DfE announces pilot of SEND assistive technology lending libraries for schools
Yesterday we were delighted to be at Middle Park Primary School in South East London, following the official launch of the Department for Education (DfE) new pilot scheme of “lending libraries” for assistive technology to support children and young people with special educational needs (SEND).
It was a great honour to meet Catherine McKinnell, Minister for School Standards who came to see an excellent example of how assistive technology has been implemented and is supporting pupils at Middle Park Primary. The pupils and staff did a brilliant job of demonstrating how assistive technology has had a positive impact on their pupils achievements and progress.
The Department for Education has partnered with CENMAC to advise on the scheme which will help schools in The Change Programme, 32 local authorities and around 4,000 schools, to borrow and trial a range of devices to suit the individual needs of their children and young people experiencing barriers to their learning.
Kathryn Stowell, Head of CENMAC said “We are very pleased to be advising for the Department of Education on this pilot of assistive technology lending libraries. We see this as a significant first step to raising awareness, so every child and young person, who could benefit from these technologies can, and will in the future.
Every day we see the impact assistive technology can have on children and young people’s communication and access to learning. Often small changes to inclusive technology can reignite engagement in learning. The current barriers to equitable access are the knowledge, skills and awareness of what technologies exist and how they are implemented to support individuals and impact whole school inclusion. We recognise the need for training and have welcomed the recent commissioned research on developing an assistive technology competency framework and the adding of Assistive Technology to initial teacher training. These steps are important in providing an education where every child has the opportunity to thrive. It is also crucial that the education workforce has the training needed and those who need the specialist support have access to the technology and professionals with the expertise in this field.
One of our students Khamani who has been supported by CENMAC throughout his education from reception through to the completion of college said “I think inclusion and assistive technology should be embedded in the foundation of all schools and education system so that means that students who could really benefit from it, know about it and have access to it and that all teachers and staff are trained, so they know how to use it and its’ benefits.”
We are excited about this pilot scheme and the potential impact on building awareness throughout education on the power of Assistive Technology to transform lives.
Related news articles:
> Thousands of children with SEND to benefit from assistive tech
> Read more about the new scheme in this Schools Week article
> Phillipson’s AI ‘revolution’: What schools need to know
