South West News Archive
Below is an archive of older news items.
Click on the headline to find out more!
April 2006
Low Incidence Needs Audit Report
This Audit was commissioned by the DfES as part of its strategy for SEN and Inclusion and was undertaken by the Special Needs Consultancy.
This Audit arose from concerns about the consistency and availability of support across the country to meet these needs, particularly when some children were travelling long distances from their homes to access the support they required.
The report details the methodology of the Audit and makes a number of specific recommendations that will be of interest to all working in this field of endeavour.
Download the report by clicking here.
The NfER evaluation
of the Regional Partnerships
In autumn 2003 the DfES had commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research [NfER] to undertake an evaluation of the SEN regional Partnerships up to December 2005. A previous evaluation [Ainscow et al 2002] had discussed the first stages of the development of the Partnerships.
The present report represents the final stages in the evaluation and was carried out at a time of considerable uncertainty in the life of the Regional Partnerships. This uncertainty had a minimal effect on the highly committed stakeholders and this further emphasised the strength of the networks and collaboration of the facilitators in the regions.
The key findings speak eloquently of the contribution made by the Partnerships towards the government’s agenda for the provision of pupils with special educational needs. Both the report and the summary repay a closer reading.
Two documents are available:
March 2006
Conference : 28 April 2006
9.30am – 3.45pm at the Holiday Inn, Taunton
January 2006
Effective Outreach from Special Schools - A Practical Handbook
This report is now available for download by clicking
here.
December 2005
Outreach: Partnership Working between Special and Mainstream
Schools Conference on 13th January 2006.
Download the
flyer here.
November 2005
ASD Newsletter Number 5 (November 2005) is available by clicking here.
October 2005
Valued
Parents ~ Effective Partners Conference
Developing services for children with special needs
September 2005
Regional Conference Brochure and Booking Form
Conference dates: November 9th and 10th 2005
July 2005
Valued Parents ~ Effective Partners Conference
July Autism Newsletter Available
Annual reports of the Disagreement Resolution Services for the SW region are now available
Making Change Happen – the work of the SEN regional partnerships
Valued Parents ~ Effective Partners Conference
Please read the flyer for the Valued Parents ~ Effective
Partners Conference which will be taking place at Taunton Racecourse on
the 29th September 2005. (Click
here to view)
This conference has been jointly planned by the South West Regional Parent
Partnership Network, the SEN Regional Partnership (SW), The National Autistic
Society and Ups and Downs South West. It promises to be an interesting,
relevant and stimulating day that I am sure you will not want to miss!
Making Change Happen – the work of the SEN regional partnerships
This document and the executive summary provide information on the work of the SEN Regional Partnerships and is a celebration of their achievements.
It demonstrates the uniqueness of the eleven partnerships but is a record of their work from their inception in January 1999 up to December 2004. The report charts the progress made in bringing together regional stakeholders from across the sectors dealing with services for vulnerable children and their carers.
The SEN Regional Partnerships have enjoyed much success and there is much worthy of celebration - but these publications are not just a list of these successes - dip into them to find out more!
The following downloads are available for this report:
Making Change Happen
(Report)
Making Change Happen
(Executive Summary)
June 2005
Parent Partnership Network Dates
SW Regional Parent Partnership Network dates:
Thursday 20/10/2005
Thursday 26/01/2006
The dates for the Regional Steering Group are:
Friday 14/10/2005 : 10.30 – 14.30
Monday 09/01/2006 : 10.30 – 14.30 [with IAG]
Friday 27/01/2006 : 10.30 – 14.30
April 2005
November 2004
Outreach Support for Special
Schools
Future Positive - a guide for services supporting
disabled young people leaving care
August 2004
May 2004
Annual Report
2003 - 2004
Research into Involving Young People
March 2004
Outreach Support from Special Schools
A report dated August 2004 produced for the SEN Regional Partnership considers current practice from across the region in developing outreach support from specialist providers. A self-evaluation framework has also been produced to enable specialist providers to review their arrangements for outreach support.
Future Positive - a guide for services supporting disabled young people
leaving care
The aim of Future Positive is to assist local authorities in the development of effective and joined up services which support young disabled people as they leave the care of 'looked after' children's services, be this a transition to adult services, home to family, residential college, a supported living situation or into independence.
The guide was produced by a multi-agency working group in the south west region and is designed for use as a self-audit tool for service planners, managers, service providers and practitioners across a range of agencies, and for application at both strategic and practice based levels. It is also intended as a useful resource pack providing information about the legislative and public policy framework of services to this group, signposting sources of further information and providing examples of good practice on which service providers can draw.
Download a copy here.
Or order a copy from the DfES Orderline at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/
telephone: 0845 60 222 60
or email: dfes@prolog.uk.com (quoting reference number DfES/0880/2004)
The SEN Regional Partnership (SW) commissioned the University of Exeter to research current practice in involving young people with special needs in the region. The research initially focussed on young people's involvment in disagreements about their SEN provision, but was subsequently extended to include a survey of practice in involving young people with SEN more generally. This included a survey of LEA practice and of mainstream schools in 7 LEAs. You can read the interim and final reports from the University of Exeter.
The Regional Partnerships Action Plan for 2002 - 2003 and Regional Action Plan for Disagreement Resolution, have now been submitted to the DfES for approval.