UPDATE NO 476 22 October 2021

Political leadership of effective Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) systems. 10 Nov 2021 1.30pm to 4.00pm.

LGA online workshop for Lead Members of Children’s Services, Scrutiny Chairs and other political influencers who shape the leadership of SEND.

This session will build on and complement the Leadership Essentials course for Children’s Services and provides an opportunity to focus in more depth on political leadership of the SEND agenda.

The event will explore a range of challenges in relation to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND and their families including strategic leadership, effective partnerships and understanding what makes a SEND system effective. There will be opportunities to hear from councils that have demonstrated good practice, and a chance for delegates to network and share their own experiences.

Speakers have now been confirmed for the first workshop in our thematic series, we are very excited to have:

• Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for education, young people and children’s social care, London Borough of Hackney and Chair, LGA Children and Young People Board, chairing the afternoon
• Tony McArdle, Chair of SEND Systems Leadership Board and independent adviser to the current SEND Review, who will be sharing his thoughts on the SEND delivery landscape, giving an overview of the national perspective.
• Edwina Grant OBE, Chair of the ADCS Health, Care and Additional Needs Policy Committee and Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services, Lancashire County Council and, will speak from the ADCS perspective in relation to the SEND improvement journey for Local Authorities.
• Dame Christine Lenehan, Director, Council for Disabled Children, will speak from the partnership perspective in relation to embedding a whole systems approach to SEND

This workshop is free to members and will be delivered via Zoom, book a place on Eventbrite. If you have any queries please contact Sangeeta.Bowman-York@local.gov.uk.

Implementing Family Hubs – free online conference 2 November 2021 9:30-15:00

The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families is hosting a virtual conference on Implementing Family Hubs on 2 November 2021. 

The event will launch the pilot of the Family Hubs Implementation Toolkit: a collection of coproduced resources aimed to support Local Authorities, Health, Education and VCS teams to implement Family Hubs in their local area. 

The event is suitable for Leaders, commissioners, or managers from Local Authorities, Health/CCGs, Education, or Voluntary and Community Sector.

Tutors will be Dr Camilla Rosan; Kate Dalzell; Professor Peter Fonagy; Donna Molloy; Ben Lewing

You can register here

Future dates for network meetings

Lead Members Group: Friday 3 December – Joint meeting with DCSs. More information from Alison Michalska (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: Thursday 9 December 2021. More information from Alastair Lee (contact details below)

Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board: More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

AD Education: Friday 12 November – 10.00am. More information from Chris Owen (contact details below)

AD Safeguarding: Friday 10 December 2021. More information from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: Friday 10 December 2021. 2pm – 5pm. More information from Amanda Meadows (contact details below)

Fostering Network: More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

SEND SE19: LA and Health SEND Conversation 30 November 2021 More information from Tracey Maytas (contact details below)

Data to Insight – National Project – October 2021 Briefing

The DfE has announced its support for the next phase of development of the Data to Insight national project, hosted by East Sussex. 

It has approved a £10,000 contribution for each of nine english regions as part of the Regional Recovery Fund settlement.

You can read the latest news from the project here.

Recent DfE announcements

1. Planned LA expenditure for schools, high needs, early years and children’s services for 2021-22 (s251).

2. East Sussex, Reading and Surrey included in post-16 pupil premium pilot areas. 

3. Free school meals guidance, including extension to NRPF families and some information about being able to access Household Support Fund. 

4. East Kent, Portsmouth and Buckinghamshire included in FE College professional development grants pilot areas

5. Amount and payment schedule for recovery premium payments during 2021-22.