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Children and young people with special educational needs and disability 0 to 25 yearsContext and key priorities 2017-2019

Working together on the Isle of Wight

ContentsIntroduction 2

The Isle of Wight Context 2

Background 4

Aim 5

What are we aiming to do 5

Key priorities 6Working with other statutory and voluntary bodies to provide support for children with SEN 8

Appendix 1: SEN Support: guidance for early years providers, mainstreams schools and colleges

Appendix 2: Isle of Wight Local Area SEND action plan Available on request, please email sen@iow.gov.uk Appendix 3: Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Available online at www.iwight.com/Council/OtherServices/Isle-of-Wight-Facts-and-Figures/Joint-Strategic-Needs-Assessment-JSNA Appendix 4: Isle of Wight Children and Young People’s Plan 2014-2017Available online at: https://www.iwight.com/documentlibrary/view/children-young-people-s-plan-2014-2017 Appendix 5: Isle of Wight Children’s Trust Strategic Plan Available online at: www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/2757-2016-2018-Childrens-Trust-Strategic-Plan.pdfAppendix 6: Isle of Wight Children’s Trust Thresholds ChartAvailable online at https://www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/2757-LSCB-Thresholds-Chart-Final-010414.pdf Appendix 7: Statistics: Special Educational Needs (SEN) (DfE)

www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-special-educational-needs-sen

Available online at https://www.iwight.com/documentlibrary/view/special-education-needs-support

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Introduction

The 2014 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms have offered the Isle of Wight Local Authority the opportunity to refl ect on the practice and procedures relating to special educational needs (SEN) on the Island. The Local Authority is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEN, building on the existing services and quality of provision that already exists within the Local Authority.

The Isle of Wight Context

The Isle of Wight, with 57 miles of coastline, is largely a rural area, of which 80% is taken up by agriculture and horticulture, and 50% is classifi ed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Isle of Wight has 39 Electoral Wards served by 40 Councillors (Brading, St Helens and Bembridge has two Councillors). At the last election of the Isle of Wight Council in May 2017 there was an overall Conservative majority. In addition there are 25 Parish and 8 Town councils. The Isle of Wight is the eleventh largest unitary authority in the South East region.

The Island has a population approaching 139,105 (mid 2014), the vast majority of whom are white British (94.8%) of which 27,731 are children and young people under the age of 18. Children and young people make up just 20.9% of the population of the Isle of Wight. There is an ageing population and economic activity rates are low. Nearly 50% of the population are aged over 45 and one in four are of retirement age. 56.6% of the resident population aged

16 to 74 are in employment, compared to a national average of 60.6% (Census 2011. Crown Copyright). For further data about the Isle of Wight can be found at www.iwight.com/Council/OtherServices/Isle-of-Wight-Facts-and-Figures/Joint-Strategic-Needs-Assessment-JSNA

There are a total of 51 schools comprising 40 primary schools including academies, 8 secondary schools including academies, and 2 special schools and 1 Pupil Referral Centre. Most secondary providers on the Island have sixth form provision. Post-16 provision is provided at our General Further Education provider the Isle of Wight College along with several Work Based Learning Providers. More information about this offer can be found at www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/1696-Island-Futures-Booklet-Web-Version-16.10.2015.pdf

It is the Local Authority’s policy to integrate children and young people with disabilities in mainstream settings where this is appropriate for their learning. However, some children and young people have needs that are so signifi cant and complex that they require specialist facilities and resources. This is provided at Medina House for our primary sector and St George’s for the secondary sector and in some cases with independent specialist providers both locally and on the mainland.

The Isle of Wight also has four specialist provisions that provide support to pupils with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Two of these provisions cater for our primary sector and are based at Greenmount Primary School and Broadlea Primary School; each has six full-time

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places. For pupils in our secondary sector, these provisions have 12 full-time equivalent places each and are based at Carisbrooke College and Sandown Bay Academy. In addition to providing pupils with specialist support, these provisions provide opportunities for integration so that pupils and students can also experience a mainstream setting alongside their peer group, when appropriate and where this is in the best interests of the pupil.

