July 24, 2020

A difficult time for parent carers and PCFs

The past four months have been a strange and difficult time. For families of children and young people with SEND, it has been even more difficult with many of our children more effected by lockdown and most of the services we rely on simply not available. The inability of many local areas to coproduce with families on EHCP risk assessments and coronavirus act easements and the lack of meaningful respite care during this period has meant that, despite our work, the experience for many families with SEND has been incredibly difficult.

However, we have been amazed but not surprised by the dedication and commitment of parent carer forums through this period. You have adapted to the new normal with creativity and agility – you have been running virtual coffee mornings, providing peer support to families and conducting surveys to understand and escalate concerns. Your work has enabled the NNPCF to continue to give clear messages to government and the NHS about the impact of Covid 19 and what they need to do differently. You can see our latest summary of the key messages here http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/NNPCF-C19-update-20200702.pdf)

Value of forums has been recognised

Your work and its value has been recognised by all concerned, including ministers (see http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/minister-vicky-ford-thanks-parent-carer-forums-for-their-work-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/).

During this period, NNPCF representatives have met with four different ministers on six separate occasions. In addition, the NNPCF has been invited to join key governmental and NHS boards including the Schools Recovery Advisory Group, the Covid 19 Vulnerable Children’s Board and the NHS England Children and Young People’s Stakeholder Council.

This has meant that we have been able to share your experiences with the highest levels of government.

Our voice has made an impact

Many of our representations have been taken on board and have formed a part of government policy and guidance. A few examples (from a long list) include:

• Early on, we and other challenged the use of clinical frailty scales and “do not resuscitate” notices for people with disabilities.
• We worked to get guidance on going out changed to accommodate the needs of those with SEND (e.g. being able to go out with more than one carer and more than once a day, exemptions from wearing face masks).
• In the recently published school’s guidance, we inserted new language into the sections on behaviour, exclusions and attendance emphasising the need to coproduce solutions with families and to take a supportive, not punitive approach.
• We ensured that the £1bn of catch up funding announced by the government could be spent on SEND services (such as SALT) and was not just restricted to academic tutoring.

There are still big issues to be resolved

Going forward, there remain major concerns ahead of the return to school and the full restoration of services:

• Communication to parents has not yet explained clearly why and how it is safe for children to return to school.
• We remain concerned that some schools will be taking a “hard line” approach to behaviour, attendance and exclusions that will prejudice children with SEND.
• School transport remains a major concern for many families.
• And the long term mental health and developmental impact of Covid 19 on our children has not yet been felt or understood.

We will keep working to address these.

Thank you

It has been a gruelling time for parent carer forums – doing what we do whilst caring for our families has been an immense effort. Thank you for your tireless and selfless work and although the work of PCFs never stops, please take a well earnt break over the summer. At the NNPCF, we will keep a watching brief on activity. September is likely to be a difficult time for our families and we will need to return, refreshed and ready to start all over again.

Enjoy your break and see you in September

The NNPCF steering group

Guidance to support schools and colleges to fully reopen in September and early years and childcare providers from 20 July

July 2, 2020

The Education Secretary will lead a press conference at Downing Street this afternoon (Thursday 2 July)

Schools and colleges to reopen in full in September

• Limits on attendance will be lifted to allow schools to open at full capacity
• Schools and colleges to deliver their full curriculum, ahead of exams next summer
• Limits on nursery group sizes to be lifted from 20 July
• “Covid-19 secure” measures to remain in place, with children self-isolating at home where needed

Detailed plans have been unveiled for all children and young people to return to full-time education from September.

Current restrictions on group sizes will be lifted to allow schools, colleges and nurseries to fully reopen to all children and young people, as Covid-19 infection rates continue to fall.

Covid-19 secure measures will remain in place to reduce the risk of transmission, with schools being asked to keep children in class or year group sized ‘bubbles’ and encourage older children to keep their distance from each other and staff where possible. This is alongside protective measures such as regular cleaning and handwashing.

Where there is a positive case in a school or college, the Public Health England local health  protection team will advise on the appropriate action, which could include small groups of young people and staff being asked to self-isolate for up to 14 days.

