Latest news with #JennyRiddellCarpenter
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Suffolk MP calls for 'urgent action' on school road safety
An MP has called for "urgent action" to improve road safety outside schools as she felt children were at serious risk every Riddell-Carpenter, Labour MP for Suffolk Coastal, has started a petition asking government to urge Suffolk County Council to put together a tailored road safety plan for every MP said she was "shocked" and "really touched" to hear children bring up this issue themselves during her school county council said it took road safety education "very seriously". "I visited schools across my constituency and I was really shocked that one of the things most of the children wanted to talk about in the rural primary schools was road safety," said Riddell-Carpenter."Naturally parents and teachers are concerned too, but it was hearing stories from the children and the genuine anxiety they had because they felt the roads around their primary schools weren't safe." Riddell-Carpenter said the tailored road safety plans would outline measures such as 20mph speed limits, appropriate crossings, enforcement and walking petition will run until the first week of September before being presented to said the petition was part of her plan to launch a national campaign later in the year seeking tighter laws surrounding road safety at council said it was already reviewing its criteria around approving the introduction of more 20mph speed limits outside schools, with a report due by the end of the year, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Rachael Rudge, head teacher of Bucklesham Primary near Ipswich, said her school sat on a junction of two roads of 30mph and 60mph."Many of our parents have to park on the 60mph road on our boundary and cross that road to drop their child off. We have no safety barrier at our main pedestrian gate," she saidWhile the school has had no incidents involving a pupil, Ms Rudge said there had been some near misses with parents. School's programme The council said it would support schools on an individual basis "as necessary and within the resources available".A spokesperson said for over 20 years it had also run the successful Junior Road Safety Officer programme which was "an effective way to maximise the delivery of road safety awareness through peer-to-peer education from young people who know their local area".The programme is open to all primary schools and in the past year 61 schools had participated. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More than 50% of Send children miss school
More than 50% of children have missed school because their special educational needs and disabilities (Send) could not be met, a Labour MP said. Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, who represents Suffolk Coastal, released a report reviewing her constituency's Send provision. She carried out a survey, and of the 97 families that responded, 58.8% said their children had missed school due to their needs not being met. In response, the council said it recognised it did not "always get things right", but it had taken steps already to improve the service. The report, Send in Crisis - a review of the Send challenges facing families in Suffolk Coastal - was based on her public survey and a Freedom of Information request. A total of 51.5% of families said they were struggling with Send-related challenges and did not have the support they needed. Meanwhile, 28.8% said their child was absent for more than a year. As well as this, there had been a 200% increase in appeals lodged against the county council over the past five years. While the report noted issues with Send provision was not limited to Suffolk, it said the system was "broken". "Too many families across Suffolk Coastal are suffering – and under unimaginable pressure - as they fight what feels like a losing battle, to get the most basic education, health and care provision for their children or young people with Send needs," the report read. It stated the council also "failed to deliver 60% of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) within the legal 20-week timeframe", worse than the national average of 50%. Six recommendations were made in the report: Additional specialist provision should be opened in the former free school in Saxmundham Work should be carried out with primary schools in rural locations with declining populations, to enable additional school capacity to open up in the next few years A national review and family-led conversation about the scale of the Send crisis should be held to recognise the severity and the devastating impacts The government should provide sustainable funding commitments for Send provision - one that meets today's demands and is scalable to meet the growing future demand The parents' and young people's experience of Send should be put at the heart of the solution, building it around the young person's needs Suffolk County Council must create clearer communications and action planning with families Sarah-Jane Smedmor, the council's executive director of children and young people's services, said it was "working hard" to improve Send provisions. She said the council had already earmarked the former free school in Saxmundham as a Send school and previously agreed to the creation of 200 new specialist Send places across the county. As well as this, the authority was "focusing on quality assurance and undertaking multi-agency audits" of EHCPs to ensure they were of a "good standard". "We know there is more to do, and our improvement plan will help ensure all of our children in Suffolk get the education and support that they need," Ms Smedmor added. The government had previously said it would invest £740m to increase the number of places for pupils with Send in mainstream English schools. Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell said the system had been "failing families with Send children for far too long" and while it would take time to fix the issues, the government remained "steadfast in our commitment to deliver the change". Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Send report 'a foundation for lasting change' New council boss hired after critical SEND report More Send staff puts service in 'better shape' Parents protest over lack of SEND school places Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP Suffolk County Council - Send
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Suffolk Send children missing school as needs not met
More than 50% of children have missed school because their special educational needs and disabilities (Send) could not be met, an MP Riddell-Carpenter, who represents Suffolk Coastal, released a report reviewing her constituency's Send provisions and made six recommendations to Suffolk County highlighted that 58.8% of families said their children had missed school due to their needs not being met, and 28.8% of those were absent for more than a response, the council said it recognised it did not "always get things right", but it had taken steps already to improve the service. The report, Send in Crisis - A review of the Send challenges facing families in Suffolk Coastal, highlighted 51.5% of families said they were struggling with Send-related challenges and did not have the support they well as this, there had been a 200% increase in appeals lodged against the county council over the past five the report noted issues with Send provisions were not limited to Suffolk, it said the system was "broken"."Too many families across Suffolk Coastal are suffering – and under unimaginable pressure - as they fight what feels like a losing battle, to get the most basic education, health and care provision for their children or young people with Send needs," the report stated the council also "failed to deliver 60% of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) within the legal 20-week timeframe", worse than the national average of 50%. Recommendations Six recommendations were made in the report:Additional specialist provision should be opened in the former Free School in SaxmundhamWork should be carried out with primary schools in rural locations with declining populations, to enable additional school capacity to open up in the next few yearsA national review and family-led conversation about the scale of the Send crisis should be held to recognise the severity and the devastating impacts The government should provide sustainable funding commitments for Send provision - one that meets today's demands and is scalable to meet the growing future demandThe parents' and young people's experience of Send should be put at the heart of the solution, building it around the young person's needsLocal County Council must create clearer communications and action planning with families 'Working hard' Sarah-Jane Smedmor, the council's executive director of children and young people's services, said it was "working hard" to improve Send said the council had already earmarked the former Free School in Saxmundham as a Send school and previously agreed to the creation of 200 new specialist Send places across the county. As well as this, the authority was "focusing on quality assurance and undertaking multi-agency audits" of EHCPs to ensure they were of a "good standard"."We know there is more to do, and our improvement plan will help ensure all of our children in Suffolk get the education and support that they need," Ms Smedmor government had previously said it would invest £740m to increase the number of places for pupils with Send in mainstream English Minister Catherine McKinnell said the system had been "failing families with Send children for far too long" and while it would take time to fix the issues, the government remained "steadfast in our commitment to deliver the change". Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
