The New World of SEND

1. The New World of SEND Education, Health & Care Provision for Children & Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Shona Formby and Mary Chapman, Principal Officers / Plan Coordinators SEN and Disability Service

2. An opportunity to.... • Consider the practicalities of developing an Education, Health and Care Plan. • Consider Wigan’s process and what should be included in a plan using guidance from Pathfinder learning and the draft Code of Practice.

3. Personalisation is paramount Children, young people and families are at the heart of the process It’s all about what CAN we do, rather than what DO we do Listen and understand

4. CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE CHOICE & PARTICIPATION EARLY IDENTIFICATION LOCAL OFFER CLEAR OUTCOMES EDUCATION, HEALTH & CARE (EHC) PLAN Principles JOINT PLANNING & COMMISSIONING

5. Early identification of needs so that professionals can intervene early with the most appropriate support for a child and their family High expectations and aspirations for what children and young people with SEN and disabilities can achieve, including paid employment, living independently with choice and control over their lives and support and participating in society Focus on the outcomes that children and young people and their families want to achieve, so that all decisions are informed by these aspirations The views and participation of children and their parent/carer and young people are central and supported throughout the system, and person-centred planning (personalisation) is used to place children and young people at the heart of the system CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE Principles Children & Young People are at the heart of the process Choice and control for young people and parents over the support they/ their children receive, including greater choice of schools and colleges, and personal budgets to tailor services.

6. LOCAL OFFER Principles EDUCATION, HEALTH & CARE (EHC) PLAN • Education, health and social care partners collaborate so that a coordinated and tailored support can be provided to children, young people and families. • Clarity of roles and responsibilities to ensure that collaboration goes hand in hand with accountability to fulfil duties. • High quality provision to meet the needs of most children and young people, alongside rights for those with EHC plans to say where they wish to be educated. JOINT PLANNING & COMMISSIONING The skills, knowledge and attitude of those working with children and young people are central to achieving excellent outcomes.

7. Practicalities • Early intervention: pre-referral (information & involvement) • Relationships (families and professionals) • Culture change: commitment from ALL • Key working • Team restructures: ensure correct skills & knowledge • Personalisation • Enabling not disabling • Manageable process vs Personalisation (more labour intensive) • Reviewing criteria: funding reforms • Consider Code of Practice (consultation at present)

8. What have we done so far as a Pathfinder? Wigan has been a Pathfinder Authority since September 2011 developing and testing the new processes and procedures. We have: • Developed an assessment and single plan process for Wigan • Issued 40 EHC plans to date • Established a framework for developing personalisation across education, health and care • Published the first draft of the Local Offer • Started to shift organisational culture - working closely with all partners including health commissioners and providers • Begun to re-design services to reflect new ways of working - Children with Complex Needs social care team are now within the SEND service; Linking with 16-25 colleagues. Training and Development;

9. What have we done so far as a Pathfinder? • Making progress in unifying data and IT systems both within the council and health to support more integrated working • Provided awareness sessions for stakeholders, including parents • Provided key working training to approx 200 Health colleagues • With Manchester and Trafford we have become “Pathfinder Champions” for the whole of the NW region and also one of 9 LAs to become a National Champion, supporting policy development at national level

10. CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE Pathway to a Single Plan

11. Difference in “Drawing up the plan” Statement: • Referral • Initiate assessment • Decision – issue Statement (or NIL) • Contact with family (generally if unhappy) EHCP: • Referral • Initiate assessment • Contact with family • Gather assessment information • Draw up summary assessment • Decision – issue EHCP (or NIL) • Draft EHCP sent to family • Plan meeting • Amend and finalise EHCP

12. Contents of Wigan’s EHC Plan • Section 1 All about Me Basic details with a Personal Profile, Family Profile, Family Resilience, and what is working / not working for the child or young person, including actions. • Section 2 What [**] Needs Summary Assessment describes the child or young person’s needs. This can include the aspirations, outcomes, issues for the family. • Section 3 Outcomes for [**] and how we plan to achieve them This section notes the agreed short term outcomes and long term aspirations across Education, Health & Care that the young person, family and professionals agree, what we have agreed to do and the provision to meet the outcomes with success criteria. Where there is a Personal Budget the Support Delivery Arrangements describe how resources will be allocated and utilized • Section 4 Essential details Has the key information to finalise and review the plan such as contributors to the Plan, Educational Placement, Review dates etc. • Appendices There may be some appendices with detailed information for those people supporting the child or young person and implementing the provision in the plan (e.g. how [**] learns / communicates) EHC PLAN

13. Next Steps for the Pathfinder • All new referrals will now be given the option of the EHC assessment process which could lead to an EHC Plan, although parents/carers will be able to opt for a Statement of SEN if they wish. • Some existing statements (transition) will be “converted” to EHC plans so that the number of plans in place is increased and greater learning can be fed into National policy. • The current guidance for schools on supporting pupils with additional needs will be updated to reflect the changes connected with EHC assessment and the school funding reforms. Pathways for EHC assessment from early years through to transition will be clarified and shared. • A training and development plan has been drawn up to ensure that all those working within the system are aware of changes to the process and their roles and responsibilities. • We will continue to develop an open and transparent system for providing personal budgets across education, health and care and the Local Offer will be refined.

14. What does this mean for you? Considering the following questions may help you in preparing for the introduction of the new legislation. • Do our tracking and assessment processes identify children & young people with SEN at an early stage? • How do we involve parents and young people in decisions about SEN provision? • What steps do we take to enable children, young people and their families to express their hopes and aspirations and to reach realistic goals? • How are staff made aware of the outcomes we are seeking for your children & young people with SEN? • How do we ensure we are making best use of our SEN resources in achieving children’s & young people’s outcomes? • What links do we have which will help in understanding a young person’s needs across education, health and care? • How can we describe our SEN provision in our contribution to the Local Offer? • Could any of our staff undertake a key working role in supporting our families?