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Surrey County CouncilLocal Learning Fund (LLF)

Introduction The LLF is intended to be a mechanism by which schools can access resources, training, and enhance existing specialist support for children with SEN Support needs.

The purpose of the Local Learning Fund is to provide the opportunity for schools to build on their existing early intervention and inclusion practice, using expertise in schools and settings to further develop effective, impactful approaches that meet the needs of children and young people with SEND at school support level. The intention is to build capacity in our current system and to enable children’s needs to be met as early as possible to put them on a pathway more closely aligned with their peers wherever possible. The outcomes and impact of this work will be measured to create a practice guide for all practitioners.

Surrey is transforming its SEND services by placing a greater emphasis on early, appropriate, intervention for children and young people, with the goal of enabling more young people to live and thrive in their local environment as well as prepare them for adulthood. This is described further in the Surrey SEND Partnership Strategy 2019-2022. Surrey County Council is committed to reducing the numbers of children and young people with SEND accessing NMI and out of borough placements. By providing locally based, mainstream intervention, the aim is to reduce the need for Education, Health and Care Plans.

Surrey has high numbers of young people with SEND requesting EHCPs. The LLF is intended to support schools to develop both the capacity to continue to be more inclusive by identifying and promoting good practice. We know that for some pupils the request for an EHCP has been sparked by the perception that resources can only be deployed once an EHCP has been requested or awarded. The LLF is intended to be a mechanism by which schools can access resources, training, and specialist support such as therapy. The effect of great early intervention is intended to lower the incidence of an ECHP being necessary to meet needs.

We’ve made the process as simple as possible. We ask that you map the child’s needs where appropriate against the Profile of Need so we can understand where the needs arise that require additional support. This will inform future commissioning arrangements. We also ask that you demonstrate how the funding will enable the school to build longer term capacity in response to the profile of need.

We welcome applications from individual schools or clusters of schools.

1: To enable schools to further develop their capacity to meet the needs of learners with SEND, as defined by the Profile of Need.

2: To allow schools to commission and access “SEND support” for an individual pupil and/or cohort of children for short term, SMART targeted activity. E.g. a course on improving emotional wellbeing for a targeted cohort.

Local Learning Fund/Information and application/ V2

Wherever possible, we want children to go to school with their peers closer to home. Therefore one of the key aims of our strategy is to ensure that for all children and young people with SEND, where it is appropriate and in the individual’s best interest, remain in mainstream provision. The success of this aim rests on the right resources being available, at the right time, to support the child or young person; staff expertise in both identifying and providing these resources is therefore paramount.

The data and further rationale to support this can be found in an appendix at the end of this document.

About the Local Learning FundThe Local Learning Fund will run for an initial one year period across mainstream schools, with the potential for further funding should there be sufficient demand and that the outcomes are strong. It is a total pot of £1million, again this could be increased depending on success and impact of the scheme. The Fund is being launched in line with and to support the introduction of the new Profile of Need / Graduated Response. Activity should be mapped against this to demonstrate how it enables the school to build its capacity to deliver the Profile of Need. It is for mainstream schools that can collectively or individually apply for a portion of this. It is for school age children, i.e. Reception year upwards. There is a separate Early Years Discretionary Fund available for those in nursery settings.

Surrey has also recently launched its Graduated Response Profile of Need, a tool to help all settings standardise their understanding of SEND and interventions. It is a summary of the Council’s offer to schools and should be looked alongside each team’s specialist website, and that of NHS services. The LLF is in place to enable settings to implement the Profile of Need to sit alongside the local area’s Graduated Response to Profiles of Need.

We all have very high aspirations for our children and young people, across all aspects of post 16 learning, at university, apprenticeships, supported internships and employment. Our ambition is for all young people to be able to integrate into their communities in adulthood and these programmes are a keystone in making that happen. The work related aspect of Surrey’s offer is currently under-developed and we would welcome projects that enable settings to develop their capacity to identify and offer opportunities this. We are therefore very interested in proposals that will equip young people in the future, in relation to work experience, taster days and careers guidance specially targeted and tailored for this group SEN Support young people, especially around creating sustainable transition programmes from pre to post 16.

We would very much welcome applications cross phase, or from clusters, which demonstrate creative ways of working to reduce the pressure on schools to support their pupils.

Listed below are some suggestions for how the LLF could be used, although applications do not need to be confined to the list.


LLF possible ActivitiesStaff Inclusion TrainingTransition planning and workshops to support between key phases, and or change of placement. Staff training e.g. in ELKAN that could be disseminated across a range of schools (This can include the subsidised Surrey training).Targeted Therapy supportCross phase transition planningCareers Support for SEND Y9 & Y11 Showcase best practice EHCP Threshold Training Mental Health trainingTargeted Therapy for SEN SupportEmployability programmes

CriteriaAll programmes which receive funding would be expected to provide a case study setting out the benefits / outcomes. If further funding is requested, this will form part of the selection criteria. If your proposal is building on work that you have already carried out, we expect you to set out what you have already done in relation to your proposal and how successful that was.

All applications will need to be signed by a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Please note that the LLF is not for:

- Direct staffing posts (Eg: a 1:1 TA) or capital, but can be used to provide funding for school staff to access training or undertake CPD or training which requires cover.

- National SENCO Qualifications.- Meeting requirements under reasonable adjustments.- Delivering against EHCPs.- Individual children who live outside of Surrey.- Buying in training that is already on offer and available to schools for no cost.- Funding annual subscriptions to programmes in subsequent years.

We expect to see the following in your proposal1: Mainstream school (yes/no) if no then the proposal will not be considered unless it is in partnership with a mainstream school.

