How we communicate

If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your colleagues, and let me know. Every time I get a thumbs up it makes my day!

I'm busy working on Belong, the future of ordinarily available provision, now that we have the new language for Universal and Areas of development (Appendix D of the consultation).

If you'd like me to make a free demo from your existing OAP docs, just let me know.

How we communicate

I was delighted to see the Adult, Easy Read, and CYP versions of the SEND reform: putting children and young people first, which came out at the same time as the main consultation.

However, things could be more accessible.

A little analysis of the CYP version, using hemingwayapp.com, shows you need a university education to read it. Out of 135 sentences, there are 67 which are "very hard to read" and 30 are "hard to read". That's 70% of the text!

Special Needs Jungle have written a clear critique of the Easy Read, holding the government to a high, but reasonable standard.

When "Easy Read" isn't easy: why the SEND consultation risks excluding disabled children and young people

"The government has met the bare minimum by producing an Easy Read document and producing it on time. But let's be honest: the bare minimum is not enough. Not when the stakes are this high."

By Sharon Smith. specialneedsjungle.com (opens in a new tab)

Precision in the labels

In the long term, the thing that annoys me the most is the use of Targeted and Targeted Plus.

Why would we use the same word to describe 2 of the 3 different layers of support?

Let's look at the definitions.

Am I nit-picking? I don't think so. Parent carers and learners need to understand what's happening in their education. I think I understand these definitions, but I have the luxury of time, and I have no emotional load in this work. For busy education professionals, and especially for parent carers, we must do better.

There are already consultants churning out AI graphics to explain these things more clearly (though not accessibly). This shouldn't be necessary.

1. Targeted support

For children and young people who have ongoing and commonly occurring needs which cannot typically be met by the Universal offer, mainstream settings will provide 'Targeted support' in mainstream settings, in consultation with parents.

Barriers to learning will be identified and understood through evidence-based approaches, enabling professionals to determine practical and appropriate support. Each child or young person will also have their needs and provision captured in a digital 'Individual Support Plan' (ISP), reviewed regularly with them and their parents or carers.

Question: who are the professionals in Targeted support?

2. Targeted Plus support

This offer will be available for children and young people who need more specialist support to thrive in inclusive mainstream education. With strong partnership working at its core, the 'Experts at Hand' offer will be available to ensure settings can access high-quality support from education and health professionals and outreach from AP or specialist settings.

Each child or young person receiving 'Targeted Plus support' will also have an Individual Support Plan (ISP) and access to an 'Inclusion Base', where required, within their mainstream setting.

Questions: is the Targeted Plus support the same as "Experts at Hand"? Is bespoke different to targeted?

3. Specialist support

By sharing expertise and resources, mainstream and specialist settings will work in close partnership to provide 'Specialist support' to children and young people with the most complex needs. New nationally defined 'Specialist Provision Packages' will outline packages of provision, based on evidence, to support children with the most complex needs. In the future, only children and young people who need the overall package of support detailed in a Specialist Provision Package will be entitled to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Questions: are experts different to "Experts at hand"? Are experts specialists? What's the difference between an Inclusion Base, a Support Base (not mentioned in these definitions), and a Specialist Base?

Now that we have the White Paper, and the consultation, I'm going to try a thematic approach for this newsletter, rather than simply chronological.

If you see something that's really good, or important, about the White Paper, or the consultation, let me know.

Cheers
Jonny Holden