LZW Outreach Team LOCAL OFFER

Updated 4.9.2014

LUTON BOROUGH COUNCIL
Lady Zia Wernher Outreach Team LOCAL OFFER
1st September 2014

The purpose of the Outreach Team is to utilise the knowledge and skills of the staff at Lady Zia Wernher School (LZW)together with their experience of using specialist equipment and resources. The service offer includes advice and support to mainstream schools to ensure successful inclusion of pupils (wherever possible) with a physical impairment and associated medical care needs.

The LZW Outreach Team believes in achievement, ambition and progress for all children.

We aim to meet the needs of individual children through highly effective teaching and learning.

There is an emphasis on early identification of needs through supportive and preventative strategies which reduce barriers to learning.

We work in a flexible way to develop effective partnerships with children and their parents/carers, the SENCo/teachers and support staff and external professionals such as speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and child and adolescent health services (CAMHS) to ensure that the school can meet a broad range of special educational needs.

We support academic achievement and personal achievement by removing barriers to learning for pupils with a physical impairment and associated medical care needs,and use a wide range of strategies to foster a culture of lifelong learning and independent living skills for all children.

1. How does the Outreach Team identify and organise support for children with special educational needs?

Requests for support from the Outreach Team will come from:

  • School Liaison meetings.
  • Occupational, Physiotherapy and Speech Therapy Teams or other external agencies.
  • Parents.
  • Local authority Special Educational Needs Team.
  • Other Outreach Teams.

Following contact the Outreach Team will request parental permission evidence, a completed referral form and relevant written information. Once received, and assessed by the Manager, an initial visit will be planned to identify a programme of support to include assessment of need, verbal advice, written report and follow up visits as required. If it is felt that the referral did not fall within the remit of the Outreach team the Manager will give clear reasons and endeavour to ensure that the request is passed to the most suitable agency and provide clear information to this effect.

The Outreach Team works closely with the other agencies involved, as much as possible, to ensure a joined up approach and cohesive support package.

2.Who are the key people in the Outreach Team available to discuss parental/carers concerns about their child’s difficulties?

The first point of contact is the Outreach Team manager. If contact is made via another team member the information will be passed directly to the Manager to coordinate a response. Once the concerns have been identified the Manager will indicate and name the most appropriate team member for liaison.

Parents are able to attend initial visit meetings and assessments.

Parents are able to request home visits and assessments. The Outreach Manager will agree this format if appropriate and support the visit.

Written reports are sent to parents/carers via the pupil’s school.

The Outreach Team contact details are on the report for parents to use if needed.

The supported school SENCo will discuss recommendations made according to individual school procedure ie at parent meetings, annual reviews etc.

3.How will parents/carers be informed about a child/young person’s progress within their school setting and how will his/her progress be measured?

The school SENCo will discuss recommendations made by the Outreach Team, according to individual school procedure ie at parent meetings, annual reviews etc. Where appropriate a pupil’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) will reflect the recommendations made. Progress will be reported according to individual school procedure ie IEP Review, Annual Reviews, Parents meetings.

It is expected that the school SENCo will ensure that the Outreach Team recommendations are implemented. The Outreach Team will make follow up visits to support implementation and review recommendations as necessary.

4.What support will parents/carers receive if their child/young person has been identified as having special educational needs?

The school SENCo will take the lead on communication with the parents/carers but parents may contact the Outreach Team directly.

The Outreach Team will offer support to schools and parents/carers by:

  • Making specific recommendations to enhance inclusion.
  • Attending meetings as required eg annual reviews, transition meetings.
  • Supporting school visits at times of transition as needed.
  • Making home visits as appropriate to support implementation of recommendations at home eg training in software programs for home use.
  • Sign posting to appropriate training eg Moving and Handling, Makaton.
  • Acting as a point of contact when required,to coordinate professional involvement of other services.

5. What support is offered to ensure the wellbeing of children/young people with special educational needs and disabilities?

