With the long-awaited Schools White Paper on the horizon, hopes are high — but so is the risk of disappointment.
Drawing on the humour of a festive metaphor, NASS CEO Claire Dorer OBE reflects on what happens if we don't quite get what we want.
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Excitement is building, we have written our lists, we know what we want and we are crossing everything we are going to get it. We know it’s going to be a late present but surely that just means there’s been even more time to get us something perfect?
The combination of the imminent arrival of both the festive season and the Schools White Paper has sent my metaphor-loving brain into overdrive! Both create a sense of anticipation, and both can walk a very fine line between excitement and disappointment. We are all hoping to unwrap a Millennium Falcon … but what happens if we get a foot spa instead? If you want the short, visual answer to this, please see our video below – lovingly hand-crafted by the NASS team as our homework in this year’s ‘getting to grips with technology’ task. If you’d like a more considered approach, read on …
>> Watch our short festive video
In the case of the SEND Reforms, it is difficult to see us getting something that makes all stakeholders happy … unless the magic money tree is a real thing. On paper, it seems like an almost impossible task to meet the needs of children, families, schools and the wishes of local authorities whilst satisfying the Treasury’s desire to control public finances. Couple this with the length of time we have been waiting and the very evident difficulties everyone in the SEND system is experiencing, it is highly likely that we are going to get a White Paper that leaves us disappointed. The key question is, what do we do with that disappointment?
Throwing ourselves to the ground and drumming our heels against the floor, screaming ‘not fair’ is a valid option – metaphorically of course! We didn’t want a foot spa – we wanted a spaceship! If/when we get a White Paper that is largely silent on the ongoing role of special schools or pits part of the system against others, NASS will fight to get something better. We will lobby hard to get changes made to legislation and campaign to get the views of our schools heard. We won’t be alone – there’s going to be a huge amount of public affairs ‘noise’ when this hits.
Another option is to accept what we get and learn to love it. We might even do this so well that we don’t believe that there’s any problem with the White Paper – and there will inevitably be some commentators who love it, whatever is in it. More likely, we will find the bits we like about it and focus heavily on them, trying to ignore the bits we are less keen on. A foot spa is a lovely thing really – I’d never appreciated how soothing the bubbles feel against your feet.
Working with special schools, the superpower I see on a daily basis is the ability to repurpose and synthesise. Special schools are used to taking something less than perfect and which doesn’t fit their learners and adjusting and adapting it until they get something that works. It’s highly likely that this approach will be needed again when we get the Schools White Paper. We will have to stick our space figures in the foot spa and pretend it’s an all-terrain vehicle, destined for the strange new worlds! We don’t expect there to be much explicit mention of special schools other than ‘of course’ there will always be a role for them for children with ‘the most complex needs’. Whether we get more detail than that is uncertain, leaving the sector with the task of working out what that role should be and who and how it works best for.
Schools are good at this and special schools generally operate to a background theme tune of ‘Carry on Regardless’. It’s a strength in that we recognise our role in how legislation translates into practice – and also how much we can do without, or even in spite of, that legislation. However, it’s also a weight that special school leaders will carry as the people who others look to when they are feeling angry, fearful or uncertain about what will be expected of them when the system changes. Recognising the emotional burden of change in ourselves and others is key to addressing it and ensuring that leaders and their teams are not overwhelmed or paralysed into thinking that they are powerless. I see this as a key risk of the Schools White Paper – that the feelings it evokes will be more powerful than what its contents might mean in practice. Ignoring it is a risk – acknowledging it and holding hopefulness will be a key leadership skill. I’ll be playing my own part in this with the work of NASS … but I am still going to enjoy a few minutes of the throwing myself to the ground shouting ‘not fair’ bit!
Working with special schools, the superpower I see on a daily basis is the ability to repurpose and synthesise. Special schools are used to taking something less than perfect and which doesn’t fit their learners and adjusting and adapting it until they get something that works. It’s highly likely that this approach will be needed again when we get the Schools White Paper. We will have to stick our space figures in the foot spa and pretend it’s an all-terrain vehicle, destined for the strange new worlds! We don’t expect there to be much explicit mention of special schools other than ‘of course’ there will always be a role for them for children with ‘the most complex needs’. Whether we get more detail than that is uncertain, leaving the sector with the task of working out what that role should be and who and how it works best for.
Schools are good at this and special schools generally operate to a background theme tune of ‘Carry on Regardless’. It’s a strength in that we recognise our role in how legislation translates into practice – and also how much we can do without, or even in spite of, that legislation. However, it’s also a weight that special school leaders will carry as the people who others look to when they are feeling angry, fearful or uncertain about what will be expected of them when the system changes. Recognising the emotional burden of change in ourselves and others is key to addressing it and ensuring that leaders and their teams are not overwhelmed or paralysed into thinking that they are powerless. I see this as a key risk of the Schools White Paper – that the feelings it evokes will be more powerful than what its contents might mean in practice. Ignoring it is a risk – acknowledging it and holding hopefulness will be a key leadership skill. I’ll be playing my own part in this with the work of NASS … but I am still going to enjoy a few minutes of the throwing myself to the ground shouting ‘not fair’ bit!