2: Child’s age and year group (Reception upwards)

3 Has the application been mapped against the Profile of Need? If so, please attach.

4: Is this related to activity or interventions that you have already carried out? If so, please state what you have done and whether it was successful.


5. Have you had input from other SCC or Private services for these children such as SALT, EP, REMA, OTs. Please detail input and outcomes, (attach any useful reports to support your application).

6: How long the project / intervention will last?

7: If the school is involved with any other SCC funded projects, it needs to demonstrate that this is separate from and would not benefit from the project.

8: Does the proposal demonstrate capacity building within the school / cluster and show how the learning and development will be continued beyond the time of the funding?

9: Is the support for a specific child yes / no. If yes, is it mapped against the response column of the Profile of Need?

10: Is the request for individual therapy or support? Yes / no. If yes, the therapist needs to agree to report against the Profile of Need level descriptors in order to ensure consistency. (i.e. Universal, School SEND Support, Specialist SEND Support or Statutory Assessment).

11. Do you have any supporting documents you could attach to given the Panel more information on the child /children. Eg ISP, Provision maps, referral letters.

Decision making processDecisions will be made at a panel held every two weeks. Members of the panel will be drawn from SCC staff and school colleagues. If you would like to sit on the panel, please contact us.

You will be notified of the LLF Panel’s decision within five working days of when your application was presented to the Panel.

A Graduated Response Adviser or LLF Panel member will carry out light touch monitoring, in the form of one visit or phone call per project length.

Application form is below.


Local Learning Fund Expression of Interest:We expect no more than two pages. Please only return the application form section, as a Word document.

Setting name:

Address: (If MAT give name of Surrey setting)

Contact Name:

Contact Details:

Contact job title:

Please answer the following questions:

Funding amount being requested (please ensure a clear breakdown of costs is provided) If applying for training programmes, please specify the name of the training provider with

contact details. Aims of the programme: include if it is for capacity building / individual support / sharing

practice How it fits with the Profile of Need Target Group / disability / age Expected SMART outcomes (2-3 maximum), please ensure these are very clear. How this could be expanded / replicated by others schools? Is the programme sustainable? If successful would this require continued funding? If for a specific child / pupil, all of the above in relation to that pupil rather than a broader

programme, including an Individual Education Plan if they have one, showing how this programme meets their targets and what impact it is expected to have.

Who will oversee the programme day to day and from leadership?

_________________________________________________________________________________

Senior Leader signature: Date:

Name:

Contact Details:

I have read the application criteria and am clear that this application meets the requirements and is not for funding of staff posts or other areas as specified for which it is not permitted. I understand if it does not meet criteria it may well need amending, therefore delaying my application.

Please return the form to [email protected]. Your application will be acknowledged by email within five working days, so please get in touch if you have not heard from us by then.


mailto:[email protected]

Appendix – background and dataThe Graduated Response Profile of Need, launched 1st September 2019, is a document that sets out for families and professionals the threshold at which an EHCP is appropriate. This is a legal requirement as set out in the Children’s & Families Act. Historically, children and young people have needed to meet the threshold for an EHCP to secure additional support, which in many cases may only be needed for a short period of time. The consequence of this is a large amount of EHCPs which may not be necessary. Surrey CC recognises that and is undergoing systematic transformational change to review the response and whilst we undergo systematic transformational change the LLF means that schools will now have an additional mechanism to secure that additional support without the necessity of the pupil acquiring and EHCP. However, we recognise that schools may need support to implement the Profiles of Need before children and young people enter the EHCP process, or to not need to enter it in order to access support. We believe many more children can have their needs met without an EHCP.

33.229.5

31.8 31.034.4

28.332.7 31.4

36.032.4

41.1 40.4

32.9

7.4 8.713.7 12.6

6.1 6.48.7 7.9

11.7 10.2 9.34.9 3.5

0.05.0

10.015.020.025.030.035.040.045.0

Mainstream and NMI placements

Mainstream NMI

Figure 1 Surrey’s use of Non Maintained and Independent (NMI) schools against mainstream schools up to age 25.

Benchmarking mainstream EHCP vs national data (sector)Surrey County Council is committed to reducing the numbers of children and young people with SEND accessing NMI and out of borough placements. We are denying Surrey schools vital inward investment to enable us to place CYP closer to home with social networks and learning opportunities alongside their peers.


We believe that by investing in developing expertise and capacity in Surrey schools we will be able to ensure that the funding in the High Needs Block is targeted at Surrey schools, allowing schools to invest and develop their staff knowledge, expertise and experience investing in Surrey.

One of the key aims of the strategy is to increase the number of children and young people with SEND, via both EHCP and SEN Support to remain in mainstream provisions, wherever possible and appropriate. It is clear that children and young people with SEND make greater academic progress in a mainstream environment enhancing their Preparing for Adulthood outcomes.

Surrey has a high number of SEMH EHCPs vs national and local equivalents, which means that a key area for focus will be SEMH, ASD & SALT.

Figure 2: Breakdown of Surrey EHCP’s by school sector (January 2019 Snapshot)

However, we recognise that schools need support and investment in this area so we have created this LLF fund to support developments. It is open from September 2019 to:

Schools, based on a 1 side of A4 Expression of interest (EOI) can apply for funding to develop, enhance or develop their inclusion approaches, to allow children and young people with an EHCP to enter or remain in a mainstream setting or to support those children or young people who are SEN support to access the support they need, without requiring an EHCP.


Figure 3 Breakdown of Surrey EHCP’s by lead disability



SEND SUPPORT

1.

UNIVERSAL SERVICES

2.

SCHOOL SEND SUPPORT

3.

SPECIALIST SEND

SUPPORT

4.

STATUTORY ASSESSMENT

Figure 4: Surrey Graduated Response - 4 stages


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