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Alastair Fairfull 1SENplus ltd

The 0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability Reforms

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• The SEND reforms build on the best practice over the past 13 years since the last Code of Practice was written.

• They aim to implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25.

• The reforms give schools the freedom to develop what works for them in partnership with their local authority, parents and young people.

1. Introduction: The 0-25 SEND Code of Practice - 13 years in the making

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Alastair Fairfull SENplus ltd

2. The case for change:

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• The current system of SEN support is complicated, picks up issues too late, has too much duplication, and is too focused on inputs rather than outcomes.

• Too often young people find there is a ‘cliff edge’ of support between children and adults services. 

• Parents find it difficult to navigate the system that is intended to help them, find it adversarial, and complain that they have to tell their stories time and time again.

• SEN can sometimes be ‘unhelpfully conflated’ with falling behind, and this may have contributed to the growing number of pupils at School Action and Action Plus - Lamb Inquiry 2009.

• The Achievement for All pilot demonstrated that with the right support children with SEN can be supported to achieve good outcomes.

2. The case for change: Support and Aspiration Green Paper (2011)

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• Ofsted review found evidence that the way the system is currently designed contributed to widespread weaknesses in the quality of what was provided for children with special educational needs.

• What consistently worked well was:• rigorous monitoring of progress, with quick intervention and thorough

evaluation of its impact.

• High aspirations and a determination to enable young people to be as independent as possible led most reliably to the best educational achievement.

• The need for a continuing focus on, and the highest expectations for, disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs is not just an issue for schools and colleges, or even for all local services, but also for national bodies, including Ofsted itself.

2. The case for change: 2010 Ofsted Review of SEND

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• In 2012 at Key Stage 2, pupils with SEND achieved roughly half as well as those with no identified SEND at English and Maths (43% achieved level 4 in comparison with 91%).

• The percentage of pupils with SEND achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grade A* to C was 22% in comparison with 69% with no identified SEND at Key Stage 4/5.

• Around 30% of all young people with statements of SEND at 16 are not in education, employment or training at 18 compared to 13% of their peers.

• Employment rates for those with learning difficulties are much lower still: some data indicates less than 10% (NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care (2008).

2. The case for change: The impact on children and young people

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3. The reform vision

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• Participation of children, their parents and young people in decision- making.

• Early identification of children and young people’s needs and early intervention to support them.

• Greater choice and control for young people and parents over support.

• Collaboration between education, health and social care services to provide support.

• High quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people with SEN.

• Focus on inclusive practice and removing barriers to learning.

• Successful preparation for adulthood, including independent living and employment.

3. The reform vision: Joined up support across education, health and care, from birth to 25

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Supporting and involving children and young people in decisions about their support means having regard to:

(a) the views, wishes and feelings of the child and his or her parent, or the young person;

(b) the importance of the child and his or her parent, or the young person, participating as fully as possible in decisions relating to the exercise of the function concerned;

(c) the importance of the child and his or her parent, or the young person, being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions; and

(d) the need to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes.

3. The reform vision: Participation in decision making

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3. The reform vision: A whole school approach

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3. The reform vision: What does success look like for schools?

Positive outcomes for children, young people and their families• Improved attainment and progression of pupils with SEN.• Increase in the percentage of KS4 and KS5 SEN cohort going to, or remaining in,

Education, Employment and Training.• Reduction in percentage of pupils with SEN receiving one or more fixed period

exclusions.• Reduction in school absence of pupils with SEN.

Effective preparation for adulthood• Better support received to prepare young people for a successful transition to

adulthood.

Positive experience of the system• Planned and well managed transition at key points.• Parents, children and young people get the right support at the right time and feel

that they are listened to and in control of their support, choices, decisions and opportunities.

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Alastair Fairfull SENplus ltd

4. Implementation

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• Initiate a review of your school’s SEN Policy engaging governors and staff, parents and young people.

• Publish your SEN policy as set out in the SEND Information Regulations 2014.

• Tell parents about the reforms and explain to them how the transition will happen, make staff aware of the reforms and start essential training needs.

• Engage with LAs in relation to the requirements, in particular the development of the local offer and their process for transferring from statements to EHC plans.

• Ensure the SENCO has the right qualifications and explore how the SENCO fits into strategic management of the school.

• Have arrangements in place to support pupils with medical conditions.

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4. Implementation: What schools need to do to be ready in September 2014?

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4. Implementation: What schools need to do from September

• Review and refresh the school’s process for the early identification and assessment of SEND to follow the graduated approach.

• Review pupils currently on SA/SA+, engaging the child and parent in decision making and planning and being clear about the extra support that they need, what impact you expect support to have and by when.

• Review and refresh the schools procedures for effective engagement to ensure children, young people and parents are involved in decision making and planning.

