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Specialist Teaching Service

Service Specification

September 2012

Contents:

Introduction and contextPurpose of the service 2Key drivers 3Values of the service 3Objectives of the service 4Standards 5Organisation and staffing 5

Working practicesDelivery model 6Information sharing and signposting 6Whole setting/school systemic work 6Capacity building and enskilling the children’s workforce 6Targeted and specialist interventions 6Process for requests for professional support and involvement 7Criteria for intervention 7Criteria for ceasing STS involvement 8

Service performance managementMonitoring and evaluation 8Management and leadership 8Links with other professionals/agencies 9

Review of service specification 10

Appendices

1. STS impact measures 112. Process checklist 123. Physical and sensory criteria for intervention 154. Abbreviations 17

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1. Introduction and Context

Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001) acknowledges that children have needs that may fall into at least one of four areas defined as:

Cognition and Learning Communication and Interaction Physical and Sensory Social, Emotional and Behaviour

The Specialist Teaching Service works to ensure the best possible outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) 0–19/24 by working collaboratively with professionals in statutory and non statutory organisations. At a strategic level this work is in relation to children and young people with SEND from 0-24, whilst operational services are provided for children and young people aged 0-19.

1.1 Purpose of Service

The Specialist Teaching Service (STS) works to champion inclusive education, to enable children and young people to achieve the best possible outcomes and to improve attainment for children and young people with SENDTogether with the Special Schools who manage the Service through an SLA with the Local Authority, the STS provides specialist professional leadership to influence the strategic direction and inform the development of policy, practice and procedures at a county and regional and national level in relation to children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, in order to support Kent in discharging its statutory duties.

The Service:

Deploys staff on the basis of ongoing proactive needs analysis to provide high quality, highly specialist advice information, intervention and support for children and young people with SEND across a range of educational settings to ensure inclusive practice at an individual, group or systemic level.

Works to support integrated processes, including Early Support, County Panel and Single Point of Access.

Works to promote the independence, resilience and well being of children and young people with SEND.

Supports integrated service delivery for children and young people 0-19/24 with SEND in collaboration with Special Schools and other locality special provision.

Works to ensure full access to the learning environment, curriculum and information for children and young people with SEND, challenging inequalities in line with the Equality Act (2010).

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1.2 Key Drivers

The key drivers are:

National Disability Discrimination Act (Special Educational Needs and Disability Act) 2001 Aiming High for Disabled Children; Better Support for Families 2007 Children Act 2004 Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 Every Disabled Child Matters 2006 Early Support 2002 Autism Act 2009 Lamb Report 2009 Bercow Report 2008 Equality Act 2010 and the Auxiliary Aids Amendment 2011 Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and

Disability [Green Paper on Special Educational Needs and Disability]

Local Kent’s Children and Young People’s Plan Kent’s Early Support Protocols and Practices Kent’s Multi Agency Strategy for Disabled Children Joint Commissioning Framework for children and young people with Communication

and Interaction Needs. Kent's SEN Strategy Kent's Early Intervention and Preventative Strategy County policies on:

Dyslexia Autism Spectrum Disorder Speech Language and Communication Needs

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

1.3 Values of the Service

We will promote equality of opportunity. We have high expectations of children and young people. We will be child and family focused. We will ensure increasing opportunities for children and young people in learning

and life choices. We will act in the best interests of the child and family. We will work with other professionals to ensure a holistic approach. We will seek to continually improve service quality and outcomes/impact. We will support the continuum of provision. We will champion the interests of children and young people with learning difficulties

and/or disabilities.

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1.4 Objectives of the Service

The Service priorities are: Taking a collective response Raising awareness Working collaboratively Building on quality first teaching Working to clear outcome and impact criteria (Appendix 1) Supporting continual development of staff in schools and settings of

children and young people with SEND Enabling settings to take ownership of the needs of children and young

people with SEND

The Service objectives are to:

Support the development and implementation of policies and approaches to enable inclusive practice.

Promote the achievements of children and young people with complex SEND. Narrow the Special Educational Needs (SEN)/non SEN progress and attainment

gaps. Support workforce development in relation to SEND. Deliver training through a multi-agency framework in relation to learning difficulties

and/or disabilities to ensure the early identification of children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

Build the confidence and capacity of Children’s Centres and educational settings to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

Provide planned interventions based on an assessment of need, particularly to enable children and young people with SEND to access the curriculum.

