Enhanced provision for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs
in mainstream primary schools
Background
Education for primary aged children with SEMH needs is currently provided in a
number of settings:
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mainstream schools;
pupil referral units;
Resourced provisions currently funded through Behaviour and Attendance
Partnerships on an ad hoc basis;
Essex special school (Wells Park);
Other LA special schools;
Out of Authority independent schools.
There has been an ongoing need to commission out of Authority independent
school provision to meet the needs of pupils with SEMH due to the lack of
provision in Essex both due to the lack of enhanced provision in Essex
mainstream primary schools and the limited number of places at Wells Park
School which is broadly residential. There has also been a growth in the
number of permanent exclusions from Essex primary schools over the same
period.
The majority of the pupils placed in out of Authority independent provision are in
Year 6. Some additional capacity will be established through the creation of
Year 6 places at Langham Oaks School and day placement at Wells Park but
this is insufficient to meet the needs of all those pupils who have been educated
in out of Authority independent special schools. The majority of pupils placed in
independent special schools are likely to continue in out-county provision until
the end of year 11.
Provision is also made in Essex pupil referral units for pupils at risk of
permanent exclusion through the positive referral process.
A number of Essex primary schools currently host provision funded by the
Behaviour and Attendance Partnership budget. There are a number of different
models but all have supported pupils at risk of exclusion referred by local
schools and small numbers of permanent exclusions when commissioned by
the LA or local PRU. Some of the provisions have been funded to support
pupils who would otherwise have been educated in out of Authority independent
provision at considerable additional cost.
Aims / Objectives
Enhanced provision is required:
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To enable Essex pupils to be educated in their local community within a
mainstream setting and to significantly reduce the number of pupils educated
in out of Authority independent school provision;
To offer time limited placements for pupils at risk of exclusion from Essex
primary schools and to successfully reintegrate them back into the referring
school;
To reduce the level of permanent exclusions from Essex primary schools;
To increase the capacity of Essex schools to successfully meet the needs of
pupils with SEMH and to enable them to fulfil their academic potential;
To prepare pupils with SEMH to successfully transfer to Essex mainstream
secondary school provision;
To improve parental confidence in the continuum of provision available within
Essex and thus increase parental choice;
To empower parents to have greater involvement in their children’s education
and to develop their capacity to support their child’s development and
progress;
To support pupils to become more emotionally literate, more self-aware and to
be able to self-regulate;
To promote inclusion in Essex schools by increasing resilience in schools and
thus enabling them to meet the challenges of pupils with SEMH.
Admissions criteria
The following categories of referral will be supported by resourced provisions:
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Pupils with a statement or EHC plan where SEMH is identified as the main
category of need and whose needs cannot currently be met in a mainstream
primary school;
pupils who have been permanently excluded from mainstream primary
schools;
pupils at risk of permanent exclusion or placement breakdown and who will
benefit from a time limited period away from a mainstream primary school
followed by successful reintegration to the referring school;
pupils that have a statement of SEN or an EHC plan who move into Essex for
whom there is no identified provision due to their SEMH.
Each provision will have an identified number of pupils who they will be expected to
support from the first two categories above. Referrals from individual schools will be
managed by local agreement and through adherence to an agreed service level
agreement which will be developed following the identification of the host schools.
Pupils without provision will be placed on an individual basis through negotiation
between the LA and management group. It is proposed that the number of pupils
each provision should admit be determined through consultation with Essex primary
schools.
Delivery criteria
Schools seeking to host enhanced provision will need to be able to meet the
following criteria either individually or in partnership with local schools:
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An Ofsted rating of good or outstanding or be newly established academies
with evidence of an ability to deliver good or outstanding outcomes;
An existing physical space to locate the provision or have an area which can
be developed;
A fully inclusive model which enables referred pupils to participate and be
educated alongside the main body of the school as well as benefit from more
specialist provision;
The ability to undertake accurate baseline assessments on entry to the
provision which will inform monitoring of progress;
A model which will challenge traditional ways of working and push the
boundaries with regards to intervention and support for pupils with SEMH;
Work with local primary schools to build capacity of their staff for support and
inclusion of pupils with SEMH;
To develop an evidence and research-based source of expertise in relation to
behaviour and emotional difficulties in terms of effective teaching approaches
and management;
To provide, in collaboration with a range of voluntary and statutory agencies,
a range of effective support strategies for families of pupils with SEMH
including high-class, evidence based therapeutic inputs;
To provide outreach support for mainstream schools, within the
quadrant/district in order to build the capacity of mainstream staff to support
pupils with SEMH;
To provide placements for a specified number of pupils with a statement of
SEN (or in the future an Education Health Care plan) who would otherwise
have been placed in specialist provision (including out of Authority special
school provision) due to SEMH;
A commitment from all schools in the identified ‘catchment’ (to be determined
following consultation with Essex primary schools) to a policy of no permanent
exclusions.
Staffing
The revenue funding model is subject to Schools’ Forum approval. The individual
host schools will be asked to provide their own proposed staffing model based on a
likely cohort of 8 pupils with two of these being high needs pupils.
Host schools shall ensure that there are sufficient numbers of appropriately qualified
and experienced staff to meet the needs of approximately 8 pupils within the
provision at all times, and that those staff and volunteers are appropriately recruited
and checked in accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 and
the SVG Act.
Outcomes & Measures
The following are a guide to the outcomes and measures which ECC will wish to
develop with the host schools. These will form the basis of key performance
indicators and will be written into the service level agreement.
Host schools will be expected to deliver the following for individual pupils:
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Improved behaviour using baseline assessment data taken at entry;
Improved attendance, engagement in learning and inclusion in mainstream
lessons;
A reduction in fixed-term exclusions;
Increased pupil and parental confidence;
Academic progress to be based on individual pupil targets;
A narrowing of the gap in line with national expectations where these are not
being met on entry;
Successful transition back into the referring school for school commissioned
places;
Successful transition to the identified education placement for LA
commissioned places.
In addition the enhanced provisions will be expected to contribute to:
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Increased confidence and competence in referring schools when working with
pupils with SEMH;
Reduction in the number of permanently excluded pupils within the
area/quadrant.