Guidance on supporting pupils with SEND in Halton

SEND Support and Education, Health and Care Plans in Halton

School’s Responsibility for Children with SEND

Schools and settings are required under the Equality Act (2010) to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that the needs of disabled pupils are not discriminated against. This includes providing additional support where necessary.

The vast majority of children and young people with SEND go to a mainstream school. Although many children and young people might need some extra help in their school there are only a small number who will have special educational needs that are long term or a disability or a medical condition that significantly affects their learning. In Halton there is a wide variety of mainstream provision including; faith schools, maintained schools, academies, and a free school available who are able to meet the needs of pupils including those with SEND.

The Local Offer

Each school is required to detail the provision they offer in order to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. It is a requirement that this is reviewed and updated annually and placed on the setting website and placed on the Local Offer: https://localoffer.haltonchildrenstrust.co.uk/schools/

In order to support schools with the inclusion of pupils with SEND and to ensure they make good progress, there are a range of support services available which all schools can access. These services include; the Education Psychology Service, Specialist Teachers, Specialist Advisors for; Communication and Interaction, Physical and Medical Needs, Education Welfare Service and Speech and Language Therapy Service. In addition, support and advice is offered through health services such as CAMHS and through Woodview Child Development Centre which includes; Paediatricians, Additional Needs Nursing, Occupational and Physio Therapy Services.

All primary and secondary schools have a notional SEND budget available to them in order to help meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs. The SEND Code of Practice (2015) requires all schools to use their best endeavours to meet the needs of children with special educational needs. In Halton we expect schools to use a Graduated Approach to supporting pupils with SEND.

The Graduated Approach

The first step in this process is to ensure that Quality First teaching targeted at the individual area of need is deployed. Additional support cannot compensate for a lack of quality first teaching (SEN Code of Practice, 2015). Quality First Teaching is; good teaching and learning that is personalised, close tracking, rigorous monitoring of progress with intervention quickly put in place, and a thorough evaluation of the impact of the help provided.

A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age (SEN Code of Practice, 2015). Where a pupil is identified as needing support for SEN (this is called SEND Support), cycles of assess, plan, do, review should be followed with appropriate provision and support made for the pupil using the school’s own resources. Schools can also access the support of external agencies where necessary. The details of this support should be included within a SEN Support Plan which should include both the child and the family.

There is a wealth of information on the Local Offer for what support looks like at each stage within the Graduated Approach under the Graduated Approach and Dimensions for Learning tab: https://localoffer.haltonchildrenstrust.co.uk/schools/

School Support

There is an expectation that from its own resources the school will have:  Assessed the pupil’s learning needs.  Planned an appropriate curriculum which has been individualised and which sets suitable learning challenges.  Set outcomes for support in SEN Support Plans and/or Provision Maps.  Identified teaching methods and strategies and considered grouping for teaching purposes.  Deployed additional resources which may include staffing.  Sought the advice from appropriate external agencies  Monitored the impact of intervention and made adjustments or changes to increase effectiveness.  Tracked the progress made by the pupil and carried out appropriate assessments.

Applications for an Education Health and Care Plan

A request for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment should not be the first step in the process for helping to meet the needs of a child or young person but should build on co-ordinated work that is already happening between families, educational settings and support services, health and social care professionals.

Before considering a request for an EHC needs assessment educational settings must demonstrate that they have used a graduated approach and feel additional help is required to manage long term needs. Children or young people who may require a statutory assessment will have been supported from within the school’s provision and with resources already available to them. The support will have been provided on a cyclical basis as outlined above. The length of a cycle should be defined by individual needs and progress towards meeting goals. It is expected that it usually takes about 6 weeks to enable support strategies to be reasonably tried, reviewed and adjusted i.e. one cycle of assess, plan, do and review. It is expected that at least 2 or 3 cycles will have taken place before a decision can be reached about whether or not a request for a statutory EHC needs assessment may be the next step.

