November 2015

Feedback and current consultations

Four things to ask you about…

1. Co-production

2. Future of SEN provision

3. Local Area Inspection of arrangements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

4. Accessibility Strategy

1. Co-production• The Government want us to involve parents more in making plans and decisions that

affect ALL children with SEND, as well for your own child

• We want to make better use of this group to ‘co-produce’ ideas that we can then take to a wider groups of parents for their views (consultation)

• Our idea is to use the Local Offer as the place to hold consultations, because this is where the Government expect we should all (i.e. parents and staff) go for information

• We can then text / email parents to let them know about live consultations…

• We will develop ways to make sure the consultations are easy to understand and reply to (e.g. ‘survey monkey’, where you can vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’)

Question

• Any views on this, or other ways we can involve parents in co-producing Islington’s BIG plans for children with special needs and disabilities?

2. The future of SEND provision in Islington In October, we talked about:

•Rapid rise in pupil population that will continue (by 2024 there will be an extra160 children and young people with High Needs)

•Increase in severity and complexity of need

•The changing educational / economic landscape

What outcome were we looking for?

•Proposals for consultation for the organisation of local school provision to meet the needs of all children and young people with SEND over the next 10 years

What we asked?•What are the barriers to inclusion?

•Do we need more specialist provision?

•Other options?

What you said….BARRIERS:

•Not enough support and therapies

•Staff don’t understand disability – need more training

•Children with severe needs are not wanted in mainstream

•Higher functioning suffer because of too much focus on complex

•Not enough money - parents need to know how money is being spent

•Too much bureaucracy

•Headteachers need to follow plans

•Communication poor

•Parents need to be clearer about what they can reasonably expect

MORE SPECIALIST PROVISION?:

•Yes, for children with complex needs

•No, for children with mild needs – need better understanding in mainstream

•Base provision on children’s needs

•Better management from current providers

OTHER OPTIONS:

•Different model at secondary

•Better staff

•More specialist units in mainstream

•Mixing children with and without SEN

•Inclusion will make it better for ALL

What schools said…BARRIERS:

• Data not accurate

• More inclusive schools get punished financially

• Too much depends on individuals

• Staff development

• Schools need more support

• Current system is not fair or transparent

• Negative attitudes – parents and schools

• Lack of consultation – parents excluded from decision-making

• Lack of information

MORE SPECIALIST PROVISION?:

• Are we making best use of what we already have?

• Secondary provision is poor

• Where do pupils do best?

• We need to get assessment right

• Most parents want mainstream

OTHER OPTIONS?

• Better use of space

• Whole school provision

• Better training

• More ‘satelite’ classes

• Specialisms in mainstream schools

What others said….

BARRIERS:• Unrealistic expectations

• Lack of skill / confidence

• Lack of understanding of responsibility

• Cost

• Negative attitudes and fear through lack of understanding

• Co-operation and communication across all partners – parents, teachers, specialist staff etc.

MORE SPECIALIST PROVISION?:

• We need to keep all staff (special and mainstream) updated on best practice

• More provision, but not more special schools

• We need to organise differently

• Health and Care should do more

OTHER OPTIONS:

• Sometimes its about doing things differently – more flexibly

• Better communication / planning between mainstream and special

• Outcomes focus

• Better collaboration across services

Common themes: summary

• Communication, communication, communication… (‘Do nothing about us without us’)

• Fairer distribution of resources…• Different organisation of existing provision… (‘Right services for the right children in the right place at the right time’)

• Training (skills and attitude)… (‘A better informed workforce’)

Next Steps…

Funding• Some proposals for how

money can be shared more fairly and transparently:

a) between schools

b) for individuals

Trust• Recent research confirms

few Local Offers set out clearly what all mainstreams schools will provide for any child with SEND (‘core entitlement’)

• A task and finish group will set this out locally, co-produced with parents

Next steps…

ProvisionMuch support for:•Extending ‘satellite’ classes•Better skills training across all areas•Better provision in mainstream for those with more moderate need•More options for those with complex needs•A task and finish group will be set up to agree options for wider consultation, co-produced with parents

Question:

• Any comments on next steps?

• How can parents best be involved in the tasks groups?

