UPDATE NO 383 20 December 2019

SEND response to “high quality and cost-effective SEND provision”

Tracey Maytas writes,

Following discussion at the last SEND Steering Group it was agreed that the SEND deliverable in the SESLIP Improvement Plan to “collaborate in providing high quality and cost-effective SEND provision” should be refined in order to identify tangible outcomes. The huge impact of education placements in independent, non-maintained specialist (INMS) provision was seen as a priority area, both from the point of view of the long-term inclusion of and outcomes for young people with SEND and the impact on high needs budgets.  

The scoping meeting for this work took place on Wednesday 16 December and was chaired by Nathan Caine, Inclusion and SEND Manager, ESCC. There was consensus that there are areas within this subject where regional collaboration would be highly beneficial. These were:

• INMS Costs
• Quality Assurance
• INMS Contracts
• Monitoring and challenging provision in INMS

Options for regional approaches to these will be taken forward as priority areas. The next meeting of the Group is scheduled for 26 February 2020.

For more information, please contact Tracey Maytas (deatils below).

Developing models of social work

Thanks to the Local Authorities that have completed the questionnaire about models of practice being used.  There is still time if you would like to complete the questionnaire.  The returns will be collated in January so that we will have an emerging picture of models being used across the region. The Reference Group will meet on 19 February at the LGA offices in London and start to plan the conference to be held in June. 

For more details of the Developing  Models of Social Work project please contact Diane Williamson (details below)

Developing Quality Assurance Capacity

The next meeting of the QA leads will be held on 11 February at the LGA offices in London.  By the end of the meeting the group plans to have a proposal for the agreed common components of a Quality Assurance Framework to be shared with the DCS group.  The group will also start work on developing a shared understanding of “good practice” and what good quality assurance looks like.

A restricted area is being set up on the SESLIP website so that authorities can share Quality Assurance Frameworks, practice standards and audit processes and tools.

For more details of the Developing Quality Assurance Capacit project please contact Diane Williamson (details below)

Complex LAC Project – Hold the date Friday 17 January 2020

The Complex LAC Project is reaching an important stage and we will be holding an event in Central London on Friday 17 January 2020. There will be two parts to the day: 

Part 1 9.30-13.30 – DCS and Chief Financial Officers session – We would like to invite a representative group of Directors and Senior Finance Officers to join with the Complex LAC steering group (which includes chief executives from provider umbrella organisations ICHA and NAFP) to a meeting to explore the business case and potential options for more collaborative commissioning across the region. The meeting will explore opportunities for how we could gain better value for the £200+million spent annually purchasing and providing the most expensive looked after children placements.

If you would like to attend this session please contact Mark Evans (details below).

Part 2 14.00-17.00 – Premiere of the South East Looked After Children Film – As part of the Complex LAC Project we have worked in partnership with The Care Leaders to co-produce a film in which 19 young people from 5 SE authorities have been working together to highlight the perspectives of children who have experienced care. Collectively they have planned, interviewed and directed films to provide those who provide care with motivational media that highlight their experience with a view to identifying how we can improve placements and support for young people. This part of the day is open to Lead Members for Children’s Services, Directors of Children’s Services, Senior Leaders for Looked After Children’s Services, Foster Carers, Residential Workers, Commissioners and others who are committed to improving services for young people.  Ticketing will be via the Eventbrite platform.

If you would like more information ahead of the Eventbrite notification please contact Mark Evans (details below).

AD Education Network – next meeting Friday 24 January 2020. Please note the change of date.

The next meeting of the AD Education Network will be on Friday 24th January 2020 – 10.30-12.30.

For more details of this meeting and the AD Education Network activity please click here or contact Chris Owen (details below).

The following dates have also been fixed: 

• 6 March 2020 – Joint meeting with SEND Network with a focus on the inclusion and achievement of vulnerable learners at SEN support
• 5 June 2020                
• 25 September 2020

ASGLB Making Better Use of Data Workshops

The ASGLB is undertaking a review of whether we are making good use of all the data that is already collected in relation to children in care, and in particular with respect to special guardianship and adoption.

To provide a framework for the review, they have drafted a Data Model to provide a structure for their thinking. This is intended to address both adoption and special guardianship with respect to children who are taken into care. 

1. Permanency Planning – are appropriate permanence plans for children in place in a timely manner?
2. Securing Permanency – is permanency achieved for a child without unnecessary delay?
3. Maintaining Permanency – once permanency is achieved, are we maintaining it so that children are able to thrive?

As part of this review ASGLB are running three workshops which will be held at Coram Campus, London WC1N 1AZ on:

• 18 December 2019 (Permanency Planning) – (already held)
• 31 January 2020 (Securing Permanency) – book here
• 14 February 2020 (Maintaining Permanency) – book here

The ASGLB want these workshops to be attended by people who can help them define the Data model as well as those who are familiar with the data currently. For more information follow the links provided above.

Child Safeguarding National Review Panel

Mark Gurrey, a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, attended the most recent meeting of the ADCS Families, Communities and Young People Policy Committee to provide an update on the work of the national panel.  