There is a strong relationship between the Local Authority and its community of schools, including the academies. Details of the Isle of Wight schools, and the SEN provision available can be found at www.iwight.com/Residents/Schools-and-Learning/Schools/School-Contacts and for our Early Years provision which can be found at www.iwight.com/localoffer/View/zzzPre-school/Early-Years-Provision-and-SEN-Information

We recognise the importance of taking into account the needs of all children and young people identifi ed as having SEND, the majority of whom receive their education in a mainstream setting. As of summer 2016, there were 16,772 children that attended school (R-2 to Year 14). Within this cohort there are currently 388 statemented children (2.3%) and 199 with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan (1.2%) [R-2 to Year 14] and of these, 227 attend a special school, this represents 3.5% of children on the Island who have a statement/EHC plan with 1.4% attending a special school place. The Island has a good mixture of small, medium and large primary/secondary schools with the majority of children receiving their fi rst choice placement.

2,396 children within this cohort received SEN Support this represents 14.3% of the cohort. The Island has a good mixture of small, medium and large primary/secondary schools with the majority of children receiving their fi rst choice placement.

Through the EFA (Education Funding Agency) and coordinated by the Local Authority there are a further 259 post-16 High Needs places. The Local Authority has allocated the following High Needs (Element 3) post-16 places across the Island for 2017/18:

Post-16 Provider High Needs places

Isle of Wight College 160

Carisbrooke College 4

Cowes Enterprise College 4

Medina College 5

Sandown Bay Academy 6

Ryde Academy 3

Christ the King College 5

St Catherine’s School 29

St George’s 40

HTP 3

TOTAL 259

In October 2013 the Local Authority invited the Isle of Wight College to become a “centre of excellence” for Learners with Learning Diffi culties and Disabilities (LLDD) post-16 and to set up a discrete building to include the specialist facilities required to meet their needs. The proposal was to

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bid for DGCF (Demographic Growth Capital Fund) funding for a discrete block for LLDD students to be built on the college campus in close proximity to the Learning Resources Centre, which houses the current LLDD department.

The Local Authority were notifi ed at the end of 2013 of the successful bid which provided funding of £2.4m, for a building consisting of two storeys with a size of 1,180sqm based on forecast growth of 55 LLDD students by 2016/17. Numbers of young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Diffi culties (PMLD) are growing on the Island and the new centre would ensure that students have the option of staying on the Island near their families, rather than attending a residential facility on the mainland or remaining at school.

The new resource (Pathways) opened in September 2015.

Requirements for local authorities to put in place an accessibility strategy are specifi ed in schedule 10 of the Act: Accessibility for disabled pupils. This schedule provides for accessibility arrangements for pupils in schools as set out in section 88. The Islands Accessibility Strategy can be viewed at www.iwight.com/documentlibrary/view/children-s-service-accessibility-strategy-2014-16

Background

Isle of Wight and Hampshire County Council entered into an innovative partnership in September 2014 and since then offi cers from both local authorities have been working together to support rapid improvement in both educational and children’s social care provision across the Island. Whilst rapid improvement has been recognised in both areas locally and nationally we recognise that there are still improvements to be made.

The Children and Families Act and funding reforms in 2014 have brought about a signifi cant change in the relationship between the Local Authority and post-16 institutions. Local authorities now directly commission and fund post-16 high needs provision and have responsibility for Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, including naming the education or training provider. This strengthens the need for local authorities and post-16 institutions to work closely together to support the development of the best outcomes for young people.

Local authorities and post-16 providers both want to support young people to achieve and make a successful transition to adult life including employment, independent living, making friends and being a part of the community and good health. These are the four areas key to preparation for their adult life and being able to be as independent as possible. Working together is essential to ensure that placements are made in the best interest of the young person, and achieve good outcomes and value for money.

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The Short Breaks Programme supports parents and families with disabled children. The establishment of the family support service aims to improve the co-ordination of services available to families.

The Local Authority analyses data to help ensure that provision is available to meet demand, for example increasing the number of places at Medina House School to meet increased demand for Primary places for children with complex learning diffi culties and developing a strategy to support pupils with complex social, emotional and mental health diffi culties.