3. Local Area Inspection of arrangements for children and young people with SEND•The new duties (September 2014) place responsibility on the local area to identify and meet the needs of children and young people (CYP) who are disabled and those who have special educational needs (SEND) aged 0 to 25.•The Department for Education (DfE) has asked Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to inspect local areas on their effectiveness in fulfilling their new duties. £1m of extra funding has been made available to support these new inspections.•A formal consultation on the principles under which the inspections will be undertaken was launched by DfE on 12 October 2015 and closes on 4 January 2016.•The inspection will evaluate whether children with SEND are identified properly and their needs are met, and their outcomes improve.

Process: inspectors will…

• Meet key managers / leaders from education, health and social care

• Visit a number education providers and discuss with leaders / governors how the local area fulfils its responsibilities. They will look at a sample of files and information about progress

• Visit health settings, where inspectors and discuss with managers and practitioners how the local area fulfils its responsibilities. They will review health files

• Meet children and young people, and parents and carers to get their views of how effectively the area fulfils its responsibilities

Consultation Question:

Proposal 1

•Inspectors will evaluate how effectively the local area identifies disabled children and young people and those who have special educational needs.

Do you agree with this? Yes No Don't know Comments?

Proposal 2

•Inspectors will evaluate how effectively the local area meets the needs and improves the outcomes of disabled children and young people and those who have special educational needs.

Do you agree with this? Yes No Don't know Comments?

Consultation Question:

Consultation Question:

Proposal 3

•A wide range of information will be used to evaluate how effectively the local area fulfils their responsibilities to identify disabled children and young people and those who have special educational needs; and to meet their needs and improve their outcomes.

Do you agree with this? Yes No Don't know Comments?

Consultation Question:

Proposal 4•A wide range of ways will be used during the inspection to obtain the views of disabled children and young people and those who have special educational needs, and their parents and carers.

Do you agree with this? Yes

No

Don't know

Comments?

4. Accessibility Strategy

What is an Accessibility Strategy?

•The Equality Act 2010 asks every Local Authority to have an Accessibility Strategy.

•Accessibility Strategies must cover:– How disabled pupils can

participate in the school curriculum

– How to improve the physical environment of schools for disabled pupils

– How to improve information to disabled pupils

Increasing Access to the Curriculum• The LA will provide training so that all providers’ know how to work with

children and young people SEND in a person-centred way to make sure that they can access the curriculum.

• The Local Offer will provide information about provision available to support access to the curriculum.

• Schools will provide any small items of extra equipment (less than £1000) needed by children with SEND to help them access the curriculum.

• Joint commissioning of education, health and care provision will result in the more integrated packages of support.

• The Islington Parent Carer Support Service will work collaboratively with the LA to engage with parents and carers.

• The Strategy and Commissioning for Children and Young People with SEND and their Families Board will receive reports of children’s progress towards outcomes, and will share good practice.

Question:

• Do you agree with these suggestions?

• What else could we include?

Improving the Physical Environment

• All new school buildings must comply with current building regulations and will be physically accessible to disabled pupils.

• Access to existing buildings will be improved through ‘reasonable adjustments’ that schools must plan for (although schools do not have to make adjustments for every imaginable disability).

• The LA will develop the range of provision available to children with SEND across Islington.

• Schools can be supported to carry out an accessibility audit if they so wish, and can involve parents, children and young people, the health and safety officer, school nurse, SEND Team or a building consultant to do this.

Question:

• Do you agree with these suggestions?

• What else could we include?

Improving Access to Information

• The Islington Parent Carer Support Service will offer impartial information, advice and support to families of children and young people who SEND, and encourage and develop partnerships between children, young people, parents, schools, the Council and other partners.

• The Local Offer will make information more accessible.

• We will keep developing use of Information Technology to help children and young people who are unable to communicate.

• We will make information available through alternative methods and formats, including general school information (such as handbooks, leaflets, newsletters).

• We will improve consultation with children and young people, and review our communication strategies so that children and young people with SEND are actively involved as co-producers of any plans we develop.

Question:

• Do you agree with these suggestions?

• What else could we include?

Improving information for disabled pupils

Thank You!