Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

SEND Strategy

Monday 16 June 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Rachael Maskell raised concerns about the culture within schools affecting children with SEND in York.
  • The Minister acknowledged the importance of collaboration with parents and experts to drive forward SEND reforms.
  • John Glen highlighted a constituent's initiative, Corefulness, aimed at improving essential movement skills for children.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Rachael Maskell Labour (Co-op) York Central
Children & Families
Context

In York, there has been a sharp rise in diagnosis of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). A SEND-focused family hub has been established to address this issue.

Question

Given the sharp rise in diagnosis in York of children with SEND, we have established a SEND-focused family hub. We are also reviewing other services. I am particularly concerned about the culture within schools. We need nurturing and inclusive education, so that we have a therapeutic learning environment. Will the Minister say what she is doing to ensure that schools, local authorities and others can feed into the White Paper to share best practice and raise concerns?

Answer from The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)

I know that my hon. Friend cares very deeply about this issue. I can reassure her that we are actively collaborating with sector parents and experts on how we drive forward our SEND reforms. That includes working closely with Dame Christine Lenehan, our strategic adviser on SEND, and Tom Rees, who leads the expert advisory group on inclusion. Changes we make will focus on improving support for children and parents, ending that fight for support, and protecting existing provision. We are listening very closely as we develop the plans.

Answered
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Q2 John Glen Con Salisbury
Children & Families
Context

A constituent, Elizabeth Cordle, came to John Glen's surgery with a programme called Corefulness, which is a series of short, simple, evidence-based exercise programmes designed to mature essential movement skills and help improve a child’s readiness to learn and break down barriers to learning. She believes the programme has potential for wider application in addressing SEND.

Question

It is rare but very encouraging when a constituent comes into a surgery with some solutions. A couple of months ago, Elizabeth Cordle came into my surgery to talk about Corefulness, which is a series of short, simple, evidence-based exercise programmes to mature essential movement skills and help improve a child’s readiness to learn and break down barriers to learning. She is uncertain on how exactly it could be applied to assist with SEND, but she is absolutely clear that, through the national roll-out that she is leading, it has enormous potential. Will the Minister engage with me and Elizabeth so that as the strategy is being developed, we can examine whether that programme has a wider application?

Answer from The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)

I agree that we need to take a constructive and collaborative approach in how we improve outcomes for all children, and intervene in children’s lives to ensure their needs are met at the earliest stage possible. We will support schools to do that in any way we can. I would be more than happy to engage with the right hon. Gentleman on his constructive suggestion.

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