Tag: SEND

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Department for Education NNPCF work

Co chairs meet Susan Acland-Hood

NNPCF logo

On 6th November 2023, our co chairs met with the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education, Susan Acland-Hood.
Susan is the most senior civil servant within the Department for Education ( DfE) .
This was the NNPCF’s first meeting with Susan Acland-Hood, which went very well and provided an opportunity to raise the profile of the work that forums do, along with the issues and concerns of parent carers.
The discussion focused on:

  • Employment for those with SEND and the importance of working with industry and Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to ensure that our children and young people have opportunities for full time employment.
  • Early Years, whilst ELSEC is part of the change programme partnership, more needs to be done.
  • The Change Programme is an exciting programme of work but some additional communication to families and forums would be very welcome.
  • The importance of consistent and equitable Ordinarily Available Provision for those in mainstream. Along with strong Local Offer information.
  • Concerns raised by families about the Safety Valve Programme on services and the need for reassurance about the focus being on correct early intervention preventing needs from escalating. Along with more openness about the project for forums.

Susan was encouraging about the challenge parent carers and forums provide and ensured us that they are working with colleagues in the DWP, though we asked that they should be present at the SENDAP implementation board.
We are pleased about the supported internship pilot that doesn’t require an EHCp, as this will help a lot of families access supported internships in the future.
Susan agreed that better communications with families across all the programmes that are currently underway would be a good idea. Concerns raised around less EHCp’s or the Safety Valve Programme are due to poor communications, she said that her team would look at this moving forward.


An invitation to attend our NNPCF/Contact National Conference in February 2024 was extended to Susan and her team and they will ensure that DfE is well represented.

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Education NHS England Parent Carer Forums

Educational Psychologist strike action

We have received the following communication from the Association of Educational Psychologists.

EPs will be taking industrial action (striking) this winter.
Why?
Every year, tens of thousands of children and young people and their families are helped by an educational psychologist (EP).
EPs work with education professionals in nurseries, schools and other settings and with colleagues in youth justice and social care to help children overcome mental health issues like self-harm and anxiety and barriers to learning such as attention difficulties and dyslexia.
EPs also work with children and young people directly, offering therapeutic support for those who can’t find help through CAMHS and specialist support for care experienced children and their
carers.
EPs provide critical incident support when there has been a traumatic event in the community – it was EPs who were there after the Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell Tower fire.
EPs support young people up to the age of 25 to manage college, work experience, even independent or supported living.
And EPs help thousands of families with parenting advice and training as well as providing statutory assessments for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) to unlock support for children in school.
Despite the vital services and support provided by EPs, local authorities in England and Wales are not investing in the profession and are now facing widespread recruitment and retention problems.
Over the past 13 years, EPs’ pay has fallen by 17% compared to where pay should have been, had it kept up with inflation.
To afford their bills, EPs are moving to the private sector or leaving the profession altogether – leaving nearly 9 in 10 (88%) local authorities struggling to recruit EPs.
Nearly every (96%) local authority says the shortages are affecting children and young people.
Rocketing EP workload means children and young people are waiting far too long to be seen by a professional – or worse, do not get to see an EP at all.
Department for Education (DfE) figures from June 2023 show almost half of EHCPs in England are issued late – lengthening children and young people’s distress and leading to an increased need for a plan.
Our profession is in crisis. EPs are trained over three years to doctoral level and are qualified to take on high levels of responsibility, but they’re working unacceptable hours to help children, young people and their families to not only survive but thrive in the education system. They are burning out.
Many EPs will be taking industrial action in 135 local authorities in England and Wales – to protect their colleagues, their services and, most importantly, to protect your children.
In the short term, the industrial action may mean further delays in seeing an EP. But EPs are taking action with a view to the long term – to make sure those waits become a thing of the past so that in the future your children will have access to the specialist support that EPs offer, when they need it.

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2023 Conference

Working Together virtual conference 2023

Our joint virtual conference with Contact will take place on 14, 15 and 16 November.

We have planned the conference on the survey results we received from our membership.

We are pleased to share that this conference will take place via Microsoft Teams. This change from our usual Zoom platform and has been made due to the response we received from a recent Menti survey.

