The Children and Families Bill

Kerry Hancock, Programme ManagerPathfinder Support Team

A reminder: the case for changeThe current system is not working for families and children:

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.

Government vision

Children’s SEN are picked up early and support is routinely put in place quickly;

Staff have the knowledge, understanding and skills to provide the right support for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled;

Parents know what they can reasonably expect their local school, college, LA & local services to provide, without having to fight for it;

Aspirations for children and young people are raised through an increased focus on life outcomes, including employment;

For more complex needs, an integrated assessment and a single Education, Health and Care Plan are in place from birth to 25; and

There is greater control for parents and young people over the services they and their family use.

The SEND Reform Journey

March 2011

• Green Paper: Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability

May 2012

• Support and aspiration: Progress and next steps

Sept 2012

• Draft provisions published for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Education Select Committee

Feb 2013

• Government response to pre-legislative scrutiny; and • Children and Families Bill introduced to Parliament

March2013

• Indicative draft regulations and a draft Code of Practice published for committee stage of the Bill, informed by pathfinder learning

Spring2014

• Royal Assent (subject to Parliamentary approval)• Issue final Code of Practice

Sept 2014

• Legal changes commence in practice (meeting original Green Paper commitment for reforms in place by 2014)

Autumn 2013

• Public consultation on regulations and Code of Practice, informed by further pathfinder learning

House of Commons timetable

1st Reading

SecondReading

Motion/vote: 2nd Reading

MoneyProgramme for

Committee

Report 3rd ReadingCommittee

4/5 Feb 25 FebBegins on 5th March –

23rd April (subject to passing of the Programme

Motion)

1-2 days 1 hour

Public Evidence sessions, followed byline-by-line scrutiny of

the Bill (including selected amendments)

Debate of whole House; all MPs

can lay amendments &

vote

Short debate; no further

amendments; final vote

Introduction/1st Reading

SecondReading

Grand Committee or

Committee of the whole house

Report Stage

ThirdReading

Detailed line by line examination.

All Lords have a further opportunity to consider all amendments.

Amendments can still be

made at Third Reading in the

Lords

House of Lords timetable

We are here

The SEND Pathfinders

SEND Pathfinder Champions

Pathfinders core objectives

To develop a new 0-25 assessment/planning process and a Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)•Person centred•Improving outcomes•Bringing together services and support which families rely on

Develop a multi agency local offer

To ensure the full engagement of children, young people and their parents and families, schools and colleges

To explore how the voluntary and community sector could explore access to specialist expertise and introduce more independence to the process

To explore how the option of a personal budget could offer more choice and control for children, young people and their families

To explore how the joint commissioning across agencies can support the new processes and improve outcomes

New requirement for LAs, health and care services to commission services jointly, to ensure that the needs of children and young people are met.

LAs to publish a clear, transparent ‘local offer’ of services, so parents and young people can understand what is available; developed with parents and young people.

More streamlined assessment process, co-ordinated across education, health and care, and involves children and young people and their families throughout.

New 0-25 Education, Health and Care Plan, replacing the current system of Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments, which reflects the child or young person’s aspirations for the future, as well as their current needs.

Legislation - key highlights

A new duty on health commissioners to deliver the health elements of EHC plans.

Option of a personal budget for families and young people with a plan, extending choice and control over their support.

New statutory protections for young people aged 16-25 in FE, including right to request particular institution named in their EHC plan and the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.

A stronger focus on preparing for adulthood including new powers for LAs to provide children’s services to young people over 18 to improve transition to adult services.

Academies and Free Schools to have the same SEN duties as maintained schools.

Legislation - key highlights (2)

New regulations and a new SEN Code of Practice for consultation. Both the regulations and the Code have been strongly informed by pathfinder learning.

The Children and Families Bill has been through Commons Committee stage. More than 200 amendments were tabled and debated during the Commons Committee.(Oct 13) Government proposed new amendment to the Children and Families Bill that will place a clear requirement on all types of state schools to make arrangements for supporting pupils at the school who have medical conditions.The Lords Committee is now in progress with consideration of SEN clauses due to finish this week.

