Good Practice Case Study

SEND

Effective Practice in the Use of Data by Local Authorities

Background

This case study demonstrates:

• How a systematic and inclusive approach to assessment, data analysis and provision management at local authority level can be used to challenge, support and improve schools’ practice and expectations in relation to pupils with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities)
• How a large county is moving towards a non-categorical approach to securing the entitlement, common to all pupils including those with SEND to make good progress.

It also exemplifies the following Key Principles:

• High expectations are key to securing good progress;
• Accurate assessment is essential to securing and measuring pupil progress;
• Age and prior attainment are the starting points for developing expectations of pupil progress.

Local Authority Context

Hertfordshire is a large county, which borders London to the north and covers 643 square miles, having a population of over one million people, making it the most densely populated shire county in the East of England.  Approximately 260,000 of the county’s population are aged between 0 and 19 years. The 2006 pupil annual school census data indicates that 17% of pupils in Hertfordshire schools are from minority ethnic background heritage.  Between 800 and 1000 Traveller children of school age are identified each year.   16.1% (19.5% nationally) of primary pupils are defined as having SEN and 15.7% (19.8% nationally) in secondary schools.

There are 491 private or voluntary early years settings and there are six children’s centres.  The county has 15 nursery schools, 407 primary schools, six middle schools, 76 secondary schools, 25 community special schools and eight Pupil Referral Units.  Post-16 education is provided by four general further education colleges, 76 sixth forms and 25 work-based learning providers.

Hertfordshire was one of the first authorities in England to integrate council education and social care services for children and young people to form the Children, Schools and Families directorate. The Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership was established in 2002. Now known as the Hertfordshire Children’s Trust Partnership, membership includes key statutory and voluntary agencies across the county. The Trust Board, chaired by the Lead Member for children’s services, was established in April 2006. The board governs the Trust and inter-agency cooperation arrangements for delivery of children’s services in line with the five Every Child Matters outcomes.

Approach

Hertfordshire LA has, for 3 years, been developing a systematic and rigorous county-wide approach to dynamic provision management for inclusive learning and teaching:

• involving everyone in the school
• mapping what is available at school level, on an ‘additional or different’ basis within Waves 2 and 3
• supporting schools to evaluate the impact from different aspects of that provision within each school
• being dynamic and adjusting provision in the light of pupil progress
• moving away from the traditional labels of SEND to looking at prior attainment, learning patterns and learning profiles.

The LA system has developed, through collaboration between different LA teams, initially on the basis of two National Strategies publications:

• ‘Leading on Inclusion'
• ‘Maximising Progress to ensure the attainment of pupils with SEN’ [INSERT LINK]

and is being used to structure and enhance collaboration between different LA teams e.g. the Achievement and Inclusion (Schools SEND/G&T) Team, the Primary and Secondary School Effectiveness Teams, Specialist Advisory Service and the Multi-Agency Psychology Service. Recently it has been used to support increased delegation of funding to schools across the county.

Within this approach, three aspects of inclusive provision are systematically addressed, with a view to securing ongoing improvement in each aspect – i.e. the:

• Presence
• Participation
• Achievement

of vulnerable groups – including those with SEND and Gifted & Talented pupils.

Of particular interest is the way that these three aspects have been integrated into the work of School Improvement Partners (SIPs) working with mainstream schools at primary and secondary phase, within the annual school improvement cycle.  This has been done as follows:

Once Hertfordshire  had linked each step with an element of the ‘Leading on Inclusion’ process model, they were then able to begin to identify in more detail what advisers and consultants needed to focus upon in order to offer evidence-based challenge and support to schools at each point, in relation to a wide range of vulnerable pupils (including those identified as Gifted & Talented – who are also vulnerable to underachievement within under-personalised provision):

From this point, the LA team have gone on to develop, through action research with the LA SIPs, Consultants, and school colleagues a list of all the different sources of evidence that can be used by schools LA colleagues to inform their evaluation work each stage of the process:

At school level within Hertfordshire, this process leads to a three tier categorisation of provision which moves beyond the SEN Framework ‘categories of need’ to consider whole, complex individuals (and the provision made for them) as follows:

A similar presentation provision mapping format has also been used to communicate with schools, parents and others, the provision available from the Achievement and Inclusion (SEND/G&T) Team.

The LA provision management approach has now (with approximately 300 schools involved) become a key tool in the LA’s National Strategy Support programmes including:

• PNS - TAP (The Achievement Programme) and ISP (Improving Schools Programme)
• SNS - Secondary School Support Programme
• Schools Causing Concern programme

In addition:

• some SEN clusters within the districts are developing cluster approaches and cluster provision maps
• it has become a key theme within county leadership courses
• it is a central part of new devolved SEN funding arrangements.

Outcomes

The most recent (2008) APA report for the LA says:
“Hertfordshire County Council provides a service that consistently delivers above minimum requirements for children and young people. It demonstrates innovative practice and is increasingly cost effective while offering significant contribution to wider outcomes for the community. Services are making a discernible difference to the lives of most children and young people and are narrowing the gap in terms of the outcomes for those who are the most vulnerable.”
                             
Major strengths
�� Standards and achievement from the youngest children to those aged 16 are above those of similar councils and the national average.
�� The work of school improvement partners and the good council support for schools causing concern. The proportion of schools in a category of concern is below that of both similar councils and the national figure.
�� Effective key stage learning and educational support centres has led to improved outcomes for the most vulnerable children and young people.

Relevant APA grades:
Overall effectiveness of children’s services 3
Enjoying and achieving 3
Capacity to improve, including the management of services for children and young people 3
Inspectors make judgements based on the following scale:
4 = outstanding/excellent; 3 = good; 2= adequate; 1= inadequate

Implications

The next steps planned by Hertfordshire LA include to:

• continue refinement of  provision mapping cycle,  with an increased emphasis upon pupil progress using the new national data from the Progression Guidance Project and Herts own historical data based upon age and prior attainment
• continue to use the approach more widely with schools through National Strategy programmes e.g. National Challenge and  ISP schools,
• include in LA guidance for 1 to 1 Tuition
• collate guidance (with case studies) and issue to all schools – through a group that includes the LA’s identified ‘Leading SENCos’ and Expert G&T practitioners
• relate the county guidance to the Audit Commission/National Strategies’ VfM Tool [INSERT LINK]

Other LAs who are not at this point of development may wish to consider developing some aspects of the Hertfordshire approach.  Other LAs and schools nationally are already using the Herts provision mapping format for schools.

Further Information

Contact email address: margaret.davies-mckeon@hertscc.gov.uk

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