Educational provision across the Island has, as previously been mentioned, improved rapidly. Indeed the latest release of educational attainment fi gures indicates improvement at all key stages, particularly in the early years. However provision for pupils with special educational needs is still not good enough and there is a signifi cant gap in the achievement of pupils with special educational needs against the rest of the school population. There is a focus on inclusion so that children with SEND are able, as far as possible, to attend their local mainstream school. This requires a focus on the provision and support that can be made available to the mainstream schools to enable this to happen. There needs to be a cultural change by both parents/carers and schools that children and young people with SEN can be effectively supported within a mainstream setting, and that progress can be made with the correct approach. Feedback from parents/carers, the information provided by schools when requests for EHC needs assessment and indeed the statistics relating to

parents/carers who opt to electively home educate their children refl ects the lack of confi dence in schools abilities to fully meet the needs of children and young people with SEN. The need to work closely with schools to improve schools ability to support pupils with SEN and to close the gap in achievement is recognised and is a key focus for Local Authority offi cers and partner agencies.

We are also working closely with colleagues in health and social care to ensure that a more co-ordinated approach is made towards ensuring families receive the support they need, and that along with the voluntary sector, services work in a much more integrated way so that quality provision and positive outcomes for children and young people 0-25 can be realised.

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Aim

Isle of Wight Council and its partner agencies are committed to improving the outcomes and life chances of all children and young people on the Island. Our aims are to strengthen inclusive opportunities for learning and living for all children and young people with SEND 0 to 25 years, to promote their achievements and outcomes and to use resources in the fairest and most effective way possible.

What we are aiming to do

In common with other local authorities we are implementing the most signifi cant reforms in SEN for thirty years. We acknowledge that the changes needed will take time, and will evolve over time, but we are committed to realising these reforms working in partnership with health, social care and with parents, carers and young people themselves. We will ensure that:

• children’s SEN are picked up early and support is routinely put in place quickly

• staff have the knowledge, understanding and skills to provide the right support for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled

• parents know what they can reasonably expect their local school, college, Local Authority and local services to provide, without having to fi ght for it

• aspirations for children and young people are raised through an increased focus on life outcomes

• for more complex needs, an integrated assessment and an EHC plan from birth to 25 (is in place)

• there is greater control for parents and young people over the services they and their family use.

The three key areas of focus for the reforms have been:

• the introduction of a new birth to 25, EHC plan to replace statements of SEN and learning diffi culty assessments (LDAs). There is also an associated requirement to undertake ‘Transfer Reviews’ to move those with a statement of SEN or LDA on to an EHC plan by April 2018

• the introduction of optional personal budgets for some families with an EHC plan to give greater independence, choice and control over the services they use to meet the assessed needs of their child or the young person

• the Isle of Wight Local Offer - a website providing details of all local health, education, social care, leisure services and support for children and young people with special educational needs or who are disabled. The website can be found at www.iwight.com/localoffer

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Key priorities

The following have been identifi ed as the key priorities that this strategy needs to address:

1. Partnership and co-production with parents/carers, children and young people with special educational needs and/or disability

2. Early recognition of needs and appropriate intervention

3. Strengthening inclusion and improving provision for children and young people with SEN in mainstream settings

4. Ensuring local provision is responsive to and meets local need and improves outcomes

5. Fair and effi cient use of resources

6. Integrated working between agencies.

Defi ning our children and young people with SEND 0 to 25 years

In this strategy it is recognised that SEND encompasses children and young people with a broad range of needs. For some the focus of support will be wholly educational. For others, their families will need support from a number of statutory services and this will continue throughout their childhood and possibly into adulthood. A child or young person may have special educational needs or a disability or both.