There may be exceptions to this rule. For example:  For a young child where there has been no prior identification of needs or nursery experience, some of whom may require assessment placements in specialist provision  For a young child with extremely complex medical needs who immediately requires a high level of adult support in order to access an educational placement  Where a child/young person has recently been diagnosed with a life limiting illness or has been damaged in a serious accident

Discretionary Top-Up Funding (Formerly Enhanced Provision)

We recognise that for some pupils, an urgent response is required before an EHC needs assessment can be made by the school. These exceptional cases may include:

 Pupils who are at serious risk of exclusion and the relevant At Risk paperwork including the CARE protocol has been agreed and reviewed at panel. (See Appendix 3 and 4)  Pupils who have been permanently excluded from another setting and while the pupil is transitioning to their new setting. There must be clear evidence that the pupil would benefit from time limited support while the pupil is assessed in their new provision.  Pupils who have experienced some form of critical incident which is preventing them or other pupils from accessing their educational entitlement.  Pupils who have moved into Halton who have previously been identified by their Local Authorities as requiring a level of support beyond SEND Support but may not have an EHC.

Any funding allocated through this discretionary top-up funding will be time limited.

School’s Responsibility

It is expected that the school will:  Include the pupil and their family in any request and be clear about the support is intended for (See Appendix 1)  Set out in the paper work why they cannot reasonably use their own resources to meet the needs of the pupil.  Demonstrate in any application that the needs are exceptional.  Demonstrate how their notional SEND budget has been used to help address the pupil’s needs.  Demonstrate how any funding approved will be used by the setting and the intended outcome of any support (See Appendix 4)  Be accountable for the additional resource which the Local Authority has provided, providing evidence of the impact of the additional funding on the outcomes of the pupil  Understand that the funding is time-limited and will not be extended.  Follow the advice from panel with regards to any requests for outside agency referrals and any suggestions for future EHC needs assessments.

Panel

The current membership of the Panel will be revised with the budget and decision making delegated to a panel of schools with advice and support from members of the Local Authority Inclusion Officers.

Panel’s Responsibility

In making any decision about emergency discretionary top-up funding, the expectation of the panel is as follows:

 To ensure that there is adequate representation from schools when making decisions regarding top-up requests.  To respond to requests in a timely manner  To be rigorous and consistent when considering any requests to ensure that the process is fair and equitable for all settings.  To ensure that there is transparency in any decision making and that there is a clear rationale for any decisions made which is shared with the school.  To share the outcome from any decision made within 5 working days.  To audit decision making based on the information provided by the setting to ensure there is consistency of any decisions made.

Request For Discretionary TOP-UP Funding

The information on this form is confidential to the pupil, individuals with parental responsibility and those people professionally involved. This form should be signed by the parent/main carer, Headteacher and SENCO and a hard copy returned to the SEN Team at Rutland House or to SENAT@halton.gov.uk

Parent/Main Carers’ Consent

I/we agree that this information can be sent to the SEND team so that a Panel can consider requests for: Discretionary Top-Up Funding. If this request is successful we give consent for information to be shared with other relevant agencies for assessment purposes. Parents are advised that there may also be exceptional circumstances where information may be shared with other agencies in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. Parents/Main Carers ________________________ Date _________________ Parents/Main Carers ________________________ Date _________________

1. Child/young person’s details

Name: School/Setting: Date of Birth: Age: years months NCY: Year Gender: Home address: Telephone Number: Post Code: Home Language: Interpreter Needed?

CAF*: Child in Need: Child Protection: Looked After Child: If Yes, which Authority?

2. Persons with parental responsibility Name: Relationship to pupil: Address: Post Code: Telephone Number:

Name: Relationship to pupil: Address: Post Code Telephone Number:

3. School/Setting Details Current school/setting: Attendance over last 12 months: Previous schools, with dates attended: 4. Pupil’s Aspirations and Views Guidance: Your own format can be attached for pupil views and numbered as 4. Please submit this in a style which is appropriate to the child/pupil’s age and ability eg using photos, symbols, drawings for younger or less able children. Please remember to include your one page profile, which should include the pupil’s views and aspirations.

5. Parent/Carer Aspirations and Views Guidance: Your own format or letter can be attached and numbered as 5. You do not need to use these headings – they are there to help you if you wish. What are your child’s strengths/areas of concern? What does he/she find difficult in school? What do you feel he/she needs help with? Is he/she happy in school? Does your child enjoy reading/writing with you at home? What are you child’s interests in school? Is there anything else you would like us to know e.g. Any advice you would like to give us about what works well for your child? Parents/ Main Carers………………………………………………………Date……………….

