Teach Primary Issue 19.5

www.teachwire.ne t | 23 F or too long, our education system has neatly boxed issues of race and disability into separate silos, discussed in isolation, addressed with surface-level strategies, and conveniently forgotten when the discomfort gets too loud. But what happens when these identities collide? Inclusion without intersectionality is not inclusion at all. What happens to the Black child with autism who is misunderstood as ‘aggressive’? What happens to the South Asian parent who is told their child has additional needs, but never in their language, never with empathy, and never with clarity? What happens to the Global Majority teacher who has all the skills but none of the sponsorship to move beyond their middle leadership role? In 2020, when the murder of George Floyd forced mainstream schools to reckon with their complicity in systemic racism, there were statements. Policies. Suddenly, terms like ‘decolonising the curriculum’ and ‘diversity in leadership’ became part of the national dialogue. But in all of that, SEND settings were silent. The sector that serves our most vulnerable pupils, many of them also Global Majority, was excluded from the conversation altogether. My own journey in education, from the classroom to senior leadership, has been shaped by persistent, often invisible barriers. As a woman of colour, I have been overlooked, underestimated, and often left to fight for spaces that were simply handed to others. I have sat in meetings where behaviour was racialised, where leadership was homogenised, and where SEND was treated as something other, something separate from the rest of school life. And I have stood beside families – South Asian, Black African, Eastern European – who were navigating complex, jargon-filled SEND systems without maps, guides, or advocates. They were blamed for disengagement, when no one had taken the time to speak in their language, or in a way that made sense to them. They were judged for ‘not accepting’ their child’s diagnosis when no one had explained it with cultural understanding. So, what can we do? There are four pillars that I believe are critical for truly anti-racist SEND education: • Multicultural education that goes beyond festivals and food, and instead recognises lived experience, cultural narratives, and history. • Increased representation , particularly in leadership, where those making the w .teachwire.net | 17 A letter to... Education is failing pupils at the intersection of race and SEND, and it’s time to make it stop, says Priya Bhagrath ... Each issueweaskacontributor to penanote theywould love to send school leaders Priya Bhagrath is a headteacher with over 20 years’ experience working in special education. Her book, Creating an Anti-Racist Curriculum for Children with Special Educational Needs (£21.99, Routledge), is out now. VO I C E S decisions should reflect the communities they serve. • Decolonising the curriculum so SEND pupils are not fed a diluted, colour-blind education, but one that reflects who they are and the world they live in. • Anti-racist practice embedded in every part of school life, from the language we use with parents to the expectations we hold for our staff – and the training we provide for them. This is a call for collective action. The pupils at the intersection of race and SEND are not just underachieving, they are being failed by a system that was never designed with them in mind. The data on exclusions, outcomes, and engagement paints the picture clearly ( tinyurl.com/ tp-exclusion ). We do not need more evidence, we need resolve. If you are a headteacher, a policymaker, a teacher, a parent, or someone working in education with a desire to lead with equity, then this plea is for you. It is not comfortable, but it is necessary. We cannot keep rolling out saris for sensory play and calling it multicultural inclusion. We cannot keep hiring diverse staff without opening up real pathways to leadership. We cannot keep writing off families for being ‘hard to reach’ when we have not even tried. If you believe inclusion matters, then intersectionality must be at the heart of your work. From, Priya “This is a call for collective action. Inclusion without intersectionality is not inclusion at all”