Making specific recommendations to enhance inclusion which can include the following points:

  • The pupils’ views are sought during assessments and where appropriate recorded in the reports.
  • Advisory staff offer support in Moving and Handling and discuss intimate care needs to ensure procedures are carried out promoting dignity and respect at all times.
  • Communication support is provided to enhance inclusionand increase confidence and independence. This will often reduce frustrations which may lead to behavioural difficulties.
  • Advice may be given about behaviour management strategies and visits to LZW School can be arranged to show appropriate and successful teaching strategies that can be used in other settings.
  • Visits to LZW are offered to observe staff using strategies and resources which support recommendations made by the Outreach Team.
  • Attending meetings eg annual reviews, transition meetings.
  • Supporting school visits at times of transition.
  • Making home visits as appropriate to support the implementation of recommendations at home eg training in software programmes.
  • Acting as a point of contact if required, to coordinate professional involvement.

6. How will the Outreach Provision support the adaptation of teaching by schools in order to support the child/young person with special educational needs?

Assessments will provide clear recommendation with links to additional resources or training to support the needs of the pupils at mainstream schools. Once the supporting schools have had time to disseminate the information, purchase appropriate resources or access training, teaching can be adapted to ensure appropriate support for the pupil.

Any recommendations made which require further training can be supported by Lady Zia Wernher staff either internally or externally. Certificated Makaton and Moving and Handling courses are coordinated by the Training Manager and support for ICT software training is provided on an individual schools basis and arranged at the receiving school. This is delivered by the ICT assessment team. Both the Makaton and Moving and Handling courses are charged for, but ICT training is provided free as part of the follow up sessions. All training recommendations made are available from other organisations, but providing the support via LZW ensures that the specialist staff can follow up any training with child specific advice.

In addition to the formal training opportunities, the Outreach Manager can coordinate inreach support to allow staff to observe good practise and demonstrate any of the strategies or resources recommended. This enables staff to relate theory to practise and consider how the ideas gained can influence their own planning and lesson delivery, thereby supporting curriculum differentiation allowing learning opportunities to be tailored to pupils’ individual learning needs.

Where appropriate, a pupil’s IEP will reflect the recommendations made. Progress will be reported according to individual school procedure ie within an IEP Review, Annual Review and Parent meetings.

7.What different types of support can the child/young person receive in school?(e.g. small group or individual)

Once recommendations have been made,and resourced if necessary with appropriate training completed, the school SENCo will timetable the details of support needed to implement the guidance that has been provided.

The Outreach Team will continue to provide ongoing support as required.

8.How will the school support your child/young person in unstructured times such as lunchtimes and playtimes and enable her/him to have access to after school clubs, school trips and journeys?

The Outreach Team provides advice and guidance to enhance the independence skills of the children and young people they work with. This support is intended to increase community involvement for pupils with a physical impairment and associated medical care needs as well as educational opportunities.

The Team work with other agencies and services to address access issues to ensure barriers to inclusion are removed or reduced.

Advice is given about risk assessments for educational trips and access to appropriate venues to support inclusive opportunities. If specific individual activities are needed such as swimming, during or after school, the Team can signpost parents and schools to suitable organisations.

The team can attend educational trip meetings with a school, parents and pupil to give general advice as well as make individual assessments.

9. How does the Outreach Team involve children/young people in decisions that affect them?

The assessments carried out by the Outreach team are individualised and recommendations form part of a personalised plan for the pupil. Pupil’s views are taken into account as much as possible and contained within the verbal or written feedback. This is particularly pertinent for intimate care recommendations.Respect and maintenance of dignity are underlying principlesof any personalised support programme.

Any recommendations made to increase independence are dependent on the pupils cooperation and therefore need to take into account their own decisions about involvement eg if a piece of equipment is recommended it may often be rejected by the pupil as it draws attention to their difficulty. Working closely with the pupil to identify the issues and draw up a personalised plan that may use an adapted resource will increase the likely hood of successful use.