During Commons Committee Stage, the Government introduced an amendment requiring health commissioners to deliver the health aspects of an EHC Plan.

Debate has focused on a number of issues, the most prominent being: the position of disabled children and young people without SEN; duty on social care; single route of redress for education, health and care; accountability for the local offer; inclusion and school choice; how far local authorities should have regard to a young person’s age; and the extension of the Bill to higher education

Legislation – current position

The Draft SEN Code of Practice

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/special-educational-needs-sen-code-of-practice-and-regulations

Key differences between the current and draft Codes:

• It covers the 0-25 age range and the new entitlements for young people in FE and has a clearer focus on involvement of children, young people and parents

• There is a much stronger emphasis on joint working between agencies with new joint commissioning duties and a duty on health services to arrange provision in an EHC plan

• It includes a local Offer to improve information and involvement of children, young people and parents in policy development

• It covers Education, Health and Care plans to replace statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments

• It incorporates separate guidance on inclusion and LDAs.

Code of Practice and Regulations

• The draft Code and Regulations were published for consultation on 4 October for responses by 9 December and specially developed materials for consultation with young people were published on 21 October and CDC are managing focus groups

• The aim is to develop final versions of the Code of Practice and Regulations which take account of the Bill (when it becomes an Act) and responses to consultation – for approval by Parliament in the spring so that schools and local authorities have them a term before they start to come into force

• Proposals for transitional arrangements also published for consultation on 4 October – including possible options for implementation of the local offer

Code of Practice and Regulations

Structure – 9 Chapters1. Introduction2. Summary3. A Family Centred System 4. Working Together Across Education, Health and Care5. The Local Offer6. Early Years, Schools, Colleges and Other Education

and Training Providers7. Assessments and Education, Health and Care Plans8. Children and Young People in Specific Circumstances 9. Resolving Disputes 

Chapter 2: Summary

The Principles Underpinning the Code

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

High quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people with SEN

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

www.preparingforadulthood.org.uk

Successful preparation for adulthood, including independent living and employment

Chapter 5

The Local Offer

Principles • Collaborative: local authorities must involve parents,

children and young people in developing and reviewing the local offer.

• Accessible: should be easy to understand, factual and jargon-free. Should be well signposted and publicised.

• Comprehensive: describe support available across education, health and social care from 0 to 25 and how to access it including eligibility criteria. Describe where to go for information, advice and support, and how to make complaints or appeal against decisions.

• Transparent: must be clear about how decisions are made and who is accountable and responsible for them.

What must be included• Education, health and social care provision for SEN ;• How parents and young people request assessment for EHC plan;• Arrangements for identifying and assessing SEN;• Other educational provision such as sports or arts provision;• Post-16 education and training provision;• Apprenticeships, Traineeships, and Supported Internships; • Arrangements for travel; • Support to help movement between phases of education • Sources of information, advice and support relating to SEN • Childcare, including provision for disabled children and with SEN;• Leisure activities;• Support available to young people in higher education• Arrangements for resolving disagreements, mediation, parents’ and

young people’s rights to appeal to Tribunal and routes of complaint and redress for health and social care.

Publishing the local offerLocal authorities must: • make their local offer widely accessible and on a website • publish their arrangements for enabling those without

access to the web to get the information

• enable access for different groups, including disabled people and those with different types of SEN.

Preparing and reviewing the local offer

Local authorities: • must involve children and young people with SEN and

their parents in developing and reviewing (co-production)• must involve schools, colleges, health services and

others - all must cooperate with each other in development and review.

• should have engagement with providers of relevant early years education.

• must keep under review the special educational and social care provision available in their area and outside. 

• must seek and publish comments about the local offer, including those received from or on behalf of children and young people with SEN and their parents.