The confirmed session are

DateTimeSession
14/11/2310am-11.30am Conference Introduction & SEND and Alternative Provision Change Programme with Alasdaire Duerden – Head of SEND and AP Local Implementation Unit, Local Accountability and Improvement Division.
14/11/231pm – 2pmWorking with Integrated Care Boards with  Diana Boyd, Family Carer Advisor, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), NHS England
14/11/237pm-8pmNNPCF Drop in , informal session hosted by our co chairs
15/11/2310am- 11.30am Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, peer support session with Charlotte Amison & Jo Green
15/11/231pm – 2pm NNPCF AGM
15/11/127pm – 8pm How can parent carer forums support one another effectively?
Ruth Hobbs from Somerset PCF
16/11/2310am-11.30am Educational Psychologists with Cath Lowther, General Secretary, Association of Educational Psychologists
16/11/231pm-2.30pmPreparing for Adulthood and transition to adult services for health and social care/supported internships with Alice McColl, Development Lead Children and Young People, NDTi

You can register for the sessions on Contact’s website

If you can not join us for the live sessions, recordings will be made available after the event.

Our in person conference will take place on 29 February 2024, in Newcastle upon Tyne. More details, including how to book, will be shared soon.

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NHS

NHS Childhood Neurodiversity workshops

Neurodiversity means that across the population there is variation in people’s brains. Having people in society who see the world differently and have unique skills is an important part of life to be celebrated. The term “neurodivergent” refers to people whose brains work differently to the typical cultural standards. Neurodivergence includes conditions that people are born with including autism,ADHD, learning disability and learning disorders.

This programme of free virtual workshops for parents and carers will explore nurturing the unique strengths of neurodivergent children and young people and provide advice on how to support them with the challenges they face.

Any parent or carer is welcome to join regardless of whether their
child has a diagnosis. The workshops are live on Zoom and are 75 minutes long.

Recordings of the workshops and resource packs will be sent after the live event to everyone who has registered.

Childhood Neurodiversity: Understanding and Supporting Sensory Needs
What are the different sensory systems? What might sensory processing difficulties look like in children and teenagers?

This workshop will answer these questions and explore how parents and carers can support a child’s sensory needs.
Monday 6 November 1pm book here


Childhood Neurodiversity: Understanding and Supporting Eating Difficulties
This workshop is for parents/carers concerned about their neurodivergent limited diet (i.e.avoiding or restricting certain foods). We will explore why children may struggle to eat, anxiety around eating and how parents/carers can support children with these eating struggles.

This workshop is not aimed at parents of children whose eating difficulties relate to body image concerns.
Thursday 7 December 1pm book here


Childhood Neurodiversity: Supporting Language and Communication
This workshop will discuss language and social communication, including how parents/carers can support their children to communicate. This workshop will be co-delivered with the Integrated Community Paediatric Services Speech and Language Therapy Team.
Tuesday 9 January 2024 1pm book here

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NNPCF NNPCF Steering Group

New Steering Group member for the East of England

We would like to welcome Jo Harrison, from Essex Family Forum to the East of England representative role.

On her appointment Jo said, ”I am excited to be joining the NNPCF steering Group, representing the eleven Parent Carer Forums of the East of England.

As well as working for my local PCF, Essex Family Forum, I have been lucky to be a national representative for the NNPCF working nationally and regionally for the last 3 years.  The East of England is a strong community and the passion from the regional PCFs  to ensure the voices of parents and carers are heard, never ceases to amaze me! 

I am excited to continue to work closely with them, building on the solid foundations we have as a region, which is largely in part to Mrunal’s commitment. 

As a mum of two amazing girls who are neurodiverse, I am hoping that my experiences will continue to ensure I can understand, empathise, and provide a strong voice for the region. I have big shoes to fill, but I am excited to take on the challenge and I am lucky to have such a supportive team and region behind me.”

We would like to thank Mrunal for all his hard work and commitment to the East of England regional representative role.

Categories
Change Programme Partnerships Delivering Better Value for SEND Department for Education Uncategorized

DBV update

NNPCF logo

In response to the concerns being raised by PCFs recently about the SEND work, Delivering Better Value for SEND (DBV), Department for Education (DfE) advisors and in particular the Change Programme Partnership (CPP) our co-chairs arranged a meeting with the DfE on 11 September.


