Nick Bye: Helping SEND kids is everyone's business

The Every Pair Tells a Story gathering outside our Town Hall & numerous Town Halls up & down the country last Monday morning highlighted once again how more needs to be done for children with special educational needs & disabilities (SEND).

These events were organised by the SEND Sanctuary UK with each pair of shoes left outside the Town Hall representing a young person who may be missing out on opportunities due to the lack of support.

In Torquay it was a good hearted gathering & I was pleased to spend an hour or more in conversation with eight or ten of our local Mums & a couple of youngsters both of whom seemed to be doing well at their particular school.

As is so often the case, when you have the opportunity to meet & talk "face to face" people relax & open up a bit more, in contrast to the Mr (or even Mrs) Angry email exchanges which rarely bring out the best in anyone. I was able to note various issues especially in our new provision for children who are EOTAS (educated other than at school) often due to medical conditions or anxiety which I can raise with the relevant Officer.

The good news is nearly half the children who were EOTAS before we made these changes have been supported back into school or some other appropriate educational setting. Additionally our surveys show the majority of those who are still EOTAS, 70% of circa 37 children are now engaging with the new provision. For the first time progress is being properly monitored so we can judge the effectiveness of the new arrangements.

Also for the first time for some years we are reviewing our provision within Torbay for youngsters with SEND. Our special school system has basically stayed the same for twenty years or more yet the demand for places has changed.

We have continued to support the expansion of Mayfield School. The Mayfield College for older children is in the process of moving to the New Parkfield/My Place building & I am absolutely delighted to report the necessary changes to the premises are proceeding on time & on budget.

I am equally delighted Combe Pafford School in Torquay is now launching a consultation to create provision for youngsters with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) from next year. We know we have four times as many youngsters in Torbay with ASC compared to those with moderate learning difficulties (Combe Pafford's current designation) yet until now there has been no dedicated provision within Torbay.

Torbay Council is also supporting improvements to school premises to make them more suitable for children with SEND. The first phase of this is nearly complete & I was very pleased to visit Ilsham Primary School with my Wellswood colleague Hazel Foster to see how the money is being spent there. Numerous quiet corners & private learning spaces have been ingeniously created in what is quite a small school building.

I very much hope it will be possible to visit the new "SEND BLOCK" (I also hope they can come up with a better name) at Paignton Academy which has been a partnership project between the Thinking Schools Academy Trust & Torbay Council. The purpose of this project is to provide support for youngsters within a mainstream school setting, very much in line with the government's agenda.

It's early days for our SEND "Locality Model Pilot" in the Bay's primary schools. All but two of our primaries signed up to this initiative which is intended to focus on speech, language & communication, the basis of all learning. I am very much hoping to visit South Gloucestershire in December to see for myself how a "locality model" works in practice. The idea is individual schools have access to pooled resources so as to provide early help for pupils without having to rely upon an EHCP., an education, health & care plan. The introduction of these by the previous government was doubtless well intentioned but the numbers have escalated beyond what was envisaged; the cost to councils is simply unaffordable & they appear to often become a source of friction between schools, councils & families.

It's not even clear what the outcomes for children are in some cases. Torbay has one of the highest rates of EHCPs in the whole of the country but the verdict of our Ofsted SEND Area Inspection earlier in the year was poor, with so many youngsters ending up out of school or making less progress than similar children elsewhere. 

We have been expecting proposals for reform from government this Autumn but I understand this has now been postponed until the New Year. My personal view is change to the SEND system is very definitely needed, should be based on good practice & positive outcomes for children & young people.

I am looking forward to attending the SEND Pledge Engagement event later in the month, the purpose of which is to embed this pledge into every day practice. After our previous equally disappointing Ofsted inspection a few years back there was a huge amount of activity in terms of new plans & policies. But sadly it didn't make much of a difference in terms of outcomes for children. Our new SEND Local Area Improvement Partnership Board (SLAIP for short, so more alphabet language for Yours Truly to remember) is determined to focus on what will really make a difference.

SEND should be everyone's business including our voluntary & community organisations. So I am really pleased to report, fingers crossed, the money has been found to restart three of the programmes provided by Play Torbay for youngsters with SEND or who are Elected Home Educated. 

Anyone who heard their presentation at the Powered by Youth event in September would have been impressed by how much these activities provided by Play Torbay were valued by youngsters, so many thanks to colleagues in the Town Hall for their support. More news to follow.

Finally, if you would like to do something tangible then please drop off any packs of crayons you can get your hands on (legally) as we would like to provide these for our cared for & special children at one of our brilliant big events in the run up to Christmas. Scour the shops, support the high streets & please do YOUR bit for some of our youngsters!

Please leave any packs of crayons at the Reception, Torquay Town Hall.