Special Educational Needs and Disability National and Local Developments

Lorraine Stephen

Head of Service

Complex Needs SEN

Salford Children’s Services

THE BACKGROUNDHow did we get to this point?

The current system isn’t working….

• Too many children with SEN have their needs picked up late

• Young people with SEN do less well than their peers at school and college and are more likely to be out of education, training and employment at 18

• Schools and colleges can focus too much on the SEN label rather than meeting the child’s needs, and the current Statements/ Learning Difficulty Assessments do not focus on life outcomes

• Too many families have to battle to find out what support is available and in getting the help they need from education, health and social care services and

• When a young person leaves school for further education, they enter a very different system which does not carry forward the rights and protections that exist in the SEN system in schools

Involvement of children,

young people and parents in decision making

Improved identification of children and young people’s needs

Collaboration between education, health and social care to provide support

Greater choice and control for young people and their parents over their support

Successful preparation for adulthood, including independent living and employment

Personal Budgets should:• be based on clear, agreed outcomes• be transparent and challengeable• allow families and young people to manage agreed elements of the additional and individual support they need • be an integral part of the planning process in order to empower creative solutions• reflect the holistic nature of an EHCP, covering education, health and care as appropriate, where additional and individual support is needed • come with the support needed for parents and young people to take up and manage it • support and inform market development• allow for local flexibility.

Personal Budgets

Three mechanisms for control of an EHC personal budget

1. The funds are paid to the parent or young person as a direct payment, and they buy the specified provision within the EHC Plan

2. The local authority retains management of the funds and commissions the support specified in the plan (sometimes called “notional arrangements”)

3. The funds are paid to a third party to manage on behalf of the parent or young person

A mix of the above is also possible

Education Health and Care Plan Personal Budgets and School Funding

Base funding, notional SEN budget and high-needs block funding enable schools and colleges to provide teaching and support arrangements for all of their pupils and students.

Where a pupil or student’s individualised needs exceed the level of provision the school or college normally provides, additional funds will come from the high-needs block.

It is normally these additional funds, beyond the normal provision as set out in the local offer, that would be offered as part of an EHCP personal budget

Funding EHC personal budgets

LA retained budgetSchool/college budget

Pupil/student base funding

Notional SEN budget

High-needs block

Personal budget

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EHCPs – Where are we up to in Salford?

• Ideal Business Process Map

• Draft template

Some of the essentials:• Up to date phone numbers, contact

details and names of people who are contactable to include the days & times when at work

• Diagrams explaining how services work• Who is accountable and who provides

what?• Clear contact for complaints and

information• Easy to navigate • Visual symbols• Holistic• Glossary of terms and

Some of the desirables:• List of schools maintained/non

maintained and specials• Information on schools, not written by

the school• Explanation of P scales and NC levels • School policies on SEN, anti-bullying,

equality and complaints• Somebody to assist you through the

review process• Parent Partnership Service• List of colleges with correct information

around wheelchair access etc..

SE7 – Co-produced with families, developed lists of essential & desirable features of a Local Offer

The four areas of SEN

• Communication and interaction• Cognition and learning• Social, emotional and mental health• Sensory and/ or physical needs

New World – differences between an EHCP and a statement