Special Educational Needs

The defi nition used in the SEND Code of Practice: 0-25 years (2015) remains statutory and is as follows:

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning diffi culty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning diffi culty or disability if he or she has a signifi cantly greater diffi culty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Disability

The Equality Act (2010) has replaced all existing equality legislation including the Disability Discrimination Act. Within this, disability is defi ned when:

a) the person has a physical or mental impairment, and

b) the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activitiesEquality Act (2010)

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Priority 1 - Working in partnership with families, children and young people

• Work in partnership with Parents Voice IW

• Ensure families, children and young people feel fully engaged, listened to and better informed

• Ensure attention is paid to the needs of individual children and young people

• Ensure decision makers have regard to parental preferences

• Enable parents and young people to make informed choices by making information accessible and readily available, particularly via the Local Offer

• Priority 2 - Early recognition of needs and appropriate intervention

• Ensure children and young people’s additional needs are recognised early and preventative action is taken that helps children overcome their diffi culties and enables them to realise their potential

• Ensure professionals recognise when children transfer from one setting to another that this may require careful planning

Priority 3 - Strengthening inclusion and provision for children and young people with SEN in mainstream settings

• Ensure that schools and colleges provide high quality educational provision for all children and young people with SEN

• Ensure that schools, colleges and other agencies take responsibility for all children and young people within their local community, ensuring there is appropriate support

• Ensure that all providers are compliant with the Equality Act 2010 and have clear policies and guidance for staff, developing their knowledge, skills and understanding of equalities so that all pupils are well supported

• Make inclusion meaningful, in all settings, in accessing learning, activities, opportunities and services

• All children and young people are valued and supported to overcome their diffi culties

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Priority 4 - Ensuring local provision is responsive to local need and improves outcomes

• A continuum of effective provision within mainstream schools, special schools and post-16 providers to support identifi ed and future needs of vulnerable learners

• Provide outreach support in a fl exible and responsive way

• Support collaboration between mainstream and specialist/special provision to give children and young people access to provision according to their needs

• Maintain a focus on outcomes, and the four preparation for adulthood outcomes:

• Employment

• Independent Living

• Community Inclusion

• Health

Priority 5 - Fair and effi cient use of resources

• Allocate available resources to support children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities fairly, effi ciently and transparently.

• Offer greater accountability to parents/carers

• Develop the offer of jointly commissioned personal budgets to enhance parents/carers or young person’s choice and control

• Establish needs and ensure there is appropriate provision to meet those needs

Priority 6 - Integrated working between agencies

• Ensure that the Local Authority (including children’s and adult services), health commissioners and providers, education providers and other frontline providers of support, including the voluntary sector, work together in an effi cient and fully joined up way

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Working with other statutory and voluntary bodies to provide support for children and young people with SEN

In order to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs, Isle of Wight Council has built successful partnerships with statutory and voluntary bodies to ensure that services are joined up and are more than the sum of their parts.

The Children’s Services Department is working with health services and voluntary and special interest groups to develop systems and protocols for multi agency working, joint funding arrangements and information sharing. Examples of multi agency initiatives include:

Special Educational Needs (SEN) Service - along with its education, health and social care partners the Isle of Wight Council’s SEN Service is jointly responsible for identifying and assessing learners’ special educational needs and disabilities. The SEN Assessment and Review team manages the statutory education, health and care needs assessment and subsequent Education Health and Care plans including placing and reviewing the special education arrangements for approximately 900 Isle of Wight learners, aged 0-25 years.

The SEN Service commissions and manages the other statutory arrangements in the Children and Family Act 2014 (part 3) and the Education Act 1996, including:

• ensuring suffi ciency of special educational placements

• representation of the Local Authority’s interests in the First Tier Tribunal (SEND)

• commissioning provision of independent information, advice and support to families, children and young people; independent support; disagreement resolution and mediation.

The County Service Manager leads the strategic positioning of the service, supported by two Education Offi cers one of whom is the Lead Offi cer for the Isle of Wight. There is an SEN Service Manager responsible for the SEN support teams within the Service.

The SEN Service is leading on and contributing to a wide range of developments, in response to the wide-ranging SEN reforms.

Parents Voice IW - Parents Voice IW began with a small group of dedicated parents who wanted their voices to be heard in respect of the provision available for their children with special educational needs. This core group of volunteers paved the way for the formation of Parents Voice IW and some continue to provide the drive and enthusiasm that keeps the group going.

