Issue - meetings

SEND & Inclusion Change Programme

Meeting: 26/10/2020 - Children & Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 4)

4 SEND & Inclusion Change Programme pdf icon PDF 331 KB

The report provides an update on activity on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) & Inclusion Change Programme since previous reports to Cabinet and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee during June and July 2020 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Ross Caws, Warwickshire SEND Board Development Manager, introduced the report to the Committee with a short animation that had been launched at the latest Head Teachers conference.

 

The Committee was reminded of the proposals set out over the summer 2020 and informed that the report would be an update on those proposals and the work that had been completed so far.

 

It was confirmed that some projects were still in the early stages of completion but others, such as the monitoring of children not on a school register were underway and up to date.  It was confirmed that there were currently 16 children with an EHCP plan not on a school register.

 

Councillor Colin Hayfield, Portfolio Holder for Education and Learning confirmed that there has been an increase in the number of children with complex needs, and that the complexity of needs is also growing.  Councillor Hayfield confirmed that the Council would need to ensure that the investments made would result in better outcomes in mainstream schools.

 

In relation to promoting inclusion within mainstream schools, Councillor Howard Roberts asked if teachers would receive training and were enthusiastic about promoting inclusion.  It was confirmed that training for all school staff was in place but that it would take time to develop fully and embed into schools.  It was acknowledged that a better joined-up approach to this training was needed.  Some training would be offered for the whole school work-force, not just teachers.  Financial pressures were creating tensions about training needs and supporting SEND children but on the whole teachers and schools all want to do the right thing.

 

It was confirmed that conversations relating to SEND were held at the Head Teachers Conference.  While there was some positive feedback, some teachers were defensive and felt that there are problems elsewhere in the system that need to be resolved first.  As part of the SEND & Inclusion Change Programme, project groups will be used to engage with schools; there will also be regular contact with the Schools Forum.

 

The Committee noted that not all projects from the programme had been started.  It was clarified that consideration had been given to starting all the projects at the same time, but it was considered that some projects were clearly urgent and that some could not be started before other projects were completed.  The Committee acknowledged the efforts made to support all staff across school environments with training, although some difficulties have been faced with trading services.  It was noted that the Change Programme will help set the tone and direction for the service.

 

Following a question from Councillor Corinne Davies, it was confirmed that requesting feedback from service users is part of day to day practice but it was acknowledged that not all children and young people are able to communicate verbally to offer feedback and that work was underway to identify other options.  The Parent/Carer Forum is another way that the service receives feedback.  One of the projects is to reconstitute the Forum to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4