Provide intervention to young children with complex needs and children and young people with profound, severe and/or complex needs aged 0–19.

Provide timely interventions to children and young people with SEND e.g. at the point of diagnosis and at points of transition.

Monitor and track progress and the impact of interventions. Support, challenge and intervene in settings and schools. Work in collaboration with parents/carers. Involve children and young people and their families in the planning, delivery and

evaluation of STS interventions. Support, encourage and actively consider the voice of the parent/carer and the voice

of the child.

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1.5 Standards

Specialist staff are qualified1 and experienced in one or more relevant areas of special educational need and/or disability. They maintain knowledge of and are able to support national initiatives in relation to the education of children and young people with SEND. Specialist staff maintain current and relevant professional knowledge relating to work with children and young people with SEND in educational settings.

Specialist staff work to:

National Quality Standards for SEN Support and Outreach Services National Standards for SEN Specialists National Standards for Educational Improvement Professionals Specialist Teaching Service standards Early Support information sharing protocols

1.6 Organisation and Staffing

The management of the Service has been devolved, through a Service Level Agreement to 12 "lead" Special Schools, one for each District. The special school Headteacher has overall accountability for the work of the team. Each multi skilled District team is led by a District Coordinator, who also has a professional leadership responsibility across the County for a specific need type. In addition a County Professional Lead for Sensory Impairment and two County Coordinators [one for HI and one for VI] provide professional leadership for sensory staff. This is necessitated by the fact that there are no maintained special schools for Sensory Impairment in Kent.

The 12 District Co-ordinators [together with the County Coordinators for HI and VI for Sensory Impairment specialist teachers] provide management and specialist leadership to:

12.1 specialist teachers for SEND in Early Years 10.9 specialist teachers for cognition and learning 11.6 specialist teachers for communication and interaction 11.5 specialist teachers for social, emotional and behavioural difficulties 5.9 specialist teachers for physical impairment 10.6 specialist teachers for hearing impairment 7.6 specialist teachers for visual impairment 0.9 specialist teachers for multi sensory impairment

Each district team will have named professionals for early years, cognition and learning, communication and interaction, and behaviour. Physical and Sensory professionals are also allocated to a district team but will almost always work across two districts.

In addition, 5 part time Early Years Visual Impairment Play Specialists work alongside the specialist teachers for VI. Two further VI specialists provide a county wide technical and in

1 Teaching staff to post graduate or M level

school support service. Also attached to the teams are 4 part time MSI interveners who work across Kent

2. Working Practices

2.1 Delivery Model

STS staff are committed to early intervention and offer a range of support options which may include:

Information sharing and signposting Whole setting/school systemic work Capacity building and enskilling professionals Targeted and specialist interventions

2.2 Information sharing and signposting

The STS will provide specialist information on appropriate strategies for children and young people with SEND

2.3 Whole setting/school systemic work

It is expected that the educational settings will provide a graduated response to the children and young people’s needs. STS will provide support to settings/schools to employ specialist strategies to enable the child/young person’s progress to be recorded within an Individual Education Plan (IEP), Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP), Pastoral Support Plan (PSP), Health Care Plan (HCP) or Personal Education Plan (PEP) in the case of children in public care.

2.4 Capacity building and enskilling the children’s workforce Capacity building and enskilling the children’s workforce will be focused on enabling staff to meet a special educational need or deliver a specific intervention or strategy. These may be bespoke activities for an individual setting or school additional to those continuing professional development opportunities offered as a district, area or county level. Training will be planned in advance and will be evaluated to record impact on staff confidence and skill and the progress and attainment of children and young people.

2.5 Targeted and specialist interventions

Professional support and interventions may include support in working with parents, liaison with other professionals, additional specialist assessments and demonstration of specialist strategies to staff directly working with the children and young people, support in implementing advice from other professionals within curriculum delivery, attendance at Team Around the Child meeting, support in implementing advice within a statement of SEN and attendance at annual review or transition review.

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Provision of specific highly specialist advice on the children or young people’s learning needs, requirements for curriculum access and/or differentiation, teaching strategies, resources, setting of appropriate targets within IEP/IBP/PSP, advice on transition (where appropriate). Further information to be found in Appendix 2 Stage 2- Interventions

For some individuals, mainly with physical and sensory impairments, direct support may be part of the intervention. This could include direct teaching of specific skills such as Braille, AAC, BSL or equivalent over a longer period of time. The frequency and duration of such interventions will depend on severity of impairment, monitoring will take place annually. Further information to be found in Appendix 3

2.6 Process for requests for professional support and involvement

Requests for intervention in relation to individual children and young people will mainly be routed through the Local Inclusion Forum Team Meeting.