• Review how the schools support pupils with SEN with their transition to post-16 education and preparing for adult life.

SEN support isn’t about ‘compliance’ – it’s a cycle of continuous improvement.

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Alastair Fairfull SENplus ltd

5. What the reforms mean for …

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• Must have regard to the SEND Code of Practice and should oversee the

implementation of the reform and provide strategic support to the head teacher

• Must publish information on the school’s websites about the implementation of

the governing body’s or the proprietor’s policy for pupils with SEN.

• Must ensure that there is a qualified teacher designated as SENCO.

• Must cooperate generally with the local authority including in developing the local

offer and when the school is being named in an EHC plan.

• Must ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school

with medical conditions.

• Must also publish information about the arrangements for the admission of

disabled children, the steps taken to prevent disabled children being treated less

favourably than others, the facilities provided to assist access of disabled

children, and their accessibility plans.

5. What the reforms means for governors

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• Should take overall responsibility for implementing the SEND reforms (see preparation and implementation slides).

• Ensure that the SENCO is able to influence strategic decisions about SEN.

• Ensure the wider school community understands the implications of the reforms for whole school improvement (from governors to classroom teachers and teaching assistants).

• Put in place arrangements to ensure parents are regularly engaged in discussions about the progress of their child (at least three times a year).

• Ensure a process is in place for involving parents and young people in reviewing provision and planning for those currently on school action/plus and any newly identified pupils with SEN.

• Develop relationship with post 16 providers and explore how you will support pupils with SEN with their transition to post 16 education.

5. What the reforms mean for heads

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The SENCO role is a strategic one working with the senior leadership to

review and refresh the SEN policy and then with the classroom/subject

teacher to review its practice ensure every child with SEN gets the

personalised support that they need. The role involves:

• overseeing day-to-day operation of school’s SEN policy;

• coordinating provision for children with SEN;

• liaising with designated teacher where a Looked after Child has SEN;

• advising on graduated approach to SEN Support;

• advising on use of delegated budget/ other resources;

• liaising with parents of children with SEN;

• links with other education settings and outside agencies;

• liaising with potential next providers of education;

• working with head and governors on Equality Act; and

• ensuring that SEN records are up to date.

5. What the reforms means for SENCOs

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Classroom and subject teachers are at the heart of the new SEN Support system, driving the movement around the four stages (assess, plan, do, review) of action with the support guidance of the SENCO and specialist staff.

The classroom teacher should:

• Focus on outcomes for the child: Be clear about the outcome wanted from any SEN support.

• Be responsible for meeting special educational needs: Use the SENCO strategically to support the quality of teaching, evaluate the quality of support and contribute to school improvement.

• Have high aspirations for every pupils: Set clear progress targets for pupils and be clear about how the full range of resources are going to help reach them.

• Involve parents and pupils in planning and reviewing progress: Seek their views and provide regular updates on progress.

 

5. What the reforms mean for classroom/subject teachers

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5. What the reforms mean for learning support assistants/teaching assistants

• LSA/TAs are part of the whole school approach to SEN working in partnership with the classroom/subject teacher and the SENCO to deliver pupil progress and narrow gaps in performance.

• It is for schools to decide how they deploy teaching assistants depending on their level of experience. To be most effective the support they give should be focused on the achievement of specific outcomes within the graduated approach to SEN support agreed with parents in the context of high quality teaching overall.

• LSA/TAs can be part of a package of support for the individual child but should never be a substitute for the teacher’s involvement with that child.

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5. What the reforms mean for school nurses

Where schools have nurses, they can be part of the integral part of the whole school approach to SEN and Disability in that they can:

• support effective communication with all professionals, children, young people and families to ensure that they are supported to achieve positive health and educational outcomes;

• provide clear information and actions for all involved with the child or young person’s individual health care plan (where they have one under the pupils with health conditions duty);

• identify specific training requirements around health needs for education support staff;

• take part in the review of the Education, Health & Care plan;

• clarify roles and responsibilities of key health workers; and

• support plans for transition to adult services / colleges.

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Providers are required to:

• follow the standards set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, which includes supporting children with SEND;

• use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need, ensuring that children with SEN engage in the activities of school alongside those who do not have SEN;

• adopt the new SEN Support approach – they are no longer required to record on early years action / early years action plus;

• work in partnership with parents/carers to develop a plan of support;

• admit a child, where the nursery is named in their EHC plan;

• co-operate with the local authority in developing the local offer; and

• have a qualified teacher designated as a SENCO.

5. What the reforms mean for maintained nurseries

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6. Reform in practice

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The main legal duties on schools will not change, but the way they will be met may change. Schools must continue to:

• meet their Equality Act duties for pupils with disabilities;

• use their ‘best endeavours’ to meet pupils’ SEN – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN;

• inform parents when pupils receive support for special educational needs and involve them in reviews of progress;

• admit a young person, where the school is named in an EHC plan;

• co-operate with the local authority in developing the local offer; and

• have regard to the new 0-25 SEND Code of Practice. 

