Stock image of school children NEARLY 200 Oxfordshire children have to be educated outside the county to get help with special educational needs, a higher number than other neighbouring counties. A total of 400 children from the county with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are getting help through specialist independent schools, not funded directly by the state. From those, there is room for 209 in Oxfordshire, with the remaining 191 educated out of county. And out of those educated outside of Oxfordshire, 59 have to travel further than to neighbouring counties like Berkshire or Northamptonshire. In total, this currently costs £20m a year to the public purse, and Oxfordshire County Council is trying to find ways to educate more children with SEND within the county.
EDUCATION experts in Oxfordshire have derided the decision to keep secondary schools closed for an extra two weeks. Yesterday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that secondary schools across most of England would remain closed for an extra two weeks due to rising cases of Covid-19. Secondary schools and colleges should only allow vulnerable children, children of critical workers and exam students to attend. Remaining students are expected to go back on January 11. Primary schools will return as planned on Monday – aside from those in some London boroughs and areas of the South East. Oxfordshire pupils will return as normal. Mr Williamson’s announcement, designed to allow time for mass testing plans in secondary schools and colleges, has been met with scepticism in Oxfordshire.