Fixing systemic problems with Send funding and inclusion

‘How many Guardian readers – or journalists – can tell the difference between the word “since” used as a subordinating conjunction and as a preposition?’ Photograph: Getty/Image Source

Your report highlights the impact of the inadequate funding of special educational needs and disabilities provision (Schools forced to cut back on support for Send pupils in England, poll finds, 23 April). However, this moment should prompt not just concern about diminishing support, but a more fundamental examination of the system that produces these pressures in the first place.

I lead a school with a significantly higher-than-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils with Send. For us, inclusion is not an add-on but a commitment embedded in relationships and practice. The issue is not solely financial. It is also about approach, language, culture and what schools are incentivised to value. Without that foundation, increased funding alone will not deliver what our Send children need.