In addition some interventions may come about through requests from: Early Support Single Point of Access

Health Consultants/Paediatricians County Panel Improvement Partner for Setting, School, Special School or Short Stay

School Communication and Interaction Steering Group Physical Disability Steering Group In Year Fair Access

Wherever practical, requests for intervention will be responded to sequentially. The critical or emergency nature of some requests may necessitate prioritisation.

Informed parental agreement is required before a request for intervention in relation to an individual or group interventions for children and young people can be accepted.

2.7 Criteria for Intervention

Two or more of the following criteria must be met:

The child or young person is receiving intervention at Early Years/School Action Plus, has a Statement of SEN, or if a younger child, their needs are considered to be profound, severe or complex.

To enable the child or young person to remain within existing provision or to access a setting, monitoring and review processes within the education placement indicate

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that needs are not being fully met within current planning and provision arrangements.

The child or young person’s educational placement or home/care setting requires different or additional intervention.

Needs have been clearly identified that require intensive and ongoing multi-agency intervention and planning from one or more statutory agencies.

There is a significant medically identified impairment or disability impacting on the child or young person’s development and/or access to the curriculum.

The child or young person is not accessing/engaging with the learning environment and the strategies used have had limited impact.

2.8 Criteria for ceasing STS involvement

One or more of the following: Intervention as planned has been completed and evaluated The child or young

person is better equipped to be able to access and engage with the curriculum independently as a result of advice and support being embedded within the setting school context..

Delivery of further intervention is agreed through a multi-professional meeting (e.g. Team Around Child or Annual Review) to be more appropriately delivered by another professional.

The criteria for intervention is no longer met. The child or young person is making progress in line with the plan for intervention. The child or young person (of school age) moves out of Kent maintained school. The young person reaches the end of statutory school age or 16-19 year olds reach

the end of education in a maintained school.

Process checklist to assist with planning, undertaking and evaluating interventions ca be found in Appendix 2.

3. Service Performance Management

3.1 Monitoring and Evaluation

The impact of the service delivery will be measured through an agreed framework. The LIFT executive will receive quantitative information from Management Information and qualitative information from the DISCO. Quarterly reports will be required by the County Strategic Group, chaired by Patrick Leeson.A centrally managed Monitoring and Quality Assurance post will also support the process.

3.2 Management and Leadership

Special School headteachers, the District Co-ordinators and the County Coordinators for HI and VI will ensure that all STS staff receive regular supervision and performance management in line with relevant Terms & Conditions.

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Headteachers, the County Lead for Sensory Impairment, the County Coordinators for HI and VI, and the DISCOs with their professional leadership responsibilities will ensure that all service staff have a high level of skills in their area of specialism.

Headteachers, the County Lead for Sensory Impairment, the County Coordinators for HI and VI, and the DISCOs will ensure that STS staff have planned and undertaken continuous professional development, including safeguarding.

Headteachers and DISCOs will ensure that risk assessments are undertaken regarding working practices.

Headteachers, supported by District Co-ordinators, and the County Professional Lead for Sensory Impairment will recruit, induct and deploy STS staff.

District Co-ordinators will provide supervision and professional support to Specialist staff. .

Headteachers will ensure day to day line management tasks are undertaken. Headteachers will ensure performance management processes inform pay

progression processes.

3.3 Links with other professionals/agencies

STS senior staff lead and/or contribute to a range of locality, county, regional and national groups which provide a wider forum for the development of initiatives, guidance and best practice.

There are robust links with other professionals and partner agencies through working as part of integrated locality teams around children and young people, settings and schools.

The service works within a continuum of SEN specialist provision in partnership with Special Schools and other locality provision.

The Service is fully involved in multi disciplinary processes and practices including Early Support, Single Point of Access and County statutory assessment processes.

The service leads/contributes to the Multi-Agency Groups which include the following:

Communication and Interaction Steering Group Physical Disability Steering Group Specific Learning Difficulties Steering Group Early Support Commissioning Group Early Talk Steering Group Portage Commissioning Group Multi Sensory Impairment Steering Group Shared Vision Partnership Steering Group Down Syndrome Steering Group Aiming High for Disabled Children: Short Breaks Special Educational Needs Strategy West and East Kent Service Development Groups

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Review of Service Specification

This Service Specification will be reviewed on an annual basis. The next review is due in September 2013.

