Achievement for All and
other recent
developments on SEND
Brian Lamb
Outcomes
2
“Educational
Achivement
for Children
with SEN is
too low and
the gap with
their peers
too wide”




Lamb Inquiry

Parents wanted success for their children in
a wide range of outcomes:
educational, emotional, social, behavioural.
Social outcomes were mentioned in 44% of
parents’ responses.
39% of parents said that their child’s
school or early years setting had not
discussed outcomes with them.
Performance of children with SEN falls far
below non SEN Peers
Parental Involvement
Lamb
InquiryEvaluation of
Parental
Involvement
Projects.
“Fundamental to success was the
commitment of LAs to true, not tokenistic or
paternalistic parental engagement and a
clear aim to improve confidence and work
collaboratively with parents.”
“the specific focus was less important than
the manner in which it was
carried out, including the commitment of
the LA and its engagement
with parents.”
Pilot Programme
454 schools in England Across 10 Local Authorities




Primary (85%)
Secondary
Special schools
Pupil Referral Units
4
Pilot results in 454 schools





37% of SEND pupils achieved or exceeded expected
levels of progress in English compared to ALL pupils
nationally
42% of SEND pupils achieved or exceeded expected
levels of progress in Maths compared to all pupils
nationally
10% drop in persistent absenteeism
36% increase in number of schools reporting that
they now have excellent relationships with parents
clear improvement in pupils’ behaviour, along with
reductions in bullying
National Evaluation




Many schools reported an increased awareness of and
focus on SEND and inclusion issues
Many schools reported a greater emphasis on
understanding and addressing pupils’ wider needs.
In many schools teachers began to take a more active
role in the assessment and monitoring of pupils with
SEND in their classrooms.
In many schools, continuing professional development
(CPD) associated with Achievement for All, particularly
around the structured conversations were applied more
widely in day‐to‐day interactions with staff and
non‐Achievement for All parents.
School Level
“In terms of the strategic leadership of
the school …we meet with our School
Improvement Partner termly and she
looks at pupil progress data ... we look
at the emerging trends, in terms of each
year group to see whether there’s any
patterns or under achievement. We talk
to the teachers about what the priorities
have been, who the target groups are
and why and …we’ll talk about
individual children, their performance,
what are the potential barriers for
learning for individual children …there
are systems in place that never used to
be in place before.” (School )
7
Structured conversations with parents




Used positive experience of
parents who had attended to
try and engage parents who
had not attended
Picked parents up
School staff made home visit
Held meetings at most
convenient time for parents
8
Not just another initiative
‘this one we can tailor very
specifically, so we’re looking at it in a
very different light. And for once we
actually felt this is something we can
see will make a difference with the
children and we’re not doing it just
because we are told this is what we
have to do’
(School)
9
Achievement for All Extended
10


Success of AfA pilot framework resulted in
Department for Education extending it to all schools
in England announced in the Green Paper
To align it with SEND green paper (DfE, 2011)
Achievement for All widened to cover 20% special
educational needs and disabled learners and
vulnerable learners
4 Elements




Element 1 Leadership: to ensure schools maintain a sharp focus on
the achievement, access and aspirations of the 20% vulnerable
learners and those with SEND.
Element 2 High quality teaching and learning: leading to
improved progress for all pupils (assessment and target setting).
Element 3 Structured conversations with parents/carers: to
improve parents’/carers’ engagement with school and their
involvement in their child’s learning and achievement.
Element 4 Wider outcomes: to support the participation, enjoyment
and achievement of children in all elements of school life.
The Journey for Schools-Core
programme elements
School
Registers
AfA
Achievement
Coach
allocated
School
Champion
appointed
Needs
analysis
with focus
on SEND
and
vulnerable
pupils
The Journey for Schools-elements
tailored to each school
Develop
Staff
Expand AfA
to all pupils
Structured
conversations
Evaluate
outcomes
Develop
Teaching and
Learning
Increase
opportunities
for target
children
Models of LA engagement



Basic: LA officers and Achievement for All -information given regarding schools
registered and possible secondment of Achievement Coaches. LAs are agreeable for
us to send information to their schools and give us access to meetings and
conferences, especially HT and SENCO conferences
Standard: LA officers and Achievement for All -information given regarding schools
registered and possible secondment of Achievement Coaches. LAs recommend
Achievement for All to schools but do not give schools financial support to register
nor release LA staff as coaches
Enhanced: The LA and Achievement for All 3As- work together to incorporate
Achievement for All into LA suite of intervention programmes aimed at narrowing the
gap or schools causing concern, etc. LA makes a financial contribution to schools to
support registration and release LA staff to be trained and work as Achievement
Coaches – effectively building AFA into the SI system for the LA.
Value for money?