• History of Child/Young Person to date (What was working well- what has changed and over

what period of time) from School perspective

History of Child/Young Person to date (What was working well- what has changed and over what period of time) from School perspective

Guidance: This should include the following

 Child/Young Person history since starting with you  Date placed at SEND Support  Detail of how the Notional SEND budget was used to support the CYP  Success of those interventions  Current position that has led to this request being made- this may include comparative progress between CYP and average class progress/attainment

In order to give the Discretionary Funding Panel a full picture please identify all areas of need

Special Educational Needs

Primary Area Of Need:

Primary Need Tick 1 only Cognition and Learning Cognition and Learning Difficulty Specific Learning Difficulty Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs

Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs (SEMH) Communication and Interactive Needs Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) Sensory processing difficulty Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Sensory and / or Physical Needs Visual Impairment (VI) Hearing Impairment (HI) Multi Sensory (Visual/Hearing) Impairment (MSI) Physical Disability Other (Specify) Guidance: give further details of all of the needs of the child or young person and how these impact on learning

Identified strengths and needs Barriers to Learning

Cognition and Learning

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Communication and Interaction

Physical/sensory

Appendix 2 The Primary C.A.R.E Schedule Pupil Version Checklist assessing Risk of Exclusion Name___________________________________________________________________ DOB______________________FORM/Year GROUP______________________________ School/College____________________________________________________________ Date____________________________________________________________________ This schedule is to be completed with a student. It is for you together to rate the number of factors in terms of their influence relating to the risk of exclusion. It is important to document the pupil’s voice within this schedule.

Total /27

Total /21

I have been in trouble with the police 3 2 1 0 Total /21

Total /21

something wrong /misbehaved Total /24

Total /15 The C.A.R.E Schedule Primary Teacher Version Primary Checklist assessing Risk of Exclusion Name___________________________________________________________________ DOB______________________FORM/Year GROUP______________________________ School/College____________________________________________________________ Schedule completed by________________________________________Date_________ This schedule is to be completed by teachers. It is for you to rate the number of factors in terms of their influence relating to the risk of exclusion. It is important to document any evidence you have alongside this schedule.

The higher the score on each factor the more important the factor is in exclusion risk

Total /27

Has difficulty paying attention 3 2 1 0 Total /21

Total /21

Total /24

Total /15 The C.A.R.E Schedule Pupil Version Secondary Checklist assessing Risk of Exclusion Name___________________________________________________________________ DOB______________________FORM/Year GROUP______________________________ School/College____________________________________________________________ Date____________________________________________________________________ This schedule is to be completed with a student. It is for you together to rate the number of factors in terms of their influence relating to the risk of exclusion. It is important to document the pupil’s voice within this schedule.

Total /27

Total /21

I have been in trouble with the police 3 2 1 0 Total /21

Total /21

Total /24

Total /15 The C.A.R.E Schedule Secondary Teacher Version Secondary Checklist assessing Risk of Exclusion Name___________________________________________________________________ DOB______________________FORM/Year GROUP______________________________ School/College____________________________________________________________ Schedule completed by________________________________________Date_________ This schedule is to be completed by teachers. It is for you to rate the number of factors in terms of their influence relating to the risk of exclusion. It is important to document any evidence you have alongside this schedule.

The higher the score on each factor the more important the factor is in exclusion risk

Total /27

Total /21

Total /21

Total /24

Total /15

Appendix 3 Evidence of action for pupils at risk of exclusion

Name of Pupil: DOB:

School: Attendance:

This form should be completed by a member of the school’s leadership team with teacher involvement.

Supplementary information can be added to this form such as examples of Support Plans, details and minutes of meetings with parents, Boxall profiles and strategies which have been implemented over time.

Please briefly outline why the pupil is at risk of exclusion:

Name of person completing this form: Role in school:

Signature: Headteacher signature: Appendix 4 Details of Proposed Discretionary Funding Being Requested and Identified Outcomes. Date from To Guidance – Element 3 funding is also known as High Needs Funding. This is the additional funding which can be requested from the Local Authority to provide additional support for a child after the Element 1 and Element 2 funding have been allocated Area of Need Costed Provision Who Whole class/ group/ individual Outcomes (should be over a year and must be Smart) Success Criteria at the end of one year review Cognition and Learning Communication and Interaction Social, Emotional and Mental Health Sensory and Physical