Minister for SEND Visit

I was pleased to welcome the Minister responsible for to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to Alde Valley academy for a tour and roundtable last week. Together with school leaders and head teachers we discussed the challenges schools are facing, the pressures on families, and the urgent need for a system that works better for children with SEND.

Although Catherine has now left her ministerial role, my work with the Department for Education, the new Minister, as well as the Secretary of State and officials is continuing - and I look forward to shortly briefing the new Minister on the issues facing families here in Suffolk Coastal.

A big thank you to everyone who took part in such an open and constructive conversation, and to Alde Valley Academy for hosting us, along with headteachers and representatives from local schools including Snape, Fairfield and Colneis, Yoxford and Peasenhall Primary School and Nursery, Middleton, Aldeburgh Primary School Avocet Academy, Saxmundham Primary School, Melton Primary School and Nursery, Bucklesham Primary School, and Coldfair Green Primary School, as well as from the Kingfisher Trust and the East Anglia Schools Trust.