hub four strands

developing parental confidence in the SEN system, support transition & improving provision development

There are three areas of work under the umbrella of National Development Strand 3:

    1. A key national priority is increasing the confidence of parents in the operation of the SEN system. The Lamb Inquiry has suggested that not all LAs are meeting their statutory requirements in full, and a MENCAP report in November 2008 highlighted the low degree of compliance by schools in fulfilling their duty to have a Disability Equality Scheme in place. The National Strategies SEN/ LDD Adviser team is developing a range of materials to increase local authority self-evaluation of their compliance with the framework, and also documentation about school DES compliance. Issues about the quality of statements have also been highlighted and the hub will play a role in improving practice in this area. The hub will take on a role of support to constituent LAs in following these up, and ensuring that regional good practice is shared.

    2. There is also a continuing but reduced role for the hub LA to disseminate and support regional LAs in applying the emerging guidance on provision development and the application of the SEN Improvement Test, as needs arise.

    3. The Aiming High Report (May 2007) acknowledged that despite some examples of good practice, current transition support for disabled young people is variable. The report introduced a £19m transition support programme to help disabled young people and their families to benefit from improved service delivery to help them overcome the many challenges in the critical transition to adulthood. The intention is that, through a self-evaluation tool, LAs can demonstrate arrangements to support transition for students with disabilities that comply with published best practice guidance. Areas / LAs requiring further development and support will be identified and appropriate improvement plans will be put in place. The National strategies will work in partnership with the Children's Social Care Improvement Partnership - Children and Families Team (CSIP) and the central coordinating body (National Transition Support Team) which is led by the Council for Disabled Children, to contribute to regional teams to support and challenge LAs and PCTs as they implement best practice approaches to the transition of young adults with disabilities to the workplace, further education, higher education, training and / or ongoing community care and support.

    In particular NS and CSIP will:
  • provide intensive support for areas of high needs to bring them up to maximum standards.
  • facilitate regional networking across all areas to exchange best practice on transition.
  • engage with CDC to agree the range of support to be provided to specific local areas and to provide intelligence on activity in the field once support is up and running.

Planning and developing special educational provision is a core responsibility of local authorities.  One of the key guidance documents on this area of policy is Planning and Developing Special Educational Provision – A guide for Local Authorities and Other Proposers (DCSF 2007).  This can be accessed at

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolorg/guidance.cfm?id=24

There are two broad areas covered by strand 3. The first involves developing parental confidence in the SEN system and the second focuses on supporting the dissemination of practice developed through the Transition Support Programme

i) Developing parental confidence in the SEN system and improving provision development Introduction

  1. A key national priority following the publication of the Lamb Inquiry (December 2009) is to increase the confidence of parents through ensuring improvements to the operation of the SEN system at LA level. Particular areas in which the hub can support local authorities are:
  • Improving the quality of statements • Sharing good LA Disability Equality Schemes (DES) and supporting LAs in ensuring schools compliance with DES, including establishing evidence base of compliance
  • Promoting published materials on local authority self-evaluation of their compliance with the SEN framework
  • Identifying and disseminating good practice in LA compliance with the information regulations, particularly in relation to the part of the regulations that requires the LA to set out what schools are responsible for from their delegated budget and what • LAs are responsible for from their retained budget.
  • Ensuring higher levels of performance in the production of statements (NI 103)
  1. During the Summer Term 2010, Ofsted is expected to publish its review of SEN, and hub strand 3 leaders will act as a forum with NS and DCSF to reflect on any recommendations about changes to LA practice or to the framework. Depending on the issues, the hubs may hold dissemination events

  2. Support the introduction and dissemination of the new LA VfM tool.