Academy trust boss Tom Rees will lead a new expert panel to oversee reforms to make mainstream schools more inclusive as part of the government’s plan to fix the broken system for pupils with special needs. Dame Christine Lenehan, the former director of the Council for Disabled Children, has also been appointed the government’s “strategic advisor” on SEND. She will advise ministers on the next steps for the future of SEND playing “a key role in engaging the sector, including leaders, practitioners, children and families”, the Department for Education said. Rees’ expert advisory group will advise ministers on improving mainstream education experiences for youngsters with SEND “so that all children feel like they belong”. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said while she “wants the best trusts to grow”, she “knows the current system incentivised some to adopt a competitive, rather than a collaborative model, and others to avoid more challenging communities”. “But that chase for a narrow shadow of excellence, the kind that only succeeds by pushing problems onto others, that ends now.” ‘Schools avoiding challenging …