SEND Early Intervention Briefing Note
Key Messages
1) Triaging of new requests for special school outreach support underway.
2) Moving from design to implementation for Enhanced Pathways and provision enhancements in secondary schools.
3) Settings participating on the Relational Schools Programme begin circle facilitation training this month.
4) Progress and appointment of Behaviour Inclusion Officers. Special School In-reach/Outreach
There have been 48 referrals for outreach and in-reach support with most of these triaged and confirmed, and support well underway.
Capacity for support will be refreshed in the New Year with more packages being made available for all mainstream schools to access countywide. Whether it’s support around leadership and culture, keyworker development and training, or an in-reach visit to a specialist school, the support provided will aim to develop professional knowledge and confidence.
The SEND Strategic Development and Improvement team are looking to extend this project beyond the initially planned one year pilot and will be working with specialist schools to create an action plan moving forward. Enhanced Pathways The 3 ‘phase one’ secondary school enhanced pathways (three-year, teacher led, bespoke step-aside provision) are progressing with recruitment, curriculum, and delivery.
Three new grants have been received from ‘phase two’ eligible secondary schools. These are being scrutinised against the grant award criteria, to be presented to the sub-group next week. The final grants will be submitted before the end of term. For those schools already operational in their enhancements, review of the ‘critical success factors’ have been booked in for the start of the spring term.
In coproduction with schools and the SEND teams, a quality assurance audit tool is being designed to support impact measurement. The Relational Schools Programme Cohort 1 baseline assessments are now in place. Participants on the Leadership Programme have now spent three full days together building their knowledge and understanding of what relational and restorative practice is to then apply this learning in their personal practice and strategic thinking. The next leadership session is on 25th January where colleagues will look at how being trauma-informed enhances relational and restorative practice.
Cohort 1 settings are now fully trained in circle facilitation. Trauma-Informed Relational Practice (TIRP) online modules will start for Cohort 1 in the Spring Term. After accessing each module, staff on the ground will utilise circles to engage in practice discussions and look at the application of their learning.
Cohort 2 (comprising of 2 secondary, 10 primary schools and 5 school-system representatives) starts on Tuesday 12th March. Behaviour Inclusion Officers Through the grant we are expanding the Behaviour Inclusion Team. Danielle Reilly has been appointed as Senior Behaviour Inclusion Officer (BIO). The second round of recruitment for Behaviour Inclusion Officers is taking place on 28/11/23. We have one appointee starting in January 2024.
The aims of this role are:
• Provide specialist advice and support to school staff and OCC teams working with children and young people who present with challenging behaviour in education.
• Work with schools and Oxfordshire County Council staff to reduce the risk of suspension and exclusion for individual children. Whilst this team is not yet fully formed, Danielle continues to provide immediate response to risk of PEX, where the school are already working in conjunction with Exclusion and Reintegration Officer or EHCP casework Officer. Referral routes are still to be finalised and will be confirmed in due course.