Agenda item

Inclusion Update and Special Educational Needs Inspection Action Plan

The Head of Special Educational Needs to report

Minutes:

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Director of Commissioning, Inclusion and Learning, providing an update on the progress made to date on Sheffield’s response to the local area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inspection conducted in November 2018.  In addition to the report, Members had also been provided with the Written Statement of Action – April 2019, the updated Written Statement of Action – August 2019, and the letter from Ofsted/Care Quality Commission following the inspection.

 

 

6.2

In attendance for this item were Councillor Jackie Drayton (Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families), Councillor Abtisam Mohamed (Cabinet Member for Education and Skills), Dawn Walton (Director of Commissioning, Inclusion and Learning), Tim Armstrong (Head of Special Educational Needs), Sapphire Johnson (Head of Commissioning – Children, Young People and Maternity), Brian Hughes (Director of Commissioning, NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group) and Andrew Jones (Interim Head of Primary and Targeted Intervention).

 

 

6.3

Tim Armstrong and Sapphire Johnson introduced the report, referring to each of the seven areas of weakness identified as part of the inspection, and which were all being addressed within the Written Statement of Action, and monitored on a monthly basis by the Inclusion Improvement Board.  Reference was made, under each of the seven areas, to the developments made, the evidence of impact and the next steps. 

 

 

6.4

Members of the Committee raised questions, and the following responses were provided:-

 

 

 

·             In terms of plans to increase capacity, the new Service Manager for the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Statutory Assessment and Review Service (SENDSARS) was a replacement for the former post-holder, and a new Programme Manager for the SEND improvement programme had recently been appointed.  As a long-term measure for increasing capacity in schools, there were plans to provide two new special schools in the City, the first opening in 2021/22, and in the short-term, the Authority would be working closely with schools to deliver a range of different services.  Efforts would be made to target specific needs in the seven locality areas.  Government funding had been less than required, based on the numbers of children and young people with special needs and disabilities, and this was likely to be a similar picture going forward.  Additional capacity had been provided in the CCG, specifically in the area of overseeing Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).    There had been issues in terms of recruiting to some posts within the specialist teams, which was a national issue, and one which had led the Authority and the CCG to look at a different model of delivery, as opposed to relying simply on recruitment.  One such change included looking to put more health staff in schools to provide the necessary support in a classroom environment.  It was not expected that teaching staff would have to take on more responsibility, but more ensuring that school staff had the necessary skills to be able to meet the needs of the children and young people.

 

 

 

·             One of the main aims was to support children and young people in inclusive, local schools, whilst being aware of the growing demand.  At present, all the City’s special schools were either at, or beyond, capacity.  There was a need to ensure that there was the correct scope of provision and correct levels of expertise within schools.  Some schools, however, felt that they did not have the adequate expertise for some children.  Even some of the special schools were not able to provide sufficiently for those children with the most complex needs, which had resulted in some children being sent to provision out of the City.  The lack of provision and the growing demand has led the Authority to look to provide additional schools. 

 

 

 

·             A co-production session had recently been held at which participants had looked at a number of issues regarding the SEND Strategy, primarily focussing on the area of communication.  The findings of the session were included in the Strategy.  There were now flowcharts for parents and schools/services, explaining how the SEN processes work, and which focused on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and SEN support. There were also three animations on the local offer, explaining how SEN support, EHCPs and MyPlans work.  In addition to this, step by step information/advice had been provided for schools. 

 

 

 

·             Every school must have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), who were required to take relevant training at regular intervals.  Training videos had been developed, and were available online for SENCOs. 

 

 

 

·             One of the new special schools planned was to be located in Norfolk Park, with the location of the second yet to be confirmed. 

 

 

 

·             The Authority engaged closely with parents through the Parent Carer Forum, to ensure that the information and advice available to parents was as easy to understand as possible.  The Authority was also working with the Forum in connection with developing the website – ‘The Local Offer’, where all information on SEND provision was contained.

 

 

 

·             The work in terms of addressing the outcomes regarding the seven areas of weakness identified during the inspection had to be completed by the time the Inspectors returned, which was expected to be in October 2020. 

 

 

 

·             Feedback received from parents had shown that parents were more concerned about provision for their children in secondary schools, mainly due to the larger school environment and the numbers of teachers, and this had resulted in an increase in requests from parents for EHCPs in Y5 to prepare for secondary school.  Whilst both primary and secondary schools had to implement the same plan, there were a number of differences in terms of how such plans were implemented, mainly with regard to how the workforce could address the children’s needs.  As part of the work to address this, a secondary Head Teacher had been commissioned into the sector leadership model and a secondary City-wide SENCO had also been identified.  This was alongside primary representatives already in place. Transition from primary to secondary school had been identified as a key issue, with an emphasis being placed on identifying vulnerable children at an early stage, and implementing necessary measures in an attempt to ensure that their pathway through to secondary school could be as smooth as possible.  It was not always easy to identify needs at an early stage, particularly in the case of those children with learning difficulties or mental health needs.  The CCG was trying very hard to increase clinical capacity, but due to the problems in terms of the recruitment of specialist staff, a problem replicated nationally, the Group was looking at introducing different delivery models.  This included changing the roles of existing staff, such as asking for more of those in support level roles in order to free up specialist capacity.  Other work had included looking at providing regional training.  There was a need to make sure that school staff had all the necessary skills in order to deliver interventions identified by specialist staff.  It was important to ensure, however, that schools had the necessary resources to implement this.

 

 

 

·             One of the main reasons as to why provision in schools was not as effective as would be liked was due to Government funding cuts, predominantly with regard to the loss of a number of experienced staff due to lack of funding, who had been specifically trained to deal with children and young people with SEND.  It was important that all parties, including parents, schools and specialist staff, had the opportunity to contribute to the SEND Strategy, in an attempt to ensure that the City’s children and young people received the best support they possibly could.

 

 

6.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

 

 

 

(a)      notes the contents of the report, and the accompanying papers, now submitted, together with the information now reported and the responses to the questions raised;

 

 

 

(b)      thanks Councillors Jackie Drayton and Abtisam Mohamed, and Tim Armstrong and Sapphire Johnson for attending the meeting and responding to the questions raised; and

 

 

 

(c)      requests:-

 

 

 

(i)          the Director of Commissioning, Inclusion and Learning and a representative of the Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group to attend the Committee meeting to be held on 3rd February 2020, to report on the Commissioning Plan and the work of the Clinical Commissioning Group in more detail, respectively; and

 

 

 

(ii)         that a representative of the Parent Carer Forum attends the same meeting to report on its involvement in terms of the SEND Strategy.

 

Supporting documents: