Agenda item

Exclusions/Pupil Referral Units Strategy Update

 

Report by Mary Jarrett,

Head of Inclusion.                                                      9.50 a.m.                                                                      (20 mins approx.)

 

Recommendation:-  To receive the report and note the contents.

Minutes:

Mary Jarrett, Head of Inclusion, presented an update on SEMH developments for 2020.

 

The SEMH Strategy had been finalised in September, 2019, and had 6 priorities:-

 

-          Sufficiency – develop local education provision that responds to need – this will include flexible and specialist provision

 

-          Seamless pathways – ensure that pathways to support are connected and aligned and develop a clear behaviour pathway that includes responses to attachment and trauma

 

-          Partnerships – develop and sustain robust inclusion partnerships that enable schools to meet need through a collective approach to responding to the needs of individual children

 

-          Evidence-Based Approaches – ensure that the local authority offer (from Early Help and Inclusion Services) responds to need and is underpinned by evidence-based approaches and aligned with clear pathways

 

-          Workforce – develop a robust training and support offer, enabling professionals to feel confident in responding to the needs of children and young people with SEMH needs

 

-          Outcomes Focused and Value for Money – ensure that all activity can demonstrate a clear outcome and value for money

 

In order to progress the above, 3 pieces of work had been identified which would take place during the remainder of the 2019/20 academic year.  These were:-

 

-          Creation of small grants to ‘seed fund’ secondary schools to support the development of Alternative Provision in Rotherham.  The monies were calculated according to pupil numbers and deprivation indices.  These would be supported by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between secondary schools and the Local Authority.  The SLA would support schools to work together and clarify the use of Aspire as Alternative Provision

 

-          Review of Pupil Referral Units in Rotherham and use of Alternative Provision in the Borough.  This work would be subject to competitive tender bids by the end of January

 

-          Workforce development project.  The Local Authority had commissioned Sara Graham from Maltby Academy Trust via ROSIS to evaluate the current workforce offer in relation to SEN and to develop evidence based programme of CPD for education staff.

 

Attention was also drawn to:-

 

·           The Exclusions Team had been subject to a restructure and now formed part of Access to Education managed by Dean Fenton.  The Team’s role and remit had changed significantly looking at the Local Authority’s role in supporting/challenging schools and ensuring everyone was working within the framework

 

·           The Primary Outreach Team would be going into primary schools looking at the graduated response in relation to SEM and the specific needs of the children involved which would feed into the work of Sara Graham. It was hoped to open a new SEN provision by the Easter Term, based at Thrybergh Primary School, to provide turn round provision for children and young people that needed a break from mainstream education with the aim of them returning

 

·           A report would be submitted to the Forum when the review of the PRU and Alternative Provision was undertaken.  The external consultant would be ask to undertake a specific piece of work analysing numbers/trends/data to inform Rotherham’s sufficiency needs

 

Agreed:-  That the update be noted.

Supporting documents: