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Teresa Grady SEND Service Development Manager

Latest update 8th November 2016

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Introduction The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Competencies have been developed with the involvement of representatives from SEND Services, Children’s Disability Team; Statutory Assessment and Resource Team (StART); Localities; Learning Directorate; Preparing for Adulthood Team; Early Years team; Pinpoint - independent information, support and involvement parent/carer network; SEND Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS); Learning Disability Team; Children’s Social Care and Children, Families and Adults (CFA) Workforce Development team; Cambridge Community Service (CSS); and the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMH)

Our vision for our workforce The Children and Families Act (2014) and the associated new Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 0-25 (2015) require a cultural change in our support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (0-25 years) and their families. The focus is on children and young people and their families being at the centre of decision making (co-production); improved life outcomes; integrated approaches across Education, Health and Care; early intervention; and better access to information. It is our vision that children and young people and their families are confident in the consistent and high quality of provision for SEND in Cambridgeshire. This requires a workforce that is equipped with the right skills, understanding and behaviours (appropriate to role) to listen, support, advise, inspire and empower children and young people with SEND and their families to reach the outcomes to which they aspire.

The workforce will be able to draw on the strengths and capacity of the young person and their family and facilitate local solutions through partnership working with schools, health services, community and voluntary networks. This approach will prevent a culture of dependency on professionals and services and promote a culture of independence, choice and control through an emphasis on self-help and resilience of service users. Services will need to be able to think and plan flexibly to plan for an individual response rather than responding to need by established notion of services and packages. Opportunities for joint workforce development will be adopted wherever possible.

Context In 2013, over 15,000 children and young people in Cambridgeshire were identified by schools as having Special Educational Needs and Disability. In addition, the overall 0-19 population in Cambridgeshire is increasing with a predicted 10.5% rise between 2012-2021 which will impact on the numbers of children and young people identified with SEN and disability. It is clear that services across the Local Authority, Health, schools and other educational settings 0-25 years can expect to be in contact with children and young people with SEND or their families even if they do not directly offer specialist SEND provision.

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Feedback from parents and carers

In advance of the SEND reforms we consulted widely with parents of children and young people with special educational needs and disability. We analysed the results and used the information to inform an SEND Strategy and Action Plan 2012-16. Parents told us that they wanted a workforce who can:

Listen and value their views, hopes and aspirations for their child

Appreciate that they as parents are experts and work collaboratively with them.

Identify and share strategies that will remove barriers to learning and support independence

Signpost to further advice and support.

Help them navigate systems and processes

Work in a joined up way with other services

Be flexible and creative in finding solutions

Young people emphasised the need for support with wider life skills such as meeting and socialising with friends, making choices, being independent and preparing for adult life.

Feedback from Children’s’ Trust Services Partners across Children’s Trust services told us that they want training in key legislation and the impact on working practices such as the Children and Families Bill and the SEND Code of Practice 0-25 (2014): the Equality Act 2010; the Care Act (2014). In particular, workforce development around:

Identifying SEND early (at whatever age) and knowing the right strategies and support to prevent escalation. Understanding the impact of SEND on the child or young person and their family and on learning.

Empowering children, young people with SEND and their families, including the hard to reach to find their solutions to improve the outcomes they want.

Making all ‘Assess, Plan, Do, Review’ processes (including CAF) more person and family centred so as to deliver better outcomes

Strengthening Key Working through lead professionals and integrated approaches across services. Developing the ‘Think Family’ approach to working with all families.

Implementing the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment and Plan and related new processes.

Preparation for adulthood

The Local Offer. Publication of clear and accessible information about SEND provision across Education, Health and Care and greater participation in decision making from young people and parents of children with SEND.

