Agenda item

Kashif Nawaz, Interim Head of SEN presented the current developments with SEN.

It was noted that Bracknell Forest had received a ministerial compliment to recognised that all SEN ‘statements’ had been converted to EHCPs.

Kashif highlighted the following areas of work for the SEN team:

Principle One: Involving children and young people, parents and carers in decisions involving them and to promote independence and autonomy during the transition to adulthood

Kashif noted that all young people with EHCPs had been sent a survey of Personal Outcomes Education Tool (POET) to assess the difference an EHCP had made. The responses were being collated into a report to inform future service direction.

Local internships for young people with EHCPs were being developed, and it was hoped that the first pilot cohort would be working by September 2018.

Principle Two: Ensure inclusion and participation in all aspects of family, educational and community life in a local and inclusive setting.

An SEN task group had been established to broaden the scope of inclusion across services. The group met weekly and had action plans for each of its strands of work.

The Headteacher’s SEND strategy group would be reviewed and membership revised prior to it being formally relaunched.

Frank Glennon would continue to manage the Education Psychology team and the EHCP oversight process.

With regard to specialist place planning, there was a particular need for alternative provision in the primary phase.

Principle Three: Minimising use of resources out of borough.

Kashif reminded the Board of the impending Local Area SEND Inspection, which would assess the experiences of particularly vulnerable groups across partner agencies.  The inspection would result in a narrative report and would not be graded. It was noted that although schools would be assessed, this would be at a strategic level and no lesson inspections would take place.

In response to questions, the following points were noted:

• West Berkshire were about to have their Local Area SEND inspection , and it was agreed that the outcome of this would be useful learning for all partners.
• It was noted that the last referrals into the Channel Panel had been children with additional needs.

• The South East Directors meeting had commented that in the region, underperformance at school had been an issue for those children who had SEND needs and were in receipt of Pupil Premium Grant. It was stressed that Ofsted would focus on this group when inspecting schools.
• The difference between those who had an EHCP and those children requiring SEN support was noted, as SEN support was often unidentified by the Local Authority as it was provided direct from the school. To get an EHCP in place, Headteachers were required to gather two terms of evidence of a child’s needs.
• Additional SENCO support had been provided for four schools in Bracknell Forest and would develop best practice.
• Shared Quality Assurance visits with Headteachers were being piloted in order to support officers visited children in out of borough specialist education provision.
• It was hoped that the new schools due to open soon would provide some specialist places.
• Concerns were raised around the labelling element of putting children on a plan or giving them a diagnosis. However, the funding associated with EHCPs was recognised to be critical to school provision for challenging pupils.
• It was noted that the Joint Commissioning Board were mapping specialist provision for children across East Berkshire to assess the gaps in provision.

The Board thanked Kashif for his presentation and requested to see the SEN delivery plan once complete.