1. Challenges for SI Services and Schools
Brian Lamb

2. Early Intervention
Green Paper
“Early intervention from all the services on which families rely is essential, but the effectiveness of this service is undermined if it doesn’t reflect each family’s unique circumstances... Disabled children and children with SEN may require a different approach in these health and education settings to their peers, or extra support from social care or specialist services.”

3. Language Development
Green Paper
“Laying the foundations for early language development is at the heart of a high quality early years experience and is an area of development where many disabled children and children with SEN can require a different approach or additional support.”

4. Assessment and Joint Planning
Proposal
Implications
Single assessment process leading to joint education, health and social care plan
How to ensure best practice in assessment for sensory needs is reflected in new assessment arrangements.
Do we know what good looks like for sensory provision and if so what's needed to deliver that-link to effective practice and emotional resilience projects?
Joint budgeting possible solution especially if personalised budgets work-what are the implications for sensory services?

5. Presumption towards Inclusion
Proposals
Implications
Extended choice to all state funded schools
New guidance to Local Authorities on placement decisions
Parents have right to take over special schools that are closing
Need to ensure that good practice on sensory is embedded in Academies and Free Schools
Relevance of DDA guidance to parental decision making

6. Personalised Budgets Pilots of personal budgets
Proposals
Issues
Pilots of personal budgets
Assumed not to be for very large sums-school placements
Support from Keyworker
Education personal budgets inserted into Education Bill
What will quality provision look like in sensory and how will parents find out?
Potential for parent purchasing consortia-what would that look like for sensory provision?
Role of keyworkers/support staff within schools in sensory provision-links to staff training strand.
How will schools support parental choice and organise services?

7. Parental Involvement
Lamb Inquiry- Evaluation of Parental Involvement Projects.
“Fundamental to success was the commitment of LAs to true, not tokenistic or paternalistic parental engagement and a clear aim to improve confidence and work collaboratively with parents.”

8. Local Offer and Parental Involvement
Proposals
Issues
Local Offer securing greater parental consultation and involvement-more strategic role for LA’s
Major opportunity for cultural change in supportive authorities but needs clarity around what the SI offer is going to be
Enforceability of Offer

9. Information Offer-Schools
Proposals-four key areas:
Issues
curriculum – how the curriculum is tailored to meet children’s individual needs;
teaching – how teaching is adapted to meet children’s SEN and how arrangements are made to secure specialist expertise;
assessment – how on-going teacher assessment is used to identify barriers to learning for children with SEN; and
pastoral support –how the school supports the education and wellbeing
Clarity of Information-what can parents expect of the curriculum?
Availability of support within schools-what is good practice around sensory provision?
Clarity over what good practice looks like for SEN and how assessment is going to work
What does good pastoral support look like-very strong links to emotional resilience project.

10. Mediation
Mediation before Tribunal
Issues
Green Paper proposes that Mediation should be introduced before parents go to Tribunal
Aim to reduce conflict in the system
Parents would be offered but could not be forced to go down that route
Not clear what model of mediation is going to be used- expert in SEN v generalists?
Danger that parents can be pressurised into giving rights away and be unaware they are doing so
In Scotland, where it already exists, parents have right to free legal advice

11. Focus on Outcomes Greater focus on outcomes
Green Paper
Implications
Greater focus on outcomes
New measure for lowest performing 20% on progress
Achievement for All rolled out
Children with SI do better than some SEN categories but still falling behind
Access to specialist support still key
Language support and access to equipment fundamental issues
Outcomes benchmarking will become fundamentally important
Training of support staff

12. Funding Reform Schools funding being consulted on
Green Paper
Implications
Schools funding being consulted on
New banded funding system
Consultation on implementation currently happening
Low incidence
Role of School Forums
Level at which the bands are set
De facto alignment of money with stages in the assessment process
Amount of schools contribution to the formula

13. Life after the Green Paper
Major role for informing the development of the pilots
Defining what good support and expertise looks like in relation to schools practice-development of quality standards
Helping to drive better outcomes through emotional resilience, better support, clearer monitoring
Ensuring parents and teachers aware of DDA rights
Informing policy
Securing equitable funding that works