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The following diagram summarises the main outcomes that children and young people with SEND and their families tell us that they want and the enablers to ensure we achieve them

Better disagreement

resolution processes

Joint commissioning of services

Enablers

Early Identification and timely responses

that prevent escalation of

needs

Easy access to information and

advice (A published Local Offer)

Cycles of Assess, Plan, Do, Review

Option of a Personal Budget

for some

Being independent and having a

choice

Being happy, confident and healthy

Outcomes

Having friends and peer

group

Being ready for and achieving in educational settings (all ages) and

adult life

Children and young

people (0-25) with SEND

and their families

Lead professionals and key working approaches

Shared understanding of

SEND principles and ways of working

across services and teams

Staff readiness to deliver

SEND reforms

Having work and training

opportunities

Being safe

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SEND Workforce Development Delivery To ensure that the CFA workforce has the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding (appropriate to role) the offer is divided into three levels:

1. SEND Core Competencies 2. SEND Enhanced Competencies 3. SEND Specialist Competencies

Services managers will identify in their development plans the most effective ways for the delivery of workforce development tailored to their needs. Examples include:

Team briefings

Multi-agency briefing sessions

Work shadowing

E learning programmes

Leaflets, literature and web based resources

County and regional Training /Workshop

Practice Workshops

Professional/parent forums

Pilot projects with school/service clusters

Conferences

The associated SEND Competencies will be reviewed and updated regularly with parents/ carers; children and young people and partners across services as part of the Local Offer.

Safeguarding training

is mandatory across all services and providers

For further information please contact the Local Safeguarding Service (LSCB)

at:

http://www.cambslscb.org.uk/prof_training.html

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The SEND Competencies Parents of children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and young adults have told us that the outcomes that they most desire are:

Being happy and healthy.

Having friends and peer group

Being ready for and achieving in educational settings (all ages) and adult life

Having work and training opportunities

Being independent and having a choice

This requires a workforce across services 0-25 years (from the Local Authority, Health, Early Years settings, schools, further education, training and employment settings) that share a common understanding of Special Educational Needs and how these outcomes can be achieved in the most effective and efficient way. The Local Authority is working with partners across services, parents and young people to develop a common approach to ‘competencies’ (the level of knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of the workforce) in Special Educational Need and Disability. Our model of competencies is based on three levels:

Core,

Enhanced

Specialist.

The core SEND competencies are reflected in the Induction Programme for Children, Families and Adult Services (CFA) and Children’s Trust partners and supported by a comprehensive offer of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to further strengthen and develop skills, understanding and practice.

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Core SEND competencies

To be able to: 1. Understand the level of SEND likely to be encountered in

your day to day work (based on national and local incidence)

and be aware of the implications of links with other

vulnerable groups such as poverty.

2. Recognise signs (or possible signs) of the main areas of SEND and respond with actions that are evidence –based and that children and young people tell us work best.

Communication and Interaction

Cognition and Learning

Social, Emotional and Mental Health

Sensory and Physical

3. Support children and young adults with SEND (or possible SEND) to access the same opportunities as their peers (inclusion) and prevent escalation of need.

4. Be aware of, and have regard for, the key principles and

changes of national reforms relating to SEND. To be able to show how this impacts on day to day practice to improve outcomes for children and young people. In particular:

• The Children and Families Act (2014) and SEND Code of Practice 0-25

• The Health and Social Care Act (2012.) • The Equality Act (2010) • The Care Act (2013)

5. Support parents, carers and young people to find the

information, advice and support they require on SEND and

SEND provision using the local offer webpages (the front

door to information from the local authority, health services,

schools and settings and the voluntary and community

sector) and in other ways such as leaflets, helplines etc.

6. Support and challenge children and young adults with SEND

(or possible SEND) and their families to have high aspirations.

7. Recognise and build on the strengths of children and young

people with SEND and their families and empower self-efficacy

8. Take all appropriate actions to ensure vulnerable children and young adults including those with SEND are safe from harm.

9. Empower children and young adults with SEND to develop the skills needed for independence and resilience.

10. Use skills of active listening to facilitate effective

conversations with children and young adults who have (or may have) SEND and their families and empower them to make decisions and choices to meet their aspirations.

11. Communicate information about a child or young person’s

needs and progress (written and verbal) with clarity, avoiding

the use of jargon e.g. for reports to parents or other

professionals; a Family Common Assessment Framework

(FCAF); a Communication Passport.