The aims of Parents Voice IW are:

• to create, develop and sustain a parent forum on the Isle of Wight representing parents and carers of children with SEN and/or disabilities that will:

- Champion our children's access to opportunities that help them to thrive and reach their full potential, and

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- Work with providers (eg Local Authority) and other organisations to raise standards and improve support and services for our children and their families. www.parentsvoice-iw.co.uk

SEND IASS - offers free, impartial, confi dential advice and support to parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and or disability (0-25), and to young people themselves. The service changed following the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the new SEND Code of Practice. The SENDIASS legal obligations and responsibilities are set out in Chapter 2 of the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

In addition to offering an impartial, confi dential service to parents and carers of children and young people with SEN and disability, we now offer a service to children and young people, who may want to receive information, advice or support themselves. www.iowsendiass.co.uk

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Educational Psychology - the team of educational psychologists provide early intervention support to SEN Co-ordinators in schools through half termly supervision groups. We also work with early years settings, schools and colleges through sold service arrangements to support practitioners in identifying and meeting the needs of children with a range of complex learning and social and emotional needs.

The Sensory Support Team - the team provides educational advice and support for sensory impaired children from birth to school leaving age, their families and ongoing professional development and training for staff. The team also provides specialist equipment to facilitate

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effective communication and links with other relevant agencies. The Hearing Support Team and Visual Support Team together make up the Sensory Support Team and are part of the Local Authority’s SEN Service.

The Schools Speech and Language Support Team - provides assessment, advice and some therapy for children and young people (0-19) who have a range of speech, language and communication diffi culties. Speech and language therapists support parents, schools and settings to promote development of communication skills for individuals and for the population as a whole.

Speech and language therapists provide assessment and advice for some children who are referred to the service. Following assessment, the therapist decides whether ongoing support is appropriate. This may be advice and recommendations, individual or group therapy or a programme of work with resources to support the people working with the child on a daily basis.

The service also provides training for schools and settings to promote a communication friendly environment or to run groups that support children with their communication skills. Children and young people are supported for as long as needed. Input will continue until there is no need for further support or the diffi culty can be self-managed.

The service ethos is to work with schools, settings and parents to meet the needs of the child/young person in their everyday environment as this is the most effective way to support children and young people

with speech, language and communication issues.

Early Years SEN Team – the team has an Early Years SEN Team Lead, 4 Early Years SEN Advisors (Portage) and 2 Early Years SEN Advisors (Inclusion). The team are committed to the inclusion of early years children with additional needs in their own homes, the early years pre-school settings and in the community. Their work involves working in partnership with parents and pre-school staff, building on their existing knowledge and then offering training, strategies, resources and advice to empower them. They work in partnership with other agencies involved with the child which enables the child’s needs to be met

Portage - Portage is a home visiting service that was originally developed for parents living in a rural town called Portage in the USA in the early 1970s and it was introduced to the UK in 1976.

The Portage approach involves:

• partnership with parents, carers and other professionals with a commitment to inclusion

• empowering parents to build on their child’s strengths using a positive approach

• using small steps to support learning

• learning through play and having fun

• working together and celebrating achievements with the child and their family.

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Portage has a long and successful track record of supporting families of pre-school children with signifi cant developmental delay or challenging behaviour.

Portage home visitors are experienced early years practitioners who have a wealth of experience in understanding, recognising and developing the individual needs of children.

Education Inclusion Service (EIS) - provides education for those young people of statutory school age who cannot attend mainstream or special school because they have either been permanently excluded from school and are awaiting a school placement, are at risk of exclusion, are emotionally vulnerable or are medically unwell and unable to attend school. Primary and secondary aged pupils are referred to The Island Learning Centre for support.

The Isle of Wight Virtual School for children in care - works in partnership with settings, schools, social workers, carers and parents to improve educational outcomes for children in care. National statistics show that around 60% of children looked after have special educational needs. The Virtual School works closely with key professionals, teams and partners to ensure that children’s needs are identifi ed and being met, and that interventions make a difference and have an impact. This information is recorded in each child’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). Further information about the Isle of Wight Virtual School may be found on the Local Offer website. Currently the Isle of Wight Virtual School is overseen by the Hampshire Virtual School.