Where there are two or more confirmed cases in a two-week period, health protection teams may ask a larger number of other children or young people to self-isolate at home as a precautionary measure.

Where an outbreak in a school is confirmed, for specific detailed investigations a mobile testing unit may be dispatched to test others who may have been in contact with the person who has tested positive. Testing will first focus on the person’s class, followed by their year group, then the whole school if necessary.

All staff, pupils and their families will continue to have access to testing if they develop Covid-19 symptoms and schools will be provided with easy to use home testing kits for children and staff who would otherwise be unable to get a test.

Schools will be expected to have plans in place to offer remote education to pupils who are self-isolating.

For nurseries, childminders, and other early years providers, restrictions on group sizes will be lifted from 20 July, increasing capacity from the start of the summer holiday.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

“I know these past three months have been some of the most challenging that schools have faced. What they have achieved to make sure that young people are kept safe and can continue to learn during this period is remarkable, and I am incredibly grateful for that.

“Nothing can replace being in the classroom, so ever since schools, colleges and nurseries closed to most children, we have been working hard to ensure they can reopen as soon as possible. We have already seen more than 1.5 million children and young people return, but we must make sure all pupils can go back to school in September, giving them the opportunity to thrive and fulfill their potential.

“I want to reassure parents and families that we are doing everything we can to make sure schools, nurseries, colleges and other providers are as safe as possible for children and staff, and will continue to work closely with the country’s best scientific and medical experts to ensure that is the case.”

The guidance published today (2 July) provides schools, colleges and nurseries with the details needed to plan for a full return, as well as reassuring parents about what to expect for their children. The guidance has been developed in close consultation with the sector and medical experts from Public Health England.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jenny Harries, said:

“Thanks to the hard work of everyone, including our teachers and all school staff, there has been a decline in the rate of COVID-19 transmission in our communities.

“A child’s education is essential to their healthy development – we know that missing too much school can have a negative impact on children’s mental and physical wellbeing.

“Everybody wants children to be safe and thankfully as we have learned more about COVID-19, the evidence has shown that the risk of severe disease in children is low. However, although the number of COVID-19 cases has declined, it is still in general circulation – so it important we ensure schools implement sensible precaution to reduce potential transmission of COVID-19 and minimise any risk to teachers and their pupils.”

Schools will need to work with families to secure full attendance from the start of the new academic year, with the reintroduction of mandatory attendance.

To ensure pupils can catch up on lost learning, schools will be required to resume teaching a broad and balanced curriculum in all subjects, making use of existing flexibilities to create time to address gaps in knowledge. Schools should consider how all subjects can contribute to filling gaps in core knowledge.

This will help pupils catch up and will work alongside the financial support provided to primary and secondary schools through the Government’s £1 billion Covid catch-up package. This is on top of the £14 billion that we are investing in schools over the next three years.

Exams will take place in 2021 and Ofqual is consulting on arrangements for those exams, including measures to mitigate any impact on pupils from time out of school.

Alongside this, Ofsted will carry out visits to schools in the autumn term to discuss how they are supporting the return to education for their pupils, with routine inspections planned to restart in January 2021.

Nurseries and other early years providers, including childminders, have already been welcoming back children of all ages since 1 June, with a range of protective measures in place. From 20 July, restrictions on group sizes for nurseries, childminders and other early years providers will be lifted, increasing capacity for more children to return, as set out in updated guidance published today.

The schools guidance sets out a range of measures to protect children and staff. This guidance applies to all mainstream schools, alternative provision, independent schools and boarding schools and sets out advice on how they can minimise contact and mixing. Separate guidance has also been published for special schools.

Schools should implement class or year sized bubbles, as well as encouraging staff and pupils, where they are able, to keep their distance from each other and avoiding touching.  All schools should work to implement other policies in line with their own risk assessment and in a way that ensures pupils can be taught a broad and balanced curriculum. Other measures set out in the guidance include:

• teachers to distance from each other and older students where possible
• increasing the frequency of cleaning
• reducing the use of frequently shared items
• minimising contact in corridors

Guidance

Guidance for full opening of schools

Guidance for full opening of special schools and other specialist institutions

Guidance for further education and skills providers

Guidance for early years and childcare providers

The influential Public Accounts Committee has published its review into SEND.