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Core SEND competencies (continued)

To be able to:

12. Co-operate with the principles of key working/lead professional to ensure families and young people with SEND experience joined up services.

13. Contribute positively to the cycle of Assess; Plan; Do;

Review for children and young people on SEND Support or with Education Health and Care Plans with whom you are in contact.

14. Where applicable, support effective step-down from

Targeted and Specialist provision so that children and young people and those who support or care for them feel confident that their achievements can be sustained.

Enhanced SEND competencies Meet core competencies and also be able to:

15. Advise on and support the implementation of SEND

interventions that are focused on outcomes; specific to identified needs; time limited; evidence-based and measurable.

16. Empower children and young people with significant and

complex needs, including SEND, to reach the goals to which they aspire and to lead ordinary lives.

17. Use the principles of ‘Think Family’¹ to lead or inform

partnership work around children and young people with complex needs including SEND (SEND Support and Education Health and Care Plans)

Specialist SEND competencies Meet core and enhanced competencies and also be able to:

18. Meet national SEND professional standards as applicable to your specialist role.

19. Analyse and communicate new research and information about evidence-based SEND approaches and interventions in your area of specialism.

20. Inspire credibility and confidence not only with your

understanding of your SEND specialist area but of wider areas of need and to be able to work effectively with others to address complex or co-occurring needs.

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To whom do the SEND Competencies apply?

Level of competency

required

The type of provision requiring this level of competency

The workforce to whom the competencies apply

The children, young people and families accessing this provision

Core competencies

Universal Provision

Level/ Tier1 in Cambridgeshire Model of Staged Intervention

GPs; Health visitors; All workforce in schools; early years settings; Further Education (FE); training and employment providers; voluntary and community sector.

All children and young people, A focus on prevention, identifying vulnerability and removing barriers to learning and development

Core competencies plus:

Enhanced competencies

Targeted Provision

Level/Tier 2 in Cambridgeshire Model of Staged Intervention

Some staff in schools, early years and further educational settings.

Locality Teams e.g. Family Worker; Speech and Language Therapists; Occupational Therapists; Physiotherapists; School nurse; Early Years Teams; Specialist Teaching Teams; Learning Directorate Advisory Teams; Parent Partnership Services; Home Start Cambridgeshire. Residential workforce

Those with additional needs who do not make progress on universal provision alone. Universal provision remains in place.

Core and enhanced competencies plus:

Specialist competencies

Specialist Provision

Level/Tier 3 and 4 in Cambridgeshire Model of Staged Intervention)

Some staff in schools early years and further educational settings; Some Locality Team workforce;

Social Workers; Disability Social Workers; Educational Psychologists; Early Years Teams; Specialist Teaching Teams; Statutory Assessment and Resources Team (StART); Speech and Language Therapists; Occupational Therapists; Community Paediatricians; Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); Youth Offending Service; Home visiting teams e.g. Social Communication Team (SCOT) and Portage; Preparing for Adulthood Additional Needs Team; Additional Needs Pathway Advisors.

Those with acute, complex and enduring needs who require a more specialist and tailored approach than targeted provision usually provides. Universal provision remains in place.

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Useful resources for SEND workforce development

The table below records a range of websites that Local authority and Health, schools, colleges and early years providers who need to improve the knowledge and skills of staff in relation to specific conditions can access information, advice and training materials. Outcome

Improved understanding and practice relating to….

Author/Source Type of resources Audience Link

Implementing the SEND

reforms NASEN provides an SEN Gateway that enables access to a broad range of materials and support services across the range of SEN

On-line information and guidance School and other educational settings

www.sendgateway.org.uk or for NASEN home site www.nasen.org.uk

The Council for Disabled Children (CDC). An umbrella organisation for the disabled children’s sector

Various including e-learning, bulletin, posters, publications, books, CDC resources, Fact sheets. leaflets