Children’s Services Social Care - Social Care services run by the Isle of Wight Council are committed to supporting all children, young people and adults to provide the best care and support available. This is in partnership with other organisations, ie the local NHS. Social Care services are structured into Children’s Services (0-18 Years old), Transitions (17-25 years old) and Adults Services (18 plus years old).

The Isle of Wight Children and Young People’s Strategic partnership recognises that the best outcomes are achieved when a combination of services work together to ensure that the whole family are able to work towards better life chances of their children.

Early help is provided to children, young people and families who are struggling and feel in need of some additional support and to those who research tells us are at a higher than average risk of experiencing problems. The aim of early help services is to ideally prevent but otherwise to resolve any issues before they become more serious and require specialist support.

One of the main sources of local data is the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) that is carried out every year in partnership with health services. This gives information about the current needs of children, young people and families on the Island and anticipates future need. Most crucially it identifi es groups whose needs are not being met and who are experiencing poor outcomes. This information informs the design and focus of services and commissioning priorities.

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Concerns about how well a child or young person is progressing may be raised by a professional, parent/carer or the child/young person themselves.

An Early Help Assessment (EHA) is then used to identify their needs. EHA is a standardised shared assessment and planning framework for use across all children’s services and all local areas in England. At the centre of the development of the EHA is the principle that it is child/young person centred, and can be shared across agencies and between professionals as appropriate, and with the family/young person’s permission.

The use of EHA facilitates early identifi cation of needs, leading to co-ordinated provision of services, involving a lead professional, and sharing information to avoid duplication of assessments.

Access to early help services - many of these services are available in the community, through schools, health services and voluntary organisations.

As of 1 April 2015 the Isle of Wight Council commissioned Barnardo's to be the provider of integrated early help services for 0-19 years. www.iwight.com/Residents/Care-and-Support/Childrens-Services/Support-and-Advice-for-Families/Barnardos-Localities-on-the-Isle-of-Wight

Social Care Services for Disabled Children - The Isle of Wight Disabled Children’s service (in conjunction with Hampshire County Council) believe and understand that children and young people should receive high quality, co-ordinated and family-centred support which is based

on assessed needs and promotes social inclusion thus enabling them and their families, where possible, to live ordinary lives.

The Children Act defi nes a child as disabled:

“if he/she is blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from a mental disorder of any kind or is substantially or permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or other such disability as may be prescribed.”

Social and environmental factors can also affect a child’s level of disability and that the care needs of these children and the demands on those parent(s)/carer(s) and/or siblings can be exceptional.

The Children's Social Care Threshold and Eligibility Criteria are available to view at www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/2310-Disabled-Children-Services-Eligibility-Criteria.pdf

Support is also available from Autism Hampshire. Please visit their website at www.autismhampshire.org.uk to fi nd more information about the Autism Alert Programme (Alert Card, Car Sticker, Passport and Alert App).

Transitions Team 18-25 - a recently established team to manage young people 18-25 moving from children’s to adult services. The aim is to provide a seamless plan for each individual and their families. The team work under the Adult Social Care team.

There are close working relationships with children’s teams, eg Disabled Children’s team. A strategic transitions group has been established and is working effectively

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with senior managers across the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Trust, Adults and Children’s Services. A recent workshop brought practitioners together with the aim of developing a transition protocol and increasing understanding about each others duties and responsibilities to the young person, eg Continuing Health Care and Personal Budgets. An operational group is responsible for supporting young people through the very diffi cult statutory and funding requirements of children and adult services.

Transitions is a high priority for partner organisations and a commissioning agenda is being developed jointly, particularly around increasing the quality of specialist accommodation placements available on the Island, eg for those with mental health needs, forensic, challenge, with severe autism or severe sensory and physical disabilities. The Transitions Protocol document can be viewed at www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/2906-Isle-of-Wight-Multi-Agency-Transitions-Protocol-V10.6-09.12.2016.pdf

Adult Services 18+ - the Local Offer provides detailed information on all the support and services offered by Adult Social Care on the Island. Please visit www.iwight.com/Residents/care-and-Support/Adults-Services

Isle of Wight NHS Trust - offers the full range of health services including acute, community, mental health and ambulance services.