The NNPCF had been made aware that there was a change to the DBV contract.
The programme focuses on two key approaches:


Firstly, short-term help, to identify sustainable changes in each local authority, that can drive high quality outcomes for children and young people with SEND.


Secondly, building an objective evidence base. The data will be then used to inform future policy, as well as to build and show best practice that can be shared nationally and inform future national programmes.


The programme has been led by Newton Europe and CIPFA, the latter focusing on the financial aspect.


The programme was split into 3 tranches or groups, with the 55 local authorities that were deemed to have a very high, high-needs budget deficit.


Feedback from tranche 1 was given to the DfE and resulted in an extra module being added, and this was about financial sustainability, with CIPFA and DfE SEND advisors leading this piece of work. This work will only affect those local authorities in tranche 2 and 3 groups.


At the SENDAP Board on 18 September and at the CPP launch on 19 September, David Johnston, Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing stated that it is not a directive of the DBV work to reduce the number of EHCps by 20%, as stated in the media.
We will continue to drive the narrative that early help and intervention is the key to help and support SEND families.


For further information on DBV, please see their website


The regional DfE SEND advisors are currently under review. Unfortunately, due to an issue with HR, some still do not know what will happen. The DfE were unable to comment on this, at this stage.
We have concerns that the DfE advisors are supposed to be leading this work with CIPFA, however, there is still uncertainty about the role of the DfE SEND advisors.


Lastly, there have been lots of questions raised about the Change Programme Partnerships (CPP).
The CPP launched September 2023, and will look at the many aspects of the SEND AP implementation work and will use regional areas to test the changes before they become live for all. It is a regional programme that will feature specific local areas, but regions should be working through these changes together.

Every DfE region has a CPP, with a group of LA’s and ICB(s) where there is Lead LA and 1-3 supporting LA’s. This a 2–3-year programme and details can be found here: Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan (publishing.service.gov.uk)


The lead consortium for this project is:
REAch (Reaching excellence and ambition for all children), PA Consulting will lead the consortium, which comprises of IMPOWER, Council for Disabled Children (CDC) and Olive Academies.


We are seeking clarification on how the project will work as we know that PCFs and SEND families feel completely out of the loop and are rightly concerned about how it will all work.
We are in the process of organising a meeting with the DfE, to seek further clarification on these matters, and hope to share an update on the progress of these rather complicated projects as soon as we can.

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Autism NNPCF work

NNPCF Autism Central update

NNPCF logo

In December 2022, we informed you of a new programme, funded by Health Education England called the National Autism Peer Education Programme. The lead organisation for this programme was announced as the National Autistic Society (NAS) and whilst we informed you of the programme, it was in very early development, and we wanted to update you on where the programme is now.


The National Autism Peer Education Programme is now called Autism Central, it is a peer education programme for parents and carers of autistic people. The aim is to offer high-quality and easily accessible learning, information and guidance developed by autistic people, parents and carers and delivered via regional hubs across England, alongside a dedicated website.

The Autism Central website hosts details about each regional hub, information resources developed for the programme and signposts to useful external resources.
Training and support delivered via 7 Regional Hubs across England:
Including online and in-person training, group support and 1:1 mentoring

How far along is the project?
The organisations that have been contracted to run each regional hub were appointed in early 2023 via a tending process and are now in the recruitment and training phase of development. Hubs have started offering online training and information events. Phase 1 of the programme will begin in Autumn 2023 and this will include stakeholder engagement with local and national organisations. Phase 2 will begin in early 2024.

How are NNPCF involved?
Our role is a small but important one in ensuring that the programme is driven by lived experience and the needs of families. Two members of the NNPCF Steering Group were appointed as members of the Autism Central Governance Steering Group (GSG) and Expert Reference Group (ERG) in March 2023. A Compliance & Monitoring Sub-group (CMSG) of the GSG was formed in June 2023 and NNPCF have a representative in this group also.

Our role in each group:
Governance Steering Group (GSG) – guide the strategic direction of the project, manage risks, have oversight of performance and impact and financial sustainability.

Expert Reference Group (ERG) – support the development of information and training resources.
Compliance & Monitoring Sub-group (CMSG) – Monitor Quality Assurance and Risk across programme delivery including quality and improvement, safeguarding and data protection.

