SEND News
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Today, the Government announced an extension of the review of its autism strategy to cover children and young people, as well as adults. The review will inform the new joint adults and children autism strategy to be published in autumn 2019.
The review is looking at:
- · joining up health, care and education services to address autistic children’s needs holistically
- · developing diagnostic services to diagnose autism earlier, in line with clinical guidance
- · improving the transition between children and adult services so that no young people miss out, and ending inappropriate reliance on inpatient hospital care
- · improving understanding of autism and all its profiles, including recently identified forms such as pathological demand avoidance (PDA)
You can find further details here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-review-to-improve-the-lives-of-autistic-children.
Today, the Government is also responding to the report by the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism and the National Autistic Society - Autism and Education in England 2017.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The Department for Education has announced a programme of revisits to those local areas which were asked to produce a WSoA following their SEND inspections.
The revisits programme is due to start in December 2018 and will run alongside the current programme of local area SEND inspections, which is in place until 2021.
The revisits do not represent a re-inspection of SEN provision. Inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will only revisit those areas which were asked to produce a WSoA and the focus of the visit will be on the progress made since the original inspection.
Revisits will allow Ofsted and the CQC to assess the progress which local areas have made against each of the actions in their WSoA. They will also provide additional reassurance to families on the progress local services are making, identify where further work is needed, and enable local areas to demonstrate the improvements they have made to SEND services and in delivering better outcomes for children and young people.
Local areas will usually be revisited within 18 months of their WSoA having been accepted as fit for purpose by Ofsted and CQC. The local area will receive 10 days’ notification of the revisit, which will last between 2-4 days, depending on the number of actions in the WSoA. A report will be published on the Ofsted and CQC websites, usually 33 days after the inspectors have finished the revisit. It will set out whether the local area has made sufficient progress against each area of the WSoA.
Where a local area is considered to have made sufficient progress against its WSoA, monitoring visits from the DfE and NHS England will cease. DfE and NHS England will determine on a case by case basis the next steps for any local areas that have made insufficient progress. This may include the Secretary of State using his powers of intervention.
The methodology for the revisits can be found on the Ofsted website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-send-inspection-framework and will be included in the local area SEND inspection handbook in spring 2019.
- Written by: Paul Simpson (BATOD)
The National SEND Forum (NSEND), on which NatSIP is represented through BATOD, has sent a letter about the implications of educational funding cuts on children and young people with SEN and Disability to Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The letter can be found here for your interest and information.
Paul Simpson, National Executive Officer and Magazine Editor, BATOD
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Following the 2017 review of disagreement resolution arrangements, the Department for Education commissioned Mott MacDonald, as part of the Delivering Better Outcomes Together (DBOT) consortium, to develop and publish a guide for young people aged 16-25 on how to resolve special educational needs and disability (SEND) disagreements. Mott MacDonald worked with a range of organisations and groups, including the young people’s group FLARE, to produce the guide.
The guide ‘When people can’t agree – Special Educational Needs and Disability Complaints: a guide for Young People in education’ can be found here - https://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/send-complaints-a-guide-for-young-people-in-education.
The guide provides advice and information about how young people who are unhappy with the support they are getting for their special educational needs or disability can find the right help and advice to resolve their issues. The guide explains who young people can go to for support and the steps to take.
The guide is aimed at young people with SEND, their families and the individuals and organisations that provide them with support.
Please share this guide with your networks and anyone you think would be interested in the guide. If you have any questions relating to the guide please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
In December 2016, the Department for Education asked Dame Christine Lenehan to lead an independent review of the experiences and outcomes of children and young people in residential special schools and colleges.
Her report ‘Good Intentions, Good Enough?’ was published in November 2017 and the Government committed to respond more fully to the findings in 2018.
Damian Hinds, Secretary of State for Education, wrote to Dame Christine with the Government’s formal response to her review.
A copy of the report and this letter can be found here.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
The DfE have today (16 July 2018) published their July SEND Newsletter.
You can find it pdf here.
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
Yesterday, 5th July 2018, the Secretary of State for Education addressed the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) at their Manchester conference. The speech covered a range of areas, including:
- · Safeguarding children
- · SEND
- · Alternative provision and exclusions
- · Care leavers
You can access a transcript of the speech here:
A video message about the speech was posted on Twitter yesterday. You can access a link here: https://twitter.com/educationgovuk/status/1014857427286740993
Minister Nadhim Zahawi also spoke at the ADCS conference. You can access his speech here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/children-and-families-minister-addresses-adcs-conference
- Written by: Lindsey Rousseau
DfE announcment on 29th May 2019:
Schools will benefit from an extra £50million to improve facilities and create more good school places for children with special educational needs. The Government also announced a further £680million to create 40,000 new good school places.
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