Accessible summary The COVID‐19 pandemic has forced everyone to live at a social distance from other people. This has changed the way people live and are included socially. This paper focuses on the unexpected ways schools have altered and deepened social inclusion for children with learning disabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We interviewed six people: two people who work for a Local Authority, one Headteacher of a special school, one Special Educational Needs and Disability Consultant, one young person with a learning disability and her mother. The findings and conclusions show the “new normal” caused by COVID‐19 can help to deepen social inclusion for children with learning disabilities. For example, it can help children communicate in alternative ways with their teachers and friends. It can help families to understand more about their son/daughter's educational abilities; this means they can advocate better for them. It can help professionals to meet the needs of children with learning disabilities more quickly. We do not enjoy living at a social distance from everyone else, but we do want to make sure that lessons can be learnt from this moment in time. Abstract Background To slow the spread of COVID‐19, on 20 March 2020, nurseries, schools and colleges across England were closed to all learners, apart from those who were children of key workers or were considered “vulnerable.” As young people with learning disabilities, families, professionals and schools become acquainted with the Erfahrung of the new horizon brought about by COVID‐19, the negativity of altered social inclusion is becoming the “new normal.” Capturing this transitory moment in time, this paper reflexively analyses the curiously productive variables of altered ecological pathways to social inclusion for people with learning disabilities. Methods Taking a hermeneutic stance, this paper draws on Gadamer's construction of the nature of new experiences. Focussed on the experience of social inclusion during the COVID‐19 pandemic, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with six key stakeholders. As the phenomenon in question was new, an inductive approach to thematic analysis was applied. Findings The critical tenet of this paper is that the Erfahrung of COVID‐19 has created the conditions for a “new normal” which have afforded children with learning disabilities altered opportunities for social inclusion, whether that be through increased power/agency for them and their families and/or new modes of connectedness leading to enhanced relationships. Conclusion Whilst the impact of COVID‐19 has been a negative one for many aspects of society, application of Simplican and Gadamer's theories on social inclusion and the nature of new experiences has permitted the surfacing of new possibilities for the soci...

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This article considers implications for partnership working across the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system in England, at a time when a long-overdue SEND Review is imminent and the SEND Code of Practice 2015 is awaiting a significant overhaul. It highlights the role local policy actors occupy within this system, as the progression of the Covid-19 pandemic moves SEND partnerships towards a 'new normal' and there is heightened concern about missed opportunities for reform and renewal. Previously published findings from an online questionnaire (n = 100) undertaken by the Special Educational Needs Policy Research Forum provided insight into how school staff had been supported in the teaching of pupils with SEND during periods of school closures and what lessons had been learned. The present article offers a thematic analysis of the narrative responses provided in addition to the closed survey questions. The analysis generated six statements that can be understood as lessons learned from the pandemic for partnership working, drawing on the experiences of parents, school staff, and advising professionals working in local authorities.