We held two webinars in June to explore what the special
educational needs and disability reforms mean for organisations and
for children and their families.
Sarah Teather, Children's Minister of State for Children and
Families has announced that families are to be given personal
budgets for special educational needs support (SEN).
The Department for Education (Dfe) is positioning this as the
biggest reform of SEN for 30 years and it plans to also force
education, health and social services to plan support together by
law.
Both the webinars held this week were aimed at anyone involved
in the delivery of the reforms set out in the Green Paper
including:
- Leads in children's social care, SEN, PCTs or clinical
commissioning groups
- Headteachers, governors or SENCOs in schools
- Children's services commissioners
- Parent/carer forums
- Adult services
- Employment and training providers
The first webinar 'Support and aspiration: the SEN and
Disability Green Paper' took place on Wednesday 20 June at
10am.
The session was presented by Nic Crosby from In Control,
together with Claire Lazarus for OPM and Meera Prabhakar from
SQW.
The session enabled participants to gain an overview of the
reforms, clarity about government expectations and an understanding
about how the reforms are being tested and taken forward at a local
level.
Our second webinar 'SEN reforms, what could they mean in
practice and how can we improve outcomes?' took place on
Thursday 21 June at 10am.
This session was presented by Brian Lamb, SEND policy and public
affairs consultant. Brian chaired the Lamb Inquiry in Parental
Confidence in SEN 2008-2010. He is currently chair of Achievement
for All, a new charity with the aim of improving the outcomes of
children with SEN. Achievement for All has responsibility for the
national roll out for the Achievement for All Programme from the
DfE. He is also working with local authorities, school leaders and
parents groups around implementing various aspects of the Green
Paper.
Nic Crosby from In Control also co-presented this session which
explored in more detail what the SEN reforms mean in practice and
how the reforms can be utilised to ensure that outcomes for
children, young people and families are improved and that
'Achievement for All' becomes a reality.
More than 100 people participated in the webinars and we have
received some really positive feedback on the sessions.
A recording of the session on 20 June together with the
PowerPoint presentation, contact details and links to further
information can be found
here.
A recording of the session on 21 June together with the
PowerPoint presentation, contact details and links to further
information can be found here.
The SEN Green Paper proposes significant changes in the way that
local authorities and their partners work with and provide services
for children with SEN and disabilities and their families. The
proposed changes are systemic in their nature and local authorities
and their partners need to begin planning for them now.
Together, OPM, SQW and In Control are perfectly placed to
support you in meeting these challenges, thanks to our national
roles in leading the introduction of new and personalised
approaches to supporting children with SEN and disabilities.
Further information on the support we can offer can be found on
these pages.
To find out more about In Control's groundbreaking work with 45
children's services over the past six years, please see our Children's Programme
pages.
If you would like to find out more about our Children's
Programme, please contact nic.crosby@in-control.org.uk
If you want to know more about our webinars, please contact
communications@in-control.org.uk. We host a minimum of two webinars
per month, most of which are available exclusively to members of
our Stay Connected network. For more information on Stay Connected,
click here.
Last Updated : 12 July 2012. Page Author: Laura Bimpson.