His presentation is here.

The panel’s first national review on criminal exploitation is awaiting publication, the second review on SUDI, particularly in cases with co-sleeping and neglect, has begun and the third is currently being scoped out, this will focus on physical abuse involving under 1s with a particular focus on hidden or invisible men.

The latest triennial review of SCRs (2014 – 2017) is expected in the new year alongside some other resources from the national panel, including an annual report and a ‘patterns in practice’ analysis of the notifications the panel have received

Public Health England and Relationship Sex Health Education

Public Health England attended the most recent meeting of the ADCS Educational Achievement Policy Committee to provide an update on readiness for the new SRE and health curriculum becoming operational in 2020, the presentation, attached, includes a summary of strengths and challenges in local and regional areas.

Compulsory from Sept 2020:

• Relationships Education for primary aged children, state and independent
• Relationships and sex education for secondary age children, state and independent
• Health education in all state funded schools (PSHE already statutory in independent schools that are not academies)

Existing legislation and SRE guidance (2000) continue to apply, preparation should begin now

National SEND Employment Conference – Thursday 27 February 2020 – Leeds

Supported internships are low cost high impact programmes that are changing lives for people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Nationally only 5.8% of those with a learning disability achieve paid employment. Successful supported internships can achieve a 60% + employment rate.

The conference will equip delegates with the knowledge and tools to set up and run supported internships by hearing from some of the best schemes in the country.

The National SEND Employment Forum is a group of representatives from employers, local authorities, central government, charities, education and supported internship providers.

For further details click here and to book your free ticket click here. You can email the organiser here.

Practice Guidance: Placements in unregistered children’s homes

President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued new practice guidance to explain the registration and regulation structure applicable in England and, separately, in Wales for residential care facilities for children and young people.

The Guidance requires the court to monitor the progress of the application for registration and, if registration is not achieved, to review its continued approval of the child’s placement in an unregistered unit.

AD Safeguarding Network – reports from 6 December meeting

The AD Safeguarding Network held its joint meeting with their East of England couterparts on the 6 December 2019

Ofsted – The group were broadly positive about the experience of the new style Ofsted approach with a much clearer focus on outcomes and practice. There was also discussion of how SEND inspection can reach parts of local authorities that tend to have less recent experience of inspection processes.

High Cost Complex LAC – The meeting heard an update on the SE Complex LAC project and about various LA initiatives to manage the increasing challenge in finding suitable placements. Herts and Norfolk reported that they have plans to develop new in-house provision. Herts also described an innovative use of short breaks legislation to meet the needs of young people on the edge of care (two units – one offering short breaks over weekends and the other offering up to 6 weeks of care (both using Section 17 rather than Section 20 of the Children Act). 

MoC – Colleagues from East of England attributed the success of their MoC to a combination of commitment and flexibility. They acknowledged that it is not perfect but are confident that it does deliver real savings. It is based on transparency and flexibility (i.e LAs are upfront about doing going outside the MoC and try hard to time limit – though this can be difficult to achieve).

National Assessment and Accreditation System – West Berks and Essex talked about their experience of NAAS. This was broadly positive with the assessment centres working well, with staff initially finding some of the roleplay daunting, but quickly adjusting to working with actors. Frontline practitioners have found the process more straightforward than those in management and further from day to day interactions with service users. Essex are targeting getting 25% of their workforce through the process by February, whilst West Berks are working towards 30%. West Berks are offering a financial incentive (£400), whilst Essex are not. West Berks have experienced some delays due to the capacity of the local assessment centre. The was uncertainty about the government’s commitment to making the process mandatory for SWs in the foreseeable future. 

LGA Return to Social Work Programme – The LGA will be re-launching the Return to Social Work programme in January 2020. It is designed to support councils to recruit social workers who have taken a break from work, this national scheme will provide free, high-quality training to 200 former social workers to enable them to return to the profession.

The next meeting of the AD Safeguarding Network will be on 6 March 2020.

Who’s Left 2019, part one: The disadvantage gap is bigger than we thought

Fischer Family Trust Education Data Lab have published Who’s Left 2019, part one:

“For the cohort who sat their GCSEs in the summer of 2018, fewer than half – 47.0% – of disadvantaged pupils in mainstream schools achieved a grade 4 or above in English and maths, compared to 72.6% of non-disadvantaged pupils.

“But we think the real disadvantage gap is bigger than this.”

The report goes on to analyse school performance taking into account KS4 “off-rolling”. 

“… we estimate that 6,700-9,200 of [the year 11 cohort] pupils remained in England and yet either did not count in school league tables or else took no qualifications …”

4 recent DfE publications

1. Further Education and Skills in England; Apprenticeships and Levy Statistics and Public Sector Apprenticeships in England

2. Initial teacher training: trainee number census 2019 to 2020

3. England’s PISA 2018 results, with an international comparison of reading, maths and science performance of 15-year-old pupils. and a commentary from the Sutton Trust

4. Looked After Children Statistics 2018/19