The regional hub tendering and contract award process had been completed prior to the appointment of a permanent NNPCF member to the GSG. As a member of the CMSG, NNPCF will have oversight of performance and delivery of the project by the regional hub providers.

Advisory and Governance Partners
Autistica
Ambitious about Autism
The Autism Education Trust (AET)
The Autism Alliance
Contact
Great Minds Together
National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNCPF)
British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD)

Delivery Partners
National Autistic Society (Autism Central Programme Manager)
Aspens – South East Regional Hub Provider Aspens | Autism Central
Bristol Autism Support – South West Regional Hub Provider Bristol Autism Support | Autism Central
Contact and Ambitious About Autism – London Regional Hub Providers Contact and Ambitious about Autism (London) | Autism Central

Contact and Ambitious About Autism – Midlands Regional Hub Providers Contact and Ambitious about Autism (Midlands) | Autism Central

Daisy Chain – North East and Yorkshire Regional Hub Provider Daisy Chain Project | Autism Central
Essex County Council – East of England Regional Hub Provider Essex County Council | Autism Central
Great Minds Together – North West Regional Hub Provider Great Minds Together | Autism Central

If you want to contact the NNPCF about this programme, please email info@nnpcf.org.uk

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DfE Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing NNPCF work

Co-chairs meet the new Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing



On 31 Aug 2023 we learnt that a new minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing had been appointed, David Johnston OBE.

Co-chairs Tina Emery and Sarah Clarke had an introductory meeting with the minister on 5 September.

The meeting went very well, giving Tina and Sarah a chance to highlight the importance of parent carer forums as well as the value that coproduction brings when working with parent carers who have lived experience.


They spoke about various subjects which included:

  • how vital it is to recognise the value of early intervention and the early identification of needs,
  • that behavioural and uniform policies, and the way they are implemented, often has a disproportionate impact on our children
  • the value of good inclusive school cultures
  • the ordinarily available offers that some schools already implement

The minister then asked our co-chairs to name one change that could make the biggest impact. This was a great opportunity to quote our school attendance case studies, where 81% of respondents had stated that the reason for their children not being able to attend school on a regular basis was, that their child’s needs were not being met. A further 89% of respondents felt if their school had recognised those needs and met them promptly it would have made a huge positive difference to their child’s life.

The meeting ending with an invitation for the new minister to attend a NNPCF steering group meeting, to meet with our parent carer forums from around the country, in their own regions, as well as an open invite to attend our next conference.

We look forward to working with David Johnston OBE, the new Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing.

Below you will find our introduction letter to the minister , and his reply.

Letter to the new minister David-Johnston-MPDownload
Letter-from-David-Johnston Minister for Children , Families and Wellbeing Download
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Attendance Action Alliance NNPCF work Support for CYP with SEND

Attendance Action Alliance

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On 5th September 2023, NNPCF co-chairs Tina Emery, and Sarah Clarke, took part in the Attendance Action Alliance meeting, chaired by Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education.

At the start of this academic year, the alliance renewed its pledges at 10 Downing Street, to support children and young people to get back into school.

Whilst there has been some improvement across the board in the attendance figures, the alliance is keen to ensure this continues to improve.

The NNPCF has always advocated the difference between non-attendance and those who are unable to attend for other reasons. Our case studies have reported that SEND parent carers want their children and young people to have an education, but their SEND needs must also be acknowledged and subsequently met.

Along with the importance of being able to start the academic year successfully, which often proves very problematic for those with SEND. Details such us good and timely communication around school transport and the inevitable school year timetable changes can have a massive positive impact to the start of the term for our children.

To support understanding on mild illness and school attendance, Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, along with other health colleagues has written the following:
Letter to school leaders on mild illness and school attendance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


For the last two years, at the start of the academic year, we have highlighted the need for a joined up supportive approach and not the punitive approach that, unfortunately, our children experience. In response to our requests, the DfE recently published a blog on what constitutes a reasonable adjustment.

The following information could be used by forums to help their local parent carers inform the schools that their children and young people attend to identify what reasonable adjustments are and how they can be used to help: What are reasonable adjustments and how do they help disabled pupils at school? – The Education Hub (blog.gov.uk)

The Department for Education (DfE) have published a revised statutory guidance for all local authorities on home to school travel for children of compulsory school age.