Chapter 6 Early Years, Schools, Colleges

and Other Education and Training Providers

High expectations for children and young people with SEN

Mainstream providers must: - use their best endeavours to ensure that the necessary provision is made for any individual who has SEN; - co-operate with their local authority in developing the local offer. Maintained nursery schools and mainstream schools, must: - designate an appropriate member of staff (the SEN co-ordinator) to have responsibility for co-ordinating provision for children with SEN; - ensure that children with SEN take part in school activities together with children who do not have SEN as far as possible; - publish information on their SEN policy, and the measures and facilities put in place to assist access for disabled children. Equality Act 2010 requires settings to make reasonable adjustments for disabled children and young people to help alleviate any substantial disadvantage they experience because of their disability, and they must not discriminate against or harass them. 

SEN Support in Early Years

• Progress check at age two• The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile• Progress monitor and review by early years

practitioners• Record keeping• All settings to have a SENCO• Role of Area SENCO

SEN Support in Schools

• Assess; Plan; Do; Review• Involving specialists• Use of data and record keeping - provision maps• Involving parents and pupils in planning and reviewing

progress • Publishing information/ SEN information report• Role of SENCO in school• Improving practice and staff training• Transition at 16 and preparing for adulthood

School SEN Information Report - Contents

• Identifying children and young people with SEN and assessing their needs;

• Assessing and reviewing children and young people’s progress towards outcomes, including working with parents and young people;

• Supporting children and young people in moving between phases of education and in preparing for adulthood;

• Adaptations to curriculum, teaching and the learning environment and access to ancillary aids and assistive technology;

• Securing expertise among teachers, lecturers or other professionals to support children and young people with SEN;

• Assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of SEN provision made;• Enabling children and young people with SEN to have access to

facilities and extra-curricular activity available to all children;• Supporting and improving emotional and social development, and

measures to prevent bullying.

Key responsibilities of SENCO may include:

• Overseeing the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN policy;• Coordinating provision for children with SEN;• Liaising with designated teacher where a looked after pupil has SEN;

• Advising a on graduated approach to providing SEN Support;• Advising on use of school’s delegated budget and other resources;• Liaising with parents of children with SEN;• Liaising with early years providers, secondary schools, EPs, health

and social care professionals, and independent or voluntary bodies;• Liaising with potential next providers of education;• Working with the head teacher and school governors that the school

meets its responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010);• Ensuring that the school or maintained nursery keeps the records of

all children with SEN up to date.

External Support• Local offer should set out what support is available and how

it can be accessed.• Likely to include:

o Educational psychologistso Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services o Specialist support teacherso Behaviour support teamso Speech and language therapistso Occupational therapistso Physiotherapistso Job coaches

SEN Support in Colleges• Identifying SEN• SEN support• Access to specialist skills to support the learning of

students with SEN• Students supported to achieve a successful transition to

adult life.• Record keeping

General questions

• Is it clear from the structure of the draft Code where you can find the information you need?

• Is the guidance clearly written and easy to understand?

• Are the statutory duties from the Bill and Regulations clearly explained?

• Is the 0-25 age range appropriately reflected?

Code of Practice: questions

Questions on the local offer

• Does chapter 5 of the draft Code describe clearly the purposes of the local offer?

• Is the guidance clear about what local authorities and their partners need to do to develop and review their local offer?

• Is there anything missing from the guidance?

Code of Practice: questions

Possible options – what do you think?

• Option 1: Introduce all requirements from September 2014

• Option 2: Introduce all requirements from April 2015 to fit in with cycle for decisions on school and college funding

• Option 3: Introduce the local offer progressively from September 2014 with the full offer being published in September 2015

Consultation question:Which approach to implementing the local offer should be adopted? Please explain why.

Code of Practice: transitional arrangements

Pathfinder examples

Information Packs

• Produced a series of information packs based on the 6 key thematic areas:

- Personal Budgets, - Coordinated Assessment & EHC Plan, - Preparing for Adulthood, - Local Offer, - Joint Commissioning, - Engagement & Participation of Children, Young People, Parents & Carers

• Available on the SEND Pathfinder website – www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/infopacks

• Pathfinder YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphppjsuJ3xYrXknsSBYGIw/feed

SE7 Case StudyOn-going Development of Draft Local Offer Framework

• Includes:– A number of agreed principles (left)– Guidance on ‘essential’ features of the Local offer– Framework and guidance for each individual

strand of the local offer– Identification of a consistent structure for each

strand

Sample from Information Pack: ‘Local Offer’

SE7 Case StudyFocussed Work with Educational Settings

• SE7 developed questions for educational settings to answer in developing their offer• Mechanism aim: to provide consistent responses in the manner a parent carer or

young person would like to see• Examples:

– What specialist services and expertise are available at, or accessed by, the setting/school/college?

