SEND Reforms – our journey SEND Reforms – our journey through the process, through the process,

successes challenges and successes challenges and solutionssolutions

York’s experience York’s experience Dr Christine Clarke

Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist (Early Years and Portage)

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Charter for Disabled Children 2013 - 2016

Introducing SEN Reforms Introducing SEN Reforms – building on existing good – building on existing good

practice in Early Years in practice in Early Years in YorkYork

• Integrated Specialist Early Years Service

• Portage Services - working in partnership with families and the inclusion of the child’s voice

• Early Support Programme – Child and family centred planning and multi-agency working in Partnership

• Early Years SENCO training programme3

Specialist Specialist Early Years Support TeamEarly Years Support Team

• Early Support Service

• Portage Service

• Specialist Early Years Teachers (SEN)

• Educational Psychology (Early Years)

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Voice of the child and familyVoice of the child and family

Pre Early Support and SEND reforms

• ‘This is me’ booklet format to depict in words and pictures the child’s strengths and needs. Also submitted as appendix A Parental Advice when a Statement of Educational Needs was requested and as information at times of transitions (non–statutory)

• ‘Look at me’ record of skills a child has achieved between Portage 6 monthly review reports

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The Early Support programmeThe Early Support programme

• The Early Support programme ran from 2002 to 2015 as a national initiative with some funding by the DCSF.

• Early Support aimed to improve the delivery and coordination of family services and provide families with a single point of contact (key worker).

• Early Support focused on ensuring that service delivery was child, young person and family centred and that services and practitioners worked in partnership with children, young people and their families.

• Child and Family/Person-Centred Planning multi-agency planning and review meetings

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Joint family-centred planningJoint family-centred planning

Family Service Plans:

Enables everyone working with a family to review how things are going and to agree joint, shared priorities.

Keeps families at the heart of decision making about their child

Prevents professionals working in a vacuum

This approach has been adopted and integrated into the FEHA and the EHCP/MSP to some extent.

Early Support approach 2014Early Support approach 2014

Shared information

Integrated delivery

key working

Joint planning and decision making with

families

Education, Health and Care plan

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Education, Health and Care PlanEducation, Health and Care Plan

• The aim is to provide a more person centred approach with the co-production of plans

• Not about substituting one set of paperwork for another but taking a different approach underlined by the key principles set out in the Children and families Bill

• York model built on good practice from Early Support (0-5 years) and Preparing for Adulthood.

• In York the development work started with families as early as September 2013 though it didn’t become a statutory requirement until September 2014

• The stage prior to EHCP is a My Support Plan (MSP) which York and many other LAs have developed at the non-statutory stage of the SEN Pathway but not necessarily called a MSP.

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My Support Plans My Support Plans

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York’s Early Years SEN Pathway York’s Early Years SEN Pathway

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CYC SEN Threshold BandingsCYC SEN Threshold Bandings

• Provide detailed examples of good practice to be used by parents / carers, practitioners, LA SEN officers and all who support children with SEN

• As a prompt when considering appropriate strategies and interventions to support through all the levels

• To provide clarity about decisions made around the allocation of resources and the eligibility threshold for a additional resources such as Early Yeas Inclusion Funding (EYIF) or an enhanced resourced place (ERP) nursery or an Education, Health and Care Plan.

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Banding Thresholds - LearningBanding Thresholds - Learning

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What has gone well?What has gone well?• York started by working groups of parents to develop

the EHC plans and identical MSPs based on existing good practice; especially in Early Years (Portage, SEYST and Early Support) and Transitions team (14+).

• Local offer booklets complied/written through parents and multi-agency working groups and consultation (now electronic)

• Revised paperwork and processes piloted since 2013 with revisions based on feedback received

• Training was provided early and has been ongoing for early years practitioners.

• Early Years Inclusion Funding (EYIF) increased with criteria revised to link in with new SEN Pathway and Threshold banding for funding (banding 2b and 3)

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Challenges?Challenges?• Can be challenging to keep the MSP/EHCP planning

meetings as child and family led/focussed and as multi-agency as the Early Support Family Service Planning (ESFSP) meetings were.

• Revisions to our EHC plans made based of DfE feedback seem to have moved to a more education-led process/paperwork similar to previous Statements of SEN compared to ESFSPs

• Paperwork and processes/meetings are very time-consuming and can be challenging, especially for PVI settings (time, resources, secure emails, etc). Some support services are also reporting it has reduced time for direct intervention with children/families

• Concern for continuation of non-statutory services with reductions to Local Government funding

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Possible solutions?Possible solutions?• Feedback has been sought by the SEN team in

York by surveys and focus groups.

• EHCP paperwork is being revised and reduced slightly based on feedback received and different formats welcomed

• My Support Plan are to be reduced in length

• Schools and EY Settings to use significantly reduced paperwork for SEN Planning for children unlikely to need an EHCP. Revised documents are being based on those already developed by SEYST

• Secure electronic systems have been investigated and identified by EY leaders and funding sought

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Preparing Early Years sector to Preparing Early Years sector to implement SEND Reforms in Yorkimplement SEND Reforms in York

Training for Early Years practitioners in PVI Settings

• SEN reforms and York’s MSP/EHCP paperwork and processes introduced in the two hour termly EY SENCo training sessions from 2014. Also attended by EY Advisory team.

• Fuller training included in the 5 day EY SENCo Training course 2014 and 2015 – taught in small steps over the 5 days with 2 week gap between each session to practice activities in their settings. SENCo has to complete a MSP as part of their portfolio- course assignment.

• Member of the SEYST or STT joined/s the EY SENCo at their first MSP meeting to co-chair/minute if requested + offers support through further consultation (phone/meetings) have also provided admin support if EY setting has none (small Playgroups)

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An easy to understand

LOCAL OFFER

…..so parents can make informed choices