Parents Professionals Young people Schools

www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/

Cambridgeshire County Council

On-line information and guidance Schools and other educational settings

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies

The Excellence Gateway On-line guidance and resources

16+ FE and skills sector

www.excellencegateway.org.uk

DfE Advice and guidance on Implementing the new SEND system in further education

FE and local authorities

www.gov.uk/publiciations/implementing-the-0-to-25-special-needs-system-further-education

DfE Advice and guidance for FE Workforce training and development

FE www.gov.uk/government/publications/furhter-education-initial-teacher-training-bursary-guide-academic -year-2013-to-14

NHS Transforming participation in health and care

Health services www.england.nhs.uk/2013/09/25/trans-part

DfE/Hertfordshire local authority

Hertfordshire Champion website supporting the SEND Reforms

Local authorities Health services Schools and settings

https://www.klikin.eu/page/view/cat/17985

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Speech Language and Communication Difficulties (SLCN)

The Communications Trust website

Booklets, Information Sheets Checklists

Schools Parents Local Authority and Health professionals

https://www.thecommunicationstrust.org.uk/

The Inclusion Development Programme (IDP) SLCN The early years Inclusion Development Programme (IDP) SLCN

e-learning tool resources

Schools Early years

Autism Spectrum The Autism Education Trust website

Booklet s Information Sheets Checklists AET Standards and Schools’ Competency Framework Early years AET standards and competency framework

Teachers Parents Local Authority and Health professionals

www.theautismedcuationtrust.org.uk/

The Inclusion Development Programme (IDP) Autism The Inclusion Development Programme (IDP) Autism

e-learning tool resources

Schools Early years

Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) including Dyslexia

The Dyslexia SpLD Trust website

Booklet s Information Sheets Checklists

Teachers Parents Local Authority and Health SEND professionals

www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk/

The Inclusion Development Programme (IDP) Dyslexia

e-learning tool resources

Schools

Sensory impairment The National Sensory Impairment Partnership for visual impairment, hearing impairment, and multi-sensory impairment.

Booklet s Information Sheets Checklists

Early year’s providers, schools and other educational settings.

www.natsip.org.uk/

Early Support Children’s Disability Council (CDC)

Booklets, Information Sheets

Slides

Teachers Local Authority and Health SEND professionals

http://councilfordisabledchildren.lrg.uk/resources

Emotional and Mental Health

MindEd is an e-learning portal aimed at supporting all adults working with children and young people. It provides simple, clear guidance on children and young people's mental health, wellbeing and development

Learning portal All adults working with children and young people.

www.minded.org.uk

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The SEND Competencies Development Group

Name Position

Teresa Grady (chair) SEND Service Development Manager (Strategy)

Richard Holland Head of Service – Disability, CYPS

Siobhan McBean Service Development Manager Children’s Disability Service

Anna O’Leary/ Heidi Welch Practice Standards and Quality Assurance Manager

Kim Sumsion Disability Learning and Development Advisor

Kate Knight Children’s Workforce Development Team Manager

Leslie Liston Workforce Development Adviser

Michelle Docking Manager StAR Team

Gavin Morgan Area Senior Educational Psychologist

Marian Cullen County Manager of the Specialist Teaching Team

Caroline Underwood Senior SEN Advisor

Aisling Bannon Service Development Manager: Children’s

Helen Wallis Early Years Workforce Development Manager, CYPS

Simon Adams LLDD Team Manager

Tracy Gurney Head of Service: Learning Disability Partnership

Lorraine Lofting Head of Service: Localities and Partnerships, ECF

Sarah Tabbitt Head of Service: Localities and Partnerships, Hunts

Anita Hewson Group Manager; Disability

Beverley Price National Autism Society (NAS), Cambridgeshire Branch

Mo- Lacey-Eastwood Training Officer, Fostering and Adoption

Naiomi Elton (representative) Consultant in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry CPFT

Vanessa Moore CAMH Workforce Development Manager CPFT

Jane Speak Lead Speech and Language Therapy Service. CCS

Bob Wilson tbc Parent Partnership Service Manager

Pinpoint (parent representative) Pinpoint Parent Support Group

Linda Lloyd Manager of Sensory Service; Children

Jon Soros Countywide Manager Transitions

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