What we will do

We will support school attendance and reduce the number of suspensions and permanent exclusions. We will have a more consistent approach and commitment to inclusion across all our provision. We will aim to keep children in mainstream provision wherever possible.

Our parents and carers have said:

“We need mainstream schools to be as inclusive as possible. We need more specialist provision, because no child or young person should be kept in mainstream (or out of school altogether) waiting for a place, after it has been agreed that specialist provision is required. All children missing education should be provided with proper alternative provision within 15 days of being out of school”.

Our actions to deliver this are to:

• review and redesign SEND Networks (SEND Forum) to provide opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and professional development with broad engagement across education, health and care partners;
• develop a workforce plan to empower, upskill and enable practitioners to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND ensuring they have the necessary skills;
• carry out a full review of the outreach offer and agree a way forward including future pilots, using the outputs of successful reviews;
• develop an education neglect policy to be clear about how we support children and young people who are not attending or accessing school and to ensure they are on top of the list of quality control;
• develop an education inclusion policy to ensure effective implementation and delivery;
• reduce suspensions and permanent exclusions for those children with EHCPs or SEND support and ensure that they receive a full review of where the short falls are related to this.

What will be different

Children will receive the right support from their school with less need for an education and health needs assessment. Fewer children in BCP will be suspended, excluded or need alternative services.

More children are supported to remain in mainstream school receiving ongoing support from the knowledgeable, trained and skilled workforce working with empathy towards needs of children and young people.

Progress to date

We have agreed to increase the funding available for outreach provision to better support children’s ability to stay in their mainstream settings. We improved information sharing across the partnership so we can better understand need. BCP Council’s new inclusion fund has been developed with schools and parent and carer groups to identify improvement opportunities.

Return to the How we are improving SEND services page.