6. Reform in practice: Legal duties

New duties require schools to:

• produce and publish online a School SEN Information Report;

• appoint a suitably qualified or experienced member of staff as SENCO (National Award);

• make arrangements to support pupils with medical condition and schools must have regard to statutory guidance supporting pupils at school with medical conditions.

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The reforms do not change the definition of SEN:

• A child and young person has SEN if they have learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made.

• A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they have significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age or has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools

6. Reform in practice: Definition of SEN

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6. Reform in practice: Support for pupils with medical conditions.  

• The reforms place a duty on governing bodies to ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions; these arrangements should show an understanding of how medical conditions impact on a child’s ability to learn, as well as increase their confidence and promote self-care.

• Governing bodies should ensure that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of children with medical conditions are effectively supported; staff should be properly trained to provide the support that their pupils need.

• Governing bodies should ensure that the appropriate level of insurance is in place and appropriately reflects the level of risk.

• These changes should give parents and pupils confidence in the school’s ability to properly support pupils with medical conditions so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education.

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• The SEN information report sets out information about the school’s SEN policy and its implementation.

• They should publish information about their current arrangements in September 2014.

• Schools should ensure that the information is easily accessible by young people and parents and is set out in clear, straightforward language. It should include information on the school’s SEN policy and named contacts within the school for situations where young people or parents have concerns. It should also give details of the school’s contribution to the Local Offer and must include information on where the local authority’s Local Offer is published.

6. Reform in practice: Information regulations

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• The duty on schools to co-operate with the local authority in developing the local offer is aligned to the requirement on schools to publish SEN information.

• The local offer should be useful for schools. It must include:

– information on services across education, health and social care and from birth to 25;

– how to access specialist support;

– how decisions are made including eligibility criteria for accessing services where appropriate;

– and how to complain or appeal.

• Many LAs are already working with their parent carer forums and other organisations, including young people, to ‘co-produce’ their local offer.

6. Reform in practice: The local offer

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6. Reform in practice: School admissions

The Act does not change existing duties on schools and LAs about admissions.

• It maintains the general principle, that children and young people with SEN should be educated in mainstream settings.

• Schools including Academies must admit a child named on an EHC plan.

• Parent and young people can request for a school to be named in an EHC plan - the LA must comply with their wish except in exceptional circumstances.

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6. Reform in practice: Joint commissioning

• Joint commissioning is how partners agree how they will work together to deliver joint outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

• Schools should be involved in the commissioning process to influence decisions about commissioning provision for children with SEND generally and will need to be directly involved in commissioning provision for individual pupils. 

• The commissioning of services is based on need.  Partners may draw their data from a number of sources and should ensure they take account of all children and young people, not just those with EHC plans or registered disabled. 

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EHC plans should be:

• clear, concise, readable and accessible to parents, children, young people and practitioners;

• specific on special educational needs, outcomes and special educational, health and care provision needed, with clearly identified sections;

• supportive of preparation for key transition points; and

• portable.

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6. Reform in practice: EHC plans

In Greenwich, families are setting up password-protected websites personalised with music, short films and written reports to bring their EHC plans to life. Professionals regularly post video clips and other information to keep the plan up to date.

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• A personal budget is an amount of money identified to deliver parts of the provision set out in an EHC plan.

• Families can request a personal budget as part of the planning process (in drawing up Plan or at Annual Review).

• Can include funding from education, health and social care – in education, funding for personal budgets will be for more specialist or individualised provision (funded through the high needs block) rather than services the school is expected to provide as part of the local offer.

• A local authority must secure a school’s agreement where any provision, bought by the parent/young person using a direct payment, will be provided on the school’s premises.

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6. Reform in practice: Personal budgets

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• Children and young people who have a statement or receive provision in further education as a result of a LDA will be transferred to the new system gradually:

– young people in further education with an LDA will transfer to the new system by 1 September 2016; and

– children and young people with a statement will transfer by 1 April 2018.

• To ensure that support continues for these children and young people, the legislation relating to statements and LDAs will remain in force during the transition period.

• Local authorities will be expected to transfer children and young people to the new system in advance of key transition points in their education such as when they move from primary to secondary school.

• There will be Independent Supporters on hand for families who need them, to help make the transfer as simple as possible.

6. Reform in practice: Transition from statements and learning difficulty assessments

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SEN support replaces School Action / School Action Plus. It is the category of support for children with SEN but not on EHC plans.

• It focuses the system on the impact of the support provided to that individual child, rather than how children access support according to the category they fit into.

• It places emphasises on a graduated approach (assess, plan, do and review).