Exclusions: the cost of one
excluded child is in the
region of £14,664pa
Persistent absence: dealing
with each absentee cost is
in the region of £1,696pa
Specialised interventions:
intervention costs between
£1,000 and £3,000pa
Disruption: costs of
supporting a disruptive
pupil in school are around
£6000pa
Next Steps







Roll out to all schools in England
Quality Mark and Quality Lead Status – OFSTED
National College – Leadership modules
Regional Surgeries
National Events
Increased working in partnership with Trusts, LA’s,
SEN specialists, NASEN, CDC
Policy impact – Green Paper / DoH / Trusts /
Schools
OFSTED Achievement of pupils at the school
17
When evaluating the achievement of pupils, inspectors
consider:
 how well disabled pupils and those who have special
educational needs have achieved since joining the
school
 how well gaps are narrowing between the
performance of different groups of pupils in the
school and compared to all pupils nationally
 how well pupils make progress relative to their
starting points.
Personal Budgets
Sarah
Teather
17th May
Select
Committee

“A statutory duty that we are putting in
place is the statutory duty to provide a
personal budget, and that entitlement
to a personal budget will put the bite
on the system, meaning that people
have to budget for it…..the legal
entitlement to a personal budgetprovides the bite in a different way, on
the health service, so that the health
service cannot avoid the issue.”
Personalisation and Personal Budgets?
19
The Special Educational Needs (Direct Payments) (Pilot Scheme) Order 2011has now been passed.

New section 532A creates a power for a local authority in England to make a direct payment
for the purposes of securing goods and services in respect of a person for whom they maintain
a statement of SEN; or a young person who is subject to a learning difficulty assessment by the
authority. New section 532A(3) provides that direct payments can only be made in
accordance with a pilot scheme made under section 532B.

New section 532B gives the Secretary of State the power to make pilot schemes by order,
and stipulates certain matters that must be included in any pilot scheme.. Subsections (3) to (6)
set out what the pilot scheme must make provision about, including who direct payments can
be made to, how the amounts are to be calculated, and arrangements for monitoring the
scheme. A pilot scheme may also include such other provision as the Secretary of State thinks
appropriate. Subsections (7) to (10) provide that a pilot scheme may stipulate that goods and
services purchased by a direct payment can be treated as provided or arranged by a local
authority in pursuance of their relevant statutory duties, which are listed in subsection (9).

New section 532C requires that an order creating a pilot scheme must set out the local
authorities that will take part in the scheme and how long it will last. The duration of an initial
scheme is limited to a maximum of two years, but a scheme can be extended by order so long
as it is not extended to continue past the date which is four years from the date this Act
received Royal Assent.
Direct Payments
20



The pilot scheme allows direct payments to be made to parents of a beneficiary
who has not attained the age of 16 and a beneficiary who has attained the age of
16 and who has capacity to consent to the making of direct payments to them.
Payments may also be made to a nominee or a representative to enable parents or
young people (aged over 16) who may not otherwise be able to or wish to do so to
have the opportunity of direct payments.
The scheme safeguards the use of public funds through a requirement for local
authorities to consider, before agreeing any individual direct payment, whether the
payment is compatible with the local authority’s efficient use of its resources and
that it will not have an adverse impact on services for other children and young
people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
The scheme will require local authorities to monitor the use of direct payments and,
as a minimum, undertake a review within three months of the first payment being
made and at the end of the first year of their use by an individual and thereafter
at appropriate intervals. The pilot scheme will operate for two years.
21
For further info on Achievement for All
www.afa3as.org.uk
To contact me [email protected]