Special Educational Needs and
Disability National and Local
Developments
Lorraine Stephen
Head of Service
Complex Needs SEN
Salford Children’s Services
THE BACKGROUND
How did we get to this point?
The current system isn’t working….
• Too many children with SEN have their needs picked up late
•
Young people with SEN do less well than their peers at school and
college and are more likely to be out of education, training and
employment at 18
•
Schools and colleges can focus too much on the SEN label rather than
meeting the child’s needs, and the current Statements/ Learning
Difficulty Assessments do not focus on life outcomes
•
Too many families have to battle to find out what support is available
and in getting the help they need from education, health and social care
services and
• When a young person leaves school for further education, they enter a
very different system which does not carry forward the rights and
protections that exist in the SEN system in schools
Involvement of children,
young people and parents in
decision making
Improved identification of children and young people’s needs
Collaboration between education, health and
social care to provide support
Greater choice and control for young people and their
parents over their support
Successful preparation for adulthood, including
independent living and employment
Personal Budgets
Personal Budgets should:
• be based on clear, agreed outcomes
• be transparent and challengeable
• allow families and young people to manage agreed elements
of the additional and individual support they need
• be an integral part of the planning process in order to
empower creative solutions
• reflect the holistic nature of an EHCP, covering education,
health and care as appropriate, where additional and individual
support is needed
• come with the support needed for parents and young people
to take up and manage it
• support and inform market development
• allow for local flexibility.
Three mechanisms for control of an EHC personal
budget
1. The funds are paid to the parent or young person
as a direct payment, and they buy the specified
provision within the EHC Plan
2. The local authority retains management of the
funds and commissions the support specified in
the plan (sometimes called “notional
arrangements”)
3. The funds are paid to a third party to manage on
behalf of the parent or young person
A mix of the above is also possible
Education Health and Care Plan Personal Budgets
and School Funding
Base funding, notional SEN budget and high-needs block
funding enable schools and colleges to provide teaching
and support arrangements for all of their pupils and
students.
Where a pupil or student’s individualised needs exceed
the level of provision the school or college normally
provides, additional funds will come from the high-needs
block.
It is normally these additional funds, beyond the normal
provision as set out in the local offer, that would be
offered as part of an EHCP personal budget
Funding EHC personal budgets
LA retained budget
Pupil/student
base funding
Notional SEN
budget
with school or college
agreement
Personal
budget
High-needs
block
to support additional
needs
School/college budget
EHCPs – Where are we up to in Salford?
• Ideal Business Process Map
• Draft template
SE7 – Co-produced with families, developed lists of
essential & desirable features of a Local Offer
Some of the essentials:
Some of the desirables:
•
•
List of schools maintained/non
maintained and specials
•
Information on schools, not written by
the school
•
Explanation of P scales and NC levels
•
School policies on SEN, anti-bullying,
equality and complaints
•
Somebody to assist you through the
review process
•
Parent Partnership Service
•
List of colleges with correct
information around wheelchair access
etc..
Up to date phone numbers, contact
details and names of people who are
contactable to include the days &
times when at work
•
Diagrams explaining how services work
•
Who is accountable and who provides
what?
•
Clear contact for complaints and
information
•
Easy to navigate
•
Visual symbols
•
Holistic
•
Glossary of terms and
The four areas of SEN
•
•
•
•
Communication and interaction
Cognition and learning
Social, emotional and mental health
Sensory and/ or physical needs
New World – differences between an EHCP and a statement