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/35/support-for-children-with-special-educational-needs-and-disabilities/publications/

The report looks into how effectively policy for children and young people with SEND has been implemented by the government. This follows the National Audit Office report into SEND published in 2019. (http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/national-audit-office-report-on-send/)

The NNPCF welcomes the report which echoes the recommendations that the NNPCF conference submitted into the ongoing SEND Review. The report references the evidence that NNPCF co-chair Mrunal Sisodia gave to the committee in September which was based on the work of parent carer forums across the country. ( http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/nnpcf-gives-evidence-to-the-public-accounts-committee/)

The report recommends that the Department for Education:

• Complete the SEND review as a matter of urgency
• Better understand variations in outcomes across the country and between different groups of children with SEND
• Set out the steps to reduce the number of children with SEND excluded from school
• Better incentivise mainstream schools to be inclusive
• Understand and plan for special school places

We are particularly pleased that the committee recommends the work of parent carer forums and urges the Department for Education to use them to better understand what is happening in local areas. The report says that the Department should:

“supplement inspection evidence by drawing on other information to get a rounded, timely assessment of the quality of support for children with SEND. This information should include… intelligence from… parent carer forums…”

NNPCF co-chairs Tina Emery and Mrunal Sisodia said,

“We are delighted that the Public Accounts Committee endorses so many of the recommendations that we have made to the cross governmental SEND review and recommends the work of parent carer forums in local areas. It shows the ever-growing influence and importance of the parent carer forum movement as a key solution to improving outcomes for our children.”

When the Children and Families Act was launched with great fanfare in 2014, the NNPCF was quick to point out that the existing accountabilities did not match the principles of the new system. Whilst services were required to work together in a joined-up way and schools were required to listen to parents and respond early to the needs of children, there were few ways that parents could seek redress if this was not happening. Our concerns were first highlighted in our national priorities document in March 2016 and we have re-iterated them in our last two state of the nation reports.

We continue to receive a lot of feedback from parent carer forums on this topic and national reports (for example the Education Select Committee and the National Audit Office in 2019) also focused on the need to improve accountability across the SEND system.

In the last few weeks, the NNPCF have been working in three key ways to improve accountability in the SEND system.

Coproducing the new local area inspection regime post 2021

The current round of local area SEND inspections are due to end in 2021. The NNPCF have been engaging with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) who are exploring a new local area inspection regime beyond 2021. The NNPCF attends the LA Inspection Stakeholder Group and the co-chairs have met with the lead inspectors to share our evidence to the SEND review.

In our discussions we emphasised the following points:

• Local area inspections have been a force for good and must continue – they have significantly improved the focus on SEND in local systems particularly from health and social care services.
• We would like to see the inspections place a greater emphasis on listening to parents and early intervention.
• We are calling for a greater focus on lifelong outcomes – the purpose of the SEND system should not be just about school but about preparing a young person for a happy, healthy, independent and meaningful life.

Making the current local area inspection regime more effective

We recently surveyed parent carer forums and asked them about their experiences of local area SEND inspections. We have shared key messages with the lead inspector including:

• More coproduction around the timing and accessibility of meetings for parents
• Greater consistency in with meetings parent carer forums should be attending

You can find our full report in the appendix to this document.

NNPCF recommendations to the Single Route of Redress National Trial

The single route of redress national trial gives SEND tribunals the powers to make non-binding judgements on health and social care services. The trial is currently ongoing and ends in August 2020. The NNPCF is represented on the stakeholder group and we have submitted our recommendations to the Department for Education calling for the extended powers of the tribunal to made permanent.

• The sheer number of cases (1545 as a January 2020) shows there is a need for the extended powers
• The new powers align the remit of the tribunal to the principles of the SEND reforms
• They give families a “one stop shop” to redress issues across education, health and social care
• A failure to make the extended powers of the tribunal permanent will further damage parental confidence in the system.
• Finally, we have called for greater powers for the tribunal so they can make binding judgements on health and social care.