Transition from primary to secondary school can be supported by the Outreach Team. Access issues at the pupils chosen school may be problematic given the larger environment and need for movement through the school from lesson to lesson.If building adaptations are needed,the Outreach Manager can help to coordinate the various service involvements.

The outreach team can make referrals to appropriate advocacy services for the pupil as part of their provision as needed.

10. How are the Outreach Team’s resources allocated to support children/young people with SEND?

The Outreach service is free at the point of delivery for Luton schools and pre- schools. Alternatively funded Luton schools and schools outside of the authority are charged for service delivery

LZW is commissioned to deliver outreach support to mainstream schools and funded by a single paymentfrom the local education authority.

The team have developed a set of resources which are used to carry out assessments and have a limited number of duplicated resources which may be lent to schools on a trial period. Supported schools may visit LZW to observe the use of specialist equipment.

Recommendations made which indicate the need for a school to purchase resources or training are fundedby individual school budgets.

The Head teacher of LZW and the Local Authority jointly monitor the effectiveness of the Outreach Team through the following means:

  • Regular meetings held with the Outreach Manager.
  • Annual evaluation forms completed by the supported schools. They are sent out by the LA Special Educational Needs Service Manager.
  • Evaluations collated by the local authority SENS Manager andinformation processed to provide analytical data.This is given to the Outreach Manager and the results discussed at an annual review between the Head Teacher of LZW, SENS Manager and Outreach team manager.
  • Evaluations are used to inform the development of the service and support the annual action plan.

11. What services external to the Outreach Team can provide support to children with SEN?

The Outreach team works closely with other relevant agencies involved with the pupil to ensure that a joined up package of support is available for the supported school, parents/carers and child/young person.

Following parental permission to support the child and share information with other professionals, the Outreach Team may:

  • Contact the relevant services, share reports and provide verbal advice via phone or email.
  • Arrange/attend professionals meetings, transition meetings and annual reviews.
  • Invite external agencies/colleagues to attend specific assessments to share strategies and working practices.
  • Sign post schools and parentsto other services that may further support the child/young person if a gap is identified.

12. How are staff in the Outreach Team supported to work with children/young people with special educational needs and what training do they have?

The Head Teacher of LZW is responsible for appointing specialist staff to the Outreach Team and arranging their performance management, continued professional development and essential training within school systems and processes.

In addition the Outreach Team members who lead on Moving and Handling and Makaton have additional extensive training qualifications which entitle them to provide formal training and deliver courses internally and externally. The Physical Education Access Advisor is a trained Rebound therapy practitioner and can deliver courses.

Training and expertise is available for developing the use of specialist equipment and resources and inreach visits provide an opportunity for local schools to observe the use of these resources and good practice associated with them.

13. How will the Outreach Team support the child/young person in moving on to another school or college or to the next key stage in their education or life?

The service can provide transition support for pupils changing schools or key stages in the following areas:

  • Completing assessments and preparing reports in advance of transition.These reports will be disseminated by the sending school.
  • Attending transition meetings and maintaining contact with supported and new receiving school or key stage via email and phone.
  • Attending school visits with parents and pupils prior to choosing school placements.
  • Working with receiving schools and other professionals to ensure environmental access is suitable.
  • Recommending reasonable adjustments to ensure inclusion.
  • If building infrastructure is unsuitable but Local Authority and receiving school agree to adaptations the Outreach team can support the school to set up a plan of action.
  • Recommend specialist equipment needed and sign post to, or provide necessary training needed.
  • Provide ongoing support as needed, once the pupil starts the new placement.

14.How accessible is the Outreach Team working environment?

N/A as the Team work with children/young people within their school placement.

15. Who can parents/carers contact for further information within the Outreach Team?

The Outreach Manager is the first point of contact and will assess the referral or request.

If requests come via LZW school or other professionals the Outreach Manager will make contact to discuss process and procedures before making an initial visit.

The outreach offer is available on the LZW website and as part of the Luton local offer on the Luton borough website.