• The aim is to improve the experience and outcomes  of school for all pupils ensuring high quality teaching and learning.

6. Reform in practice: SEN Support

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6. Reform in practice: The Graduated Response

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6. Reform in practice: Assessing and reviewing progress

Classroom or subject teacher working with the SENCO should assess where a child is not making adequate progress, despite high quality teaching targeted at an area of weakness.

They should draw on evidence from a clear analysis of pupil’s need such as:

• teacher’s assessment and experience of the pupil; • information on pupil progress, attainment, and behaviour;• individual’s development in comparison to their peers; • the views and experience of parents;• the child’s own views; and• advice from external support services.

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6. The reform in practice: The school census

• All new pupils with SEN who will not be on EHC plans should be recorded under SEN Support from September 2014.

• Schools should review the provision for those currently on SA/SA+ to SEN Support by the January 2015 Census.

• Children and young people who are newly assessed for statements must be assessed under the new EHC plan arrangement and should be recorded under the school census from September 2014.

• Children and young people with existing statements transfer to the new system by April 2018.

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• Disagreements to be resolved at the local level through non-judicial means.

• Local authorities must make disagreement resolution services available to parents and young people. Use of the disagreement resolution services is voluntary and has to be with the agreement of all parties.

• There will be no loss of rights to appeal to the Tribunal but parents and young people will have the opportunity to go to mediation before appealing.

• Before registering an appeal with the Tribunal parents and young people will have to contact an independent mediation adviser for information on mediation.

• Following this they can decide if they want to go to independent mediation – the local authority would have to attend and the mediation would take place within 30 days.

• This offers parents and young people the chance of getting earlier resolution of their dispute without the stress of having to go through an appeal at the Tribunal.

6. Reform in practice: Mediation and appeals

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Educational settings should plan and prepare children and young people for their transition between phases of education. They should:

• review the SEN support provided or the EHC plan before they move on;

• share information with the setting that the child or young person is moving to; and

• agree with parents and pupils the information to be shared as part of the planning process.

6. Reform in practice: Transition from early years to primary, to secondary to FE

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7. Engagement with parents

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• A core principle of the reforms is that parents of children with SEN and young people with SEN should participate in decision making.

• Parents should know what they can reasonably expect their local school, college, local authority and local services to provide.

• Schools and local authorities should work with parents and carers to plan what services their children need.

• Local authorities have a duty to provide information, advice and support on SEN to children and young people directly, as well as to parents; this has been extended to include children and young people with disabilities (even if they don’t have SEN) and their parents.

7. Engagement with parents: What do the reforms mean for parents?

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• Reassure parents that, just because the system is changing, that does not mean that children who have SEN won’t get the support they need.

• Explain the new system to parents so they understand what is changing and what is not changing in their school.

• Be clear when changes are being made and what impact they will have - ensure parents understand how the school determines “outcomes”

• Clarify what role parents and pupils will have to influence the changes.

• Ensure parents are involved in on-going planning, progress reporting and decision making.

• Sign post parents to further information and support.

7. Engagement with parents: What schools need to do

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• Local authorities will need to ensure that there is sufficient support and advice available for children, young people and parents/carers.

• Parents/carers can also get advice from:

Their local Parent Carer Forum

The Parent Partnership Network

Independent Supporters

Contact a family helpline

7. Engagement with parents: Advice and support

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Make sure you have specific strategies to communicate with parent carers who have literacy difficulties or English as an additional language.

7. Engagement with parents: Top tipsEmbed parent carer engagement in your whole school strategy

Parent carer engagement and participation is an ongoing process and relationship – not a one off consultation

Listen to what we think – we don’t want to always feel like we are fighting for our child

Remember that Remember that we’re both working towards the same goal - to improve the outcomes for our children.

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Alastair Fairfull SENplus ltd

8. Support for schools

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• LA will work with schools to ensure there is appropriate provision in place to support children with SEND.

• Through the local offer schools will be able to access information about provisions and services available in their area.

• For children with more complex needs, the LA will work with schools to conduct an assessment for EHC needs.

• Joint commissioning arrangements should enable partners to make best use of all the resources available in an area to improve outcomes for children and young people in the most efficient, effective, equitable and sustainable way

8.Support for schools: Local authority

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Schools need to engage with their LA as part of the schools forum on how money is distributed and the process for seeking high needs top up funding.

• Funding for schools is provided by central government to local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant. LAs distribute this to schools by using a local funding formula.

• Schools are given an additional amount, referred to as the ‘notional SEN budget’ it covers around £6,000 per pupil with SEN, over and above core funding.

• For each pupil whose high level needs cost more than £6,000 per year, the local authority can provide high needs top-up funding.

• Schools can buy in specialist support to meet children’s SEN.

8. Support for schools: Funding