They have also published the following response to the public consultation on the guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance
 
Some of the changes to the guidance, specifically relate to children with SEN, disabilities and/or medical conditions, which have been highlighted by Contact’s school transport inquiry.
 
Aimed at schools, Working together to improve school attendance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  states “This report finds that children who miss one of the first few days of the new term for unauthorised reasons are much more likely to miss long periods of their schooling than their peers who attended those first few days. These children had a predicted overall absence of almost 45%, or 31 days across the term compared to children who missed days near the end of term with a predicted overall absence of 20-30%. This shows just how important it is that children are at school, ready to learn in the first days of the September term.”


A parental guide for school attendance will be published soon.


Regional Attendance Hubs are soon due to be launched. It is hoped they will enable schools to better support their pupils to get them back into school. Government to tackle post pandemic absence rates with new support – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Let’s get ready for September | Children’s Commissioner for England (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk) (published July 2022)

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DfE Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing SEND AP Implementation Board. SEND Review

Government announces more support for children with SEND

  • Over a thousand new special school places confirmed, as additional seven special free schools to be built
  • Local authorities in every region selected to be at the forefront of delivering transformational reform set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision (SEND and AP) Improvement Plan
  • Reforms backed by £70 million to test what works to ensure children and young people get the best possible services

Over a thousand more children and young people with SEND are set to benefit from access to high-quality specialised learning, with seven new special free schools in Cambridgeshire, Kent, Merton and Norfolk selected to be built alongside the existing 83 already committed to opening, located across England from Devon to Darlington.

Once complete, this investment will almost double the number of special free school places available across the country – from around 8,500 to 19,000 – ensuring all children receive a quality education, tailored to their needs.

Today, local authorities across the country have been selected to deliver a ground-breaking new programme to test and refine the reforms to services for young people and families.

Backed by £70 million, the local authorities will help inform the development of new national standards to improve the consistency of provision across the country.  

Each area will also bring together education and health services, as well as parents and families to develop an inclusion plan that sets out how they will deliver local services in a co-ordinated way – for example making sure a child with special educational needs who is behind in reading is quickly assessed and given the right support. This addresses feedback from families that the current system is often fragmented with agencies not working together.  

This follows recent confirmation that high needs funding is increasing by a further £440 million for 24/25, bringing total funding to £10.5 billion – an increase of over 60% since 2019-20.

Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho said: “Making sure children with special educational needs and disabilities get a superb education is a priority.

Earlier this year our Improvement Plan set out systemic reforms to make sure every child and young person gets consistently high-quality support, no matter where in the country they live. “

Today we’re making sure that those reforms are informed by the experiences of real families, up and down the country, and creating the thousands of new places at specialist schools and in staff training courses that are needed to make sure our plan is a success.”

The Government is also confirming today an expansion in training for early years staff, adding an extra 2,000 training places for early years special educational needs co-ordinators on top of the 5,000 already announced. 

Measures confirmed in the Improvement Plan included:

  • a new leadership level National Professional Qualification for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (NPQ for SENCOs), ensuring SENCOs have the training they need to provide the right support to children. The NPQ will replace the NASENCO from September 2024 and will start in Autumn 2024. Further information on the transition to the new NPQ can be found here: Transition to national professional qualification for special educational needs co-ordinators – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
  • a new approach to AP will focus on preparing children to return to mainstream or prepare for adulthood. AP will act as an intervention within mainstream education, as well as high-quality standalone provision, in an approach that meets children’s needs earlier and helps prevent escalation.
  • an extension until March 2025  to the AP Specialist Taskforces, which work directly with young people in AP to offer intensive support from teams made up of experts, including mental health professionals, family workers, and speech and language therapists, backed by an additional £7 million investment.
  • a doubling of the number of supported internship places by 2025, from around 2,500 to around 5,000, backed with £18 million of funding to help young people make the transition into adulthood.
  • £30 million to go towards developing innovative approaches for short breaks for children, young people and their families, providing crucial respite for families of children with complex needs – the programme funds local areas to test new services including play, sports, arts and independent living activities, allowing parents time to themselves, while their child enjoys learning new skills. 13 local authorities are taking part in the second year of the programme.