Member

Amendment 441, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Addington, seeks to exempt schools from offering the national curriculum to pupils with special educational needs or disabilities. I understand his motive in probing the Government’s position in this area, which we will have plenty more time to debate and think about in detail. Wherever they can effectively be supported to do so, pupils with SEND should have the opportunity to achieve and thrive in their local mainstream school. That includes accessing the national curriculum. Assistive technology is one means by which pupils with SEND can thrive in a mainstream setting—there are important lessons that we want to learn and develop about the contribution of assistive technology in supporting pupils—but it is not the only one. We would not want to give schools the message that assistive technology should be a way of denying children access to the national curriculum. Of course, some pupils with SEND will struggle to access the full national curriculum. In such cases, arrangements can be made to disapply it; for example, through an education, health and care plan.