Notes of SEN Strategy Group Meeting
Friday 9 December 2011
1000-1300, Meeting Room 6, Future House
Attendees: Amanda Armstrong, Karen Baguley, Cath Dew, Mel Eltome, Liz Flavell,
Ronnie Hartley, Jenni Leary, Anne Lomas, George McQueen, Fiona Macaulay, Rosemary Morgan, Paul Nicklin, Cheryl Paul, Simon Ramsden, Alison Rohatynskyj, Diane Schofield (notes), Angela Taylor, Katie Taylor, Bill Turner (Chair), Sue Wright
No / Agenda Item / Actions1 / Apologies for absence
Julie Holliday, Sam Jepson, Anne Manns, Diane Moorhouse, Lal Saki,
Nicky Symons
2 / Minutes and Matters Arising from the Meeting held on 30 September 2011
Consultation on school funding reform: Proposals for a fairer system – there has been nothing on school funding reform, but some colleagues have received the outcome of a study by Durham University about the effective use of the pupil premium which links back to the Lamb report. However, it was reported that there is some difficulty in recruiting quality teachers, particularly in special schools. It was agreed: to agenda this at a future meeting.
Inclusion Chartermark – it was reported that East1 LAP would like to purchase expertise in the IC, CASPA and SENCO training. / GMc
3 / Introduction to the morning – SEN Activity 2011
BT reminded colleagues that the group formulated a five year plan (2010-2015) with a set of activities. As this is the last meeting of the group in its current form it was decided to use this meeting to report the latest position on those activities. It was reported that 38 SENCOs have successfully completed the SENCO National Award and it is planned to host a small celebration of their success at an event on 19 December.
4 / Early Years
Ronnie Hartley took colleagues through developments in early years provision. Reference was made to the Early Years SEN Action Plan which will be forwarded to colleagues with the notes from this meeting. Colleagues were informed that St Edmund’s Nursery & Children’s Centre, a purpose-built children’s centre has just achieved an outstanding Ofsted report. Rosemary Morgan, Headteacher, Hirst Wood Nursery School was asked for her comments on the developments in early years. She paid tribute to early years staff who have had to take on huge amounts of legislative change. She raised a concern that there is a potential staffing crisis looming, partly due to a lack of specialist training.
RH tabled copies of the Portage Co-ordinator’s report for the autumn term 2011. / DS
5 / Pupil Progress
BT reminded colleagues that the SEN Strategy Group agreed to improve the tracking of pupil progress. Colleagues were asked to undertake an exercise using a CASPA graph to plot the levels of progress of three children. This exercise formed the basis of discussion around whether or not the progress was satisfactory.
There followed an update on the change to the annual review to reflect the need to include a CASPA graph (or equivalent) and a look at examples of CASPA graphs from pupils in Designated Specialist Provisions for SLCN and PD.
6 / Updates
a) EP Team – Paul Nicklin referred to the changes to the role of the Educational Psychologist, particularly the changes to the training and the move to a 3-year doctorate. The result of these changes will mean that teachers who wish to train to be an educational psychologist will be expected to live on a bursary of £15,000 for a period of three years.
He tabled an update on the work he has done on evaluating the work of the Education Psychological Team.
b) DSPs – Simon Ramsden reported that Schools Forum have agreed to the funding of the DSPs which will be on stream by September 2012. The importance of accurate data was highlighted. A paper will go to Executive Committee on provision for Autistic pupils. This will be forwarded to members of the SEN Strategy Group at the appropriate time.
c) Types of Schools – Bill Turner explained the different options/types of schools which are now available for families (Maintained, academies, free schools etc).
d) SLCN – Katie Taylor reported that she took a paper to the Schools Forum to ask for funding for the provision of speech therapy for the DSPs for 2012-13. The bid will be considered along with a number of other bids. She has undertaken to do a piece of work looking at the purchasing of speech therapy and will provide an update to Schools Forum in the spring.
Transport – Jenni Leary reported on the process for determining the provision and type of SEN transport in accordance with the SEN Transport policy. She tabled a comprehensive flowchart outlining the process. The process is working well and has resulted in a huge drop in complaints. The annual review of a pupil’s statement will be used as the mechanism for updating the information which is held on a pupil.
Performance Data – Simon Ramsden tabled an analysis of the data around the work of Special Educational Needs. He referred particularly to the percentage of statements written on time v the low number of tribunals.
Safeguarding: child protection training – he reminded colleagues that one of the SEN Activities relates to having 100% of front line staff child protection trained. Colleagues were informed that there is a system in place to update and monitor the training.
Safeguarding: working with fathers – a Serious Case Review has identified a weakness in the area of working with fathers. Colleagues were informed that this was the focus of joint service training earlier in the week. Colleagues were asked to consider the last three meetings they had with parents and to look at the number of fathers and mothers who were present. The numbers came out as 278 mothers/147 fathers. Front line staff are encouraged to engage with fathers.
7 / Future of SEN/Disability Strategy Groups
Not considered.
8 / Any Other Business
BT thanked colleagues for their support during the five years of the SEN Strategy Group and reminded colleagues that the proposal is to merge the SEN and Disability Strategy Groups. The membership of the newly formed group will be considered in due course.
Page 1 of 3
C:\Documents and Settings\diane.schofield\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK302\SEN Strategy Group Notes - 091211.doc