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Improvement Plans for SEND
The special educational needs and disability improvement plan has finally been announced, three years after the SEND review was first launched. The Government has agreed to go ahead with the most important reforms. A three-year trial is to be rolled out before the improvement plan is finalised.
The SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper identified that the system is failing to deliver improved outcomes for children and young people with SEND and that parents confidence in the system is in decline.
The Green Paper has proposed to improve the outcomes and experiences In five ways:
Create a single, national SEND and alternative provision system, underpinned by National SEND and Alternative Provision Standards for identifying and meeting need from Early Years to further education, regardless of place or needs
Improving capacity and expertise in mainstream education from early years to post-16. This is so that all those working with children and young people with SEND have the confidence and expertise to do so and can identify additional needs and access targeted support when this is needed.
Ensuring there is appropriate, high-quality specialist provision for those who need it, with a clear vision for alternative provision in delivering early intervention.
Identifying clear roles and responsibilities across the system, with strengthened accountabilities and funding reform to deliver Nation Standards effectively
Focusing on effective delivery from the very start and supporting the system to respond to immediate challenges whilst preparing for longer-term reform.
Their three approaches to delivery from the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan
Support and stabalise: by supporting and stabalising the system, getting local areas working in the best possible way within the current system to ensure that the needs of children and young people are met, without escalating costs, and to ensure the local authority deficits are brought under control. This includes supporting local authorities with financial deficits through Delivering Better Value and Safety Valve
Delivering capacity to address supply issues: In the short to medium term, we will take action to address supply issues – ensuring that there is sufficient support available for children and young people when they need it, in the most efficient way. This includes investing £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provisions for children and young people with SEND or who require alternative provisions, reducing the need for costly independent provisions.
Design and test for systematic reform: the £70 million Change Programme will create up to nine Regional Expert Partnerships that will test and refine longer-term, systematic reforms including developing and testing National Standards, strategic partnerships and inclusion plans, the proposed alternative provision service, and tailored lists. This will help guard against unintended consequences and build a strong evidence base to inform future funding and legislation.
By the end of this year 2023, the Government will start testing elements of the standards, then by the end of 2025, a proportion of the standards will be published. Ministers will look at designing mechanisms that will assure the government expectations are met, which includes considering the role of Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.
DfE is going ahead with the plans to create a standardised EHCP template, guidance for this will not be in place until 2025. This year DfE will work with councils, suppliers and families to test how digital solutions could be best for improving their experiences of the EHC process. In 2024 they will design digital solutions and testing drafts, before beginning the rollout requirements across councils in 2025.
The Government is going forward with the Local Inclusion Plan created by local SEND and AP partnerships. Non-statutory guidance will be published this autumn on expectations for the partnerships with a self-assessment tool.
All information taken from sources listed below:
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-review-improvement-plan-everything-schools-need-to-know/?utm_campaign=ESAAS%20%E2%80%93%20VisCom&utm_medium=email&utm_content=252541042&utm_source=hs_automation
For more information on Improvement Plans for SEND talk to School Furniture Direct