The National Health Service (NHS) provides services that everyone in the United Kingdom can access. These are called universal services and are free to everyone at the point of access. If a child needs extra support the NHS also provides other services you may come across, called targeted services which have different criteria for access. For further information about the services offered please visit www.iow.nhs.uk

Key data used by the NHS and local councils to monitor performance and shape the services you use can be viewed at www.nhs.uk/service-search/performance/search

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Health Visiting Service - a health visitor is a qualifi ed nurse who has had extra training. Part of their role is to help families avoid illness and stay healthy, especially families with babies and young children. Health visitors are part of a team that offers screening and developmental checks as part of the Healthy Child Programme. Health visitors can give advice and suggest where to fi nd help. They may also be able to put people in touch with groups where they can meet others. Health visitors can visit at home or see parents at a child health clinic, GP surgery or health centre, depending on where they’re based on a given day.

School nurses - the school nursing service provides support and signposting to improve the health of school aged children and young people and prevent illness. They offer universal services such as health screening and height and weight measurement and vaccinations and offer specifi c support to families which can benefi t from their involvement such as for enuresis (incontinence such as bed wetting), sleep management, weight management or they can make assessments and referrals to more targeted services such as Audiology. School nurses are particularly skilled at supporting children with transition to secondary school and can work with those not under any other services such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) but in need of additional support at this time.

The school nurse works with a family or young person to decide the best course of action. The school nurse when working with an individual family will tailor the way they work to the needs of each individual. There

will be feedback on progress over course of an intervention. School nurses always get consent from the family to work with them and if a child is able to give their own consent the nurses will encourage them to share what is happening with their family. The NHS Trust which employs the school nursing team has access to translation services as required.

All service provision is in schools or the child’s own home and occasionally in other suitable community settings such as clinics. School nurses have had additional training to support them in working with young people with additional needs.A list of school nurses can be found at www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/2905-School-Health-Team-Schools-list-for-Band-6-coloured.pdf

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) - in 2013 it was estimated that 10% of children on the Isle of Wight have mental health problems and 50% of lifetime mental illness is diagnosed by the age of 14. Physical and learning disabilities can have an impact on mental health and these children can be at increased risk of developing mental health problems. In order to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and young people it is important that they can easily access the health care and treatment needed.

The priorities for the ‘Be healthy’ outcome include promoting access to health services for vulnerable groups of children and young people.

We know that achievement at school is a key determinant of future life chances.

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Overall, Performance for the Isle of Wight’s children and young people in key assessments and exams, is improving and is closer to the national average and better then this in some measures. However, the gap between disadvantaged or more vulnerable children and their peers remains a signifi cant issue. In order to close this gap, parents need to be supported to help their children. Priorities include:

• increasing the proportion of children attending ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools

• continuing to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged children, especially those in care, those eligible for free school meals, those with special educational needs and those with minority ethnic and traveller group heritages who do not achieve as well as the children in other groups

• target support to parents/carers who need help with their children’s education.

SEN Travel - education transport is provided jointly in partnership between the Schools and Learning Division and the School Transport Team within the Directorate of Economy and the Environment.

The Isle of Wight Council’s Home to School Transport policy covers all aspects of education transport, ranging from home-to-education transport to special arrangements which may apply to small groups of pupils or students only. It seeks to provide a comprehensive approach to all home-to-education transport, including post-16 arrangements.

To view the Home to School transport policy for academic year 2015/16 please go to www.iwight.com/azservices/documents/1380-Home-to-School-Transport-PAPER-I-APPENDIX-4-Updated-08.05.15.pdf

Hampshire Local Authority is exploring new and alternative ways it can assist families with travel to school. The County Council will be trialling Personal Travel Allowances with selected families, allowing for greater freedom in making their own travel arrangements to get their child to school. This trial will help to develop the approach which will then be expanded to more families across the county and the outcomes of this shared as part of the partnership with the Isle of Wight.

Travel arrangements on the Isle of Wight will also be actively reviewed to promote and encourage more independent travel, through the use of public transport and the Concessionary Travel scheme, where appropriate. These measures, alongside existing home to school transport contracted vehicles, will provide families with more choice in how their child travels as well as improve outcomes for independent travel to post-16 education and beyond.