– How will the curriculum be matches to my child’s/young person’s needs?

Educ

atio

nArea Wide OfferInformation about

SEN Services or Persons which the

LA commissionsIndividual setting/

school/ college SEN information

Other information

Hea

lthCare Pathways and/ or Service

Specific Information

Other Information

Soci

al C

areArea Wide Offer

Specialist Support provided

Other information

Prep

arin

g fo

r ad

ulth

oodArea Wide Offer

Targeted and Specialist

ServicesOther information

Sample from Information Pack: ‘Local Offer’

SE7 Case StudySpecific Questions from the Parent/Carer & Young Person

From the Young Person's point of view

How does the setting/ school/ college know if I need extra help?

How will I be involved in the planning for my needs and who will explain it and help me?

How do I know if I am doing as well as I should?

Can college staff get extra help from experts outside the college if they need to?

From the Parent/ Carer's point of view

How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s/young person’s needs?

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and

how will you help me to support my child’s/young person’s learning?

How is the decision made about what type and how much supportmy child/young person will receive?

How are parents involved in the setting / school / college? How can Ibe involved?

Sample from Information Pack: ‘Local Offer’

Darlington Local Offer Case StudyApproach

• Development of offer at incremental stages to ensure sustainable approach

• Darlington’s local offer can be found at: http://darlington.fsd.org.uk

Sample from Information Pack: ‘Local Offer’

Hartlepool Case StudySt Hild’s Local Offer Front Page

St Hild’s has a local offer front page, which is part of the school website. This provides information on the key SEND contacts within the school, contact details, and useful links including information on:

How the school creates an individual SEND plan

Staffing and relevant qualifications Special Education Provisions Achievement and support

Ability to click through to specific areas of the offer, such as achievement support.

Sample from Information Pack: ‘Local Offer’

A Person-centred Outcome… A Solution…

• Is a personal goal, not a service goal

• Is something you have influence/control over

• Is achievable

• Is measurable & specific

• May have obstacles in the way of achieving it

• Is the resource you need to achieve your outcome

• It can be an item or an activity

• It can have a cost associated with it, or be free

Sample from Information Pack: ‘0 - 25 Coordinated Assessment Process and EHC Plan’

0 - 25 Coordinated Assessment Process and EHC Plan

Hartlepool EHC Plan ChecklistSouthampton

Engagement and Participation of Children, Young People & Parent Carers

• The following general principles apply across all aspects of SEND reform: 1. Parent-carers: the participation of parents and carers is built in from

the beginning of strategic and individual planning and development of support.

2. Children and young people: the participation of children and young people is built in from the beginning and informs developments at an individual and strategic level.

Sample from Information Pack: ‘Engagement and participation of children, young people, parents and carers’

SE7 Case Study – Parent & CarersDarlington Case Study – Children & Young People

• The pathfinders have shown that the workforce development and culture change needed to implement the reforms takes time, typically over a year.

• The proposals for joint commissioning, a local offer and personal budgets require a strategic approach to planning services and market development, based on clear understanding of the needs of children, young people and families.

• Now is the time to develop your engagement with the pathfinder champion in your region and think about the steps you need to take to prepare for implementation.

Preparing for implementation

Key challenges for the programme and areas for further development:

• Running two systems in parallel amid wider change programmes• Workforce development and culture change• Further testing of paperwork ensuring its robustness when used as a statutory

document • Scaling up, preparing for implementation

– Increase the number of families involved– Ensure coverage across the age range– Including more new cases– Testing the full end to end process e.g. reviews, disputes, transition

– Further development of a multi agency local offer

Keeping in touch

• www.sendpathfinder.co.ukWebsite

• pathfinder@mottmac.comEmail

• 0207 651 0308Telephone