UPDATE NO 300 04 May 2018

UASC Conference – Thursday 28 June – Maidstone

Kent Specialist Children’s Services Conference 2018 – “Our Journeys – Travelling Towards Success Together”

How your Local Authority can make a difference for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children & Young People.
Utilising Kent’s experience with Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Young People to focus our minds towards achieving excellent placement, educational and well-being outcomes and community integration.

Venue: Oakwood House, Oakwood Park, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8AE

Date and Time: Thursday 28 June 2018, 9.15am – 4.00pm

Who should attend:
Local Authority Members Education Professionals, Social Work Practitioners, Virtual School Professionals, Fostering Practitioners, Accommodation and Health Professionals, Supporting Networks.
Fee:
£75 for one delegate or £50 per delegate for 2 or more. Includes lunch.
Accommodation (limited) is available for the night before / night after the conference at the conference venue at a discounted rate. Contact Oakwood House Hotel (01622 620720) and quote ‘UASC Conference’.

Download the flyer here or the booking form here.

For more information please contact Rachel Calver at Kent Virtual School.

SE DCS Peer Challenge 2018

Planning is underway for 3 Director’s Peer Challenges in 2018. The confirmed participants and dates are in bold on the accompanying chart. 

For more details please go to the SE ADCS Peer Challenge page. Colleagues requiring a more detailed briefing should contact Anna Wright (details below).

The 2018 MoU is now available for particpants to download, sign and return. Thanks to Bracknell Forest and Brighton and Hove for returning a signed MoU.

Thanks to Paul Senior (DCS Wokingham) for joining Triad 2.

I now have one vacancy to join the team to visit Oxfordshire in July; thanks to colleagues from Brighton and Hove, and Kent for volunteering (names to be confirmed in due course). and one vacancy to join the team to visit Hampshire in November (thanks to colleagues from Bracknell Forest and Southampton). Please contact Richard Tyndall in the first instance if you wish to join either visiting team.

Data Benchmarking Group

The following restricted reports have been added to the website last week:

*         2017-18 Q3 Adoption Benchmarking Report v1.2 (Excel)

*         2017-18 Q3 Adoption Benchmarking Report v1.2 (PDF)

These reports contain unaudited data and are not publicly available – hence they appear on the restricted part of the website which is accessible by members of the Data Benchmarking Group. For more information contact Alastair Lee (details below) 

SEND 19 – Education Select Committee Call for Evidence

You may already know that the Education Select Committee has launched an inquiry into support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and is inviting written evidence. Full information, some background and how to submit evidence can be found here.

The Committee is inviting written evidence on the following by 14 June 2018.

For further information please contact Tracey Maytas (details below)

Terms of Reference – Call for written evidence

• Assessment of and support for children and young people with SEND
• The transition from statements of special educational needs and Learning Disability Assessments to Education, Health and Care Plans
• The level and distribution of funding for SEND provision
• The roles of and co-operation between education, health and social care sectors
• Provision for 19-25-year olds including support for independent living; transition to adult services; and access to education, apprenticeships and work

Please note that;

“In line with the general practice of select committees, the Education Committee resolved on 12 September 2017 to not investigate individual cases. The Committee understands that personal experiences will form an important part of many submissions, but requests that any written evidence directly addresses the terms of reference set out above.”

Consultation on 2018-19 DCS Peer Challenge Arrangements

The consultation on 2018-19 DCS Peer Challenge Arrangements is now closed. A report recommending arrangements will be considered by the SESLIP Steering Group on 11 May. The membership of this group is Stuart Gallimore (DCS East Sussex) (in the chair); Alison Jeffery (DCS Portsmouth); John Coughlan (CEx Hampshire); Cllr Gareth Barnard (Lead Memebr, Bracknell Forest); Mona Seghal (Improvement Adviser, LGA).

We are currently working on the precise shape, costings, staffing support, dates and other details of the programme. There is still time to influence our thinking and contributions should be channelled through Richard Tyndall/Anna Wright (contact details below) or Stuart Gallimore/Alison Jeffery (contact details here).

The outline of the proposal will be as follows:

Autumn 2018: all DCSs complete and share a self-assessment that will be compatible with the Ofsted Annual Conversation template and including Benchmarking Data supplied by the SESLIP Data Benchmarking Group

Late Autumn: Training and preparation session for all participants in the Peer Challenge sessions (date and venue to be announced). Also circulation of menu of choices improvement offer (from PiP programme; LGA; DfE; SESLIP and other regional improvement groups and elsewhere)

Jan/Feb 2019: whole day Peer Challenge sessions in groups of 3 or 4 (details of groupings to be announced)

March 2019: Regional Summit to celebrate what’s working well and to agree “even better if” improvement priorities and SESLI Programme for 2019-20