Building on our work over the last 4 years

All of this builds on the work we have been doing over the last four years to represent parental views and improve accountability in the SEND system. Some examples of this include:

• NNPCF have consistently made the case for the extension to the local area inspection regime beyond 2021https://nnpcf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/talking-points-send-local-area-inspections-2019-v2-1.pdf
• We have argued for greater consequences for those areas that receive a written statement of action http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/local-area-inspections-how-are-the-nnpcf-representing-parent-carer-forums/
• Worked with Ofsted to improve the school inspection framework and ensure a greater focus on SEND, exclusions and off-rolling. http://www.nnpcf.org.uk/ofsted-meet-parent-carers-of-children-with-send-in-mainstream-schools/

Appendix: NNPCF Feedback on Local Area Inspections January 2020

1. Parent Carer Forums (PCF) are overwhelmingly supportive of LA inspections as a force for improvement in the SEND system.

“We found the inspection process and team to be very good.”

2. PCFs would like to see more coproduction in the timings of inspection meetings – too many felt that they placed an unreasonable burden on already stretched parent and many said timings were difficult to fit around caring responsibilities.

“It seems silly that these guys are rating others on coproduction yet do not do it themselves”

“No negotiation on times”

“It was a really challenging week and actually excluded many of our reps”

3. There is huge variation in what meetings PCFs are invited to. There needs to be a clear expectation that PCFs attend everything unless there is a compelling reason not to, notably key CQC meetings.

“Despite complaining to our LA and Ofsted we were not invited to any meetings except the welcome meeting, SEF and parent participation meeting.”

“None at all.”

“[We} were invited to everything.”

4. Not all PCFs had the opportunity to meet with inspectors privately. This should happen in all areas.

“Had 20 minutes only after phoning the inspectors to complain that the LA were giving us no time.”

“The inspectors made no contact with the forum. Also ignored chair’s e-mail asking to be contacted.”

5. Not all forums had the chance to share information / data / evidence with inspectors prior to the inspection. Inspectors should contact PCFs directly and ask them if there is anything they want to share – not all PCFs will have access to the inspection portal / share drives.

“We asked for our own route to do this.. [otherwise the CCG and LA] would have seen all of our information including individual case examples.”

6. Before accepting a Local Area’s response to a inspection letter, inspectors must establish whether the PCF has been involved in its drafting

“Been shut out of the process”

“We have a place on the SEND board…therefore we wouldn’t agree to it unless input of parent carers was included…”

7. Forums in areas that get a Written Statement of Action (WSOA) report an incredible extra burden and need extra funding.

“the workload exploded”

The top priority of the NNPCF is to spread the word on coproduction. We believe that the best way of improving the outcomes for children and young people with SEND is to listen to them and their families and to include them in all the decisions about their lives. Whether it is designing an individual therapy programme for a child or commissioning a multi-million pound contract, coproduction is the key.

Here are just a few examples of how NNPCF steering group members have been talking about coproduction over the few weeks.

NNPCF co-chair, Mrunal Sisodia has given two training sessions for the Local Government Association on their Leadership Essentials course for local councillors who have key positions in children’s services across England. Mrunal trained over 40 councillors and urged them to work collaboratively with parents and to ensure that health, social care and education services worked together more effectively. Mrunal also urged all the council leaders to make sure that they worked with their local parent carer forum and funded it properly.

In the West Midlands, regional steering group member Zara Bowden presented to the whole school send regional network and the regional SEND forum on parent carer forums, coproduction and what good looks like in schools (SEN support being the focus). Both these opportunities resulted in new relationships being forged within the region and a positive response from attendees about the purpose of forums and the potential to work together.

On 26 September Mrunal was joined by NNPCF National Representative Sarah Thomas as they gave the keynote speech at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists conference. Mrunal and Sarah spoke about how services needed to wrap the child and shared examples from their personal experience to illustrate the benefits and pitfalls. Sarah also spoke about the work that has been done in the North East on the Transforming Care accelerator site where mental health services have worked closely with schools to transform services.

Finally, on the 4th October, NNPCF co-chair Tina Emery gave a seminar at the TES SEN show in London. Tina spoke about the lived experience of families with SEND and shared what families have been telling us needs to change.

You can find the key slides that Mrunal, Tina, Zara and Sarah used here [insert link].