1. Implications for Sensory Impaired Services
The Green Paper
Support and aspiration:
A new approach to SEN and disability
Implications for Sensory Impaired Services
Heads of Sensory Support Services – 10th Annual National Conference
17 June 2011
University of Birmingham
André Imich, SEN and Disability Professional Adviser, DfE

2. Areas covered The White Paper – The importance of teaching
Role of the LA
Increasing diversity of the school system
Funding
Accountability
Early identification and assessment
Education, Health and Care Plan
Personal budgets
Give parents a real choice of school
Over-identification of SEN
Support the best schools to share their practices
Pathfinders
LAs working collaboratively
Most importantly – your professional skills

3. The Importance of Teaching: Schools White Paper 2010 - key aims:
free teachers from constraint and improve their professional status and authority
raise the standards set by our curriculum and qualifications to match the best in the world
hold schools effectively to account for the results they achieve
ensure that school funding is fair, with more money for the most disadvantaged
support teachers to learn from one another and from proven best practice

4. Role of LAs - Champions for parents and families, for vulnerable pupils and of educational excellence
Promoting a good supply of strong schools – encouraging the development of academies and free schools
Ensure fair access to all schools for every child.
Stand up for the interests of parents and children.
Responsible for funding provision for pupils with statements of SEN.
Ensure that children with SEND can access high-quality provision that meets their needs
Support vulnerable pupils – including LAC, those with SEN and those outside mainstream education.
Support maintained schools performing below the floor standards to improve quickly or convert to Academy status with a strong sponsor.

5. Increasing diversity of the school system :
Maintained primary and secondary schools
Maintained special schools
Academies
Special academies
Free schools
Free special schools
Alternative provision

6. Changes to funding
Funding system to be fair, easy to understand, and carefully managed.
DfE to consult on funding in spring will consider how special educational provision for pupils with SEN in schools, academies and free schools, can be funded in a transparent, integrated and cost-effective way.
Review will also consider how high quality specialist support for pupils with SEN or who are disabled in schools, including academies and free schools, might be funded most effectively.
Question 47: How do you think SEN support services might be funded so that schools, academies, free schools and other education providers have access to high quality SEN support services?

7. Accountability
End Ofsted routine inspections of outstanding schools and colleges
New Ofsted framework – pupil achievement, quality of teaching, leadership and management, and the behaviour and safety of pupils
Inspection must consider how well the school meets the needs of the range of pupils and in particular, pupils with a disability and those with SEN
Ofsted committed to providing an inspector with appropriate SEN expertise in instances where they are expecting to inspect specialist resourced provision in a mainstream school
LA duty to provide SIPs removed
New performance measure – focus on lowest performing 20%

8. Early identification and assessment
Children’s needs should be identified as early as possible so that the
right support is put in place for them and their family.
We propose to:
help professionals identify problems as they emerge, with a robust system of early checks for children involving education, health and social care
put in place a reformed assessment process for children with complex needs, with a single multi-agency approach and ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’ for 0-25, focusing on outcomes, giving parents the same statutory protection as the current statement of SEN

9. Education, health and care plan
By 2014, all children who would currently have a statement of SEN or learning for further education and skills training should have a single statutory assessment process and ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’, from birth to 25.
Makes clear who is responsible across education, health and social care for which services and includes a commitment from all parties to provide their services.
Like a statement sets out needs but also set out learning and life outcomes
Would be transparent about funding for support package

10. Personal budgets
Include notional budgets, budgets held by a third party, and cash direct payments to individuals.
We will use pilots to test the use of personal budgets across the whole range of support that disabled children and children with SEN receive.
Pilot areas will test whether any school-based services could be included, and provide more evidence about the cost and impact of providing support in this way.

11. Give parents a real choice of school
Propose to strengthen parental choice of mainstream or special by:
improving the range and diversity of schools,
making sure they are aware of the options available to them; and
changing statutory guidance for local authorities.
Parents of children with statements of SEN will be able to express a
preference for any state-funded school – including special schools,
Academies and Free Schools – and have their preference met unless
one or more of the three statutory criteria apply
We will also prevent the unnecessary closure of special schools by
giving parents and community groups the power to take them over

12. Over-identification of SEN
Whilst no additional resources are provided to schools for children with a low level SEN (at School Action), for too long our school system has perpetuated perverse incentives (e.g. CVA) to over-identify children as having SEN.
SEN should not be used as a label or as an excuse for failing to understand the challenges to achieving their potential that some pupils face.
We propose to disseminate best practice, change statutory guidance on how SEN should be identified, reassure parents that their children’s barriers to learning are being addressed by the school, and enforce sharper accountability.

13. Support the best schools to share their practices
Teaching schools
Schools supporting each other
Fewer top-down initiatives

14. LAs working collaboratively
Explore how to encourage greater collaboration between LAs, e.g.:
jointly commissioning and managing services, or combining services across a group of LAs within a single management structure, for example, sensory support services or EP services;
jointly managing fair and equitable access to places in special resourced provision, special schools and special academies across a number of LAs; and
jointly commissioning places in independent and non-maintained special schools to deliver VfM and the right services for children.

15. Local pathfinders Will focus on:
less bureaucratic approach where agencies work together
what the new assessment process and single plan will look like
whether the voluntary and community sector could coordinate assessment and bring greater independence to the process
Also explore:
personal budgets
mediation
transition between phases and areas

16. Most importantly – your professional skills

17. A radically different system that: The Green Paper proposes:
Our vision
A radically different system that:
The Green Paper proposes:
a new approach to identifying SEN
supports better life outcomes for young people
a single assessment process and ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’
a local offer of all services available
gives parents more confidence by giving them control
parents to have the option of a personal budget by 2014
giving parents a real choice of school
transfers power to front-line professionals and to local communities
greater independence to the assessment of children's needs

18. Next steps
Four-month period of consultation and a period of testing proposals in local areas from September 2011.
By June we will invite expressions of interest from groups of local authorities to:
Start piloting a new approach involving a single assessment process and plan, including testing how the voluntary and community sector can support this process
Join the existing Individual Budget Pilots and how the scope of personal budgets could be increased
We will set out detailed plans by the end of the year - forms basis of any necessary legislative changes to be taken forward from May 2012.

19. Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability