from some ethnic minority backgrounds miss the most education. Children cannot learn if they are not in school.

Inclusion starts with admissions. Schools should welcome all children from their local community, regardless of background, circumstances, or additional needs. But too often, this is not the case. The Who is Losing Learning? Campaign has shown change is possible.

This is key to addressing the growing attendance, exclusions, behaviour, and SEN crises. These challenges are related & inclusion can help solve them all. But only if we define inclusion in the broadest possible sense: all staff meeting the learning, wellbeing & safety needs of all children.

“Regardless of a diagnosis or label what’s almost always needed first is quality teaching or universal provision.” Great read on the knotty landscape of SEND identification. I’m with Ben on the debate around what’s “real” being less important than getting universal provision right.