3rd September 2012

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Appendix 1

How will the outcomes from service delivery be monitored and evaluated?

Quantitative measures, to include amongst other things, analyses from Raiseonline and End-of-Key-Stage data, for children with SEND, particularly those at Early Years and School Action Plus:

a. Impact on closing attainment gaps for individuals/groups

b. Progress in relation to ‘Small Steps’ for individuals/groups

c. EYFS Learning Profile

d. Progress according to SEND need type for groups of children

e. Progress in relation to numeracy/ literacy for individuals/groups

f. Impact on exclusion levels.

g. Impact on attendance levels for individuals and groups.

h. Impact on wellbeing measures for individuals and groups

Qualitative measures used in settings and school provided by LIFT including:

a. Analysis of entrance and exit data

b. Monitoring improvements following intervention at set time intervals

c. Analysis of how provision improves children’s access to learning/

d. School evaluation of the provision; especially how quickly and easily access to support is facilitated.

e. Evidence of improved SEN leadership capacity within the school

f. Evidence from children and parents regarding progress.

g. Assessment of the school’s increased capacity to deliver the Minimum Standards to the highest level in managing SEN issues, and how empowered and confident it is supporting others

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Appendix 2

Process checklist to be used on first visit

Stage 1 - Information gather

Every intervention must have a clear plan, timescales and expected outcomes.

Referral Route Information Gather/Evidence NotesLIFTSPAEarly SupportLink TeacherHealthCounty Panel

LAC (Kent or OLAC)SEN LevelEarly Years informationCYP ViewParent/Carer view and involvementBehaviours AttendanceOther agency involvement and relevant diagnosisStrengths Learning Challenge – has this been defined by the setting/school?Progress/achievement informationRelevant SEN training accessed previously:

Awareness raising (IDP) Stage 2 (Core Level) Department Whole setting/school Individual Teaching Staff Non – teaching staff

Review setting/ school Interventions

Information Gather/Evidence

Provision mappingPSPBehaviour PlanIEPs

How are parents / carers communicated with and how frequently?How are CYP views obtained and where are they reflected?Review of strategies used over time

Establish what has worked or is working

Have recommendations/strategies from other professionals been implemented?Have recommendations been consistently monitored, evaluated and modified over an agreed timescale?Reasonable adjustments made to the environment and curriculum Observation in context

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Stage 2 – Intervention

Focus of Intervention NotesIntervention has specific focusFocus informed by appropriate professionalsTargets prioritisedAction points listedProgress measures includedSuccess criteria determined – exit criteriaSessions allocatedStart dateCompletion dateStaff involved – and the process for communicating with themCommunication with parents/carersAgreed with parents/carers, setting/school, C/YPReview date(s)

Intervention plan with timescales

Intervention/strategies for high level supportTraining to groups of teachers/TAs/key workersHigh level targeted support at an individual C/YP level to train and support staff in the use of appropriate strategies, including relevant ICT, to enable the C/YP to access and record relevant information Training and support in relation to managing the classroom environmentTraining and support for enabling successful transitionSupport and advise new staff (including NQTs) or those who have a responsibility for SEN in the setting/school

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Stage 3 – Evaluation of Impact

Experience of C/YP

Evidence Notes

Attendance at review

Recorded in minutes of review

Use of scaling questions (visual)

Indicating how the C/YP thinks they are getting on with their targets

Pupil questionnaire

Opinions gained from questionnaire

Improvement in learning targetsImproved engagement in learningIncrease in successful playtimes/lunchtimesImproved level of self-esteem

Experience of parent/carer

Evidence

Attendance at review

Recorded in minutes of review

Parent/carer questionnaire

Opinions gained from questionnaire

Improved relationships of parents/setting/CYPParents/carers more confident and engagedParents/carers willing to go to other agencies when signposted

Experience of setting/school

Evidence

Staff consultations (rating scale used)Training Evaluations

Increase in staff confidence

Monitoring Observations

Observations indicate that advice and strategies are being implemented

Questionnaires Positive feedback from staffMore appropriate referrals

STS evaluation report

Evidence – to include quantitative and qualitative measuresInitial observation/assessmentInterim monitoring report

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Final report

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Appendix 3

Specialist Teaching Service

Physical and Sensory Criteria for Intervention

Specialist Teachers for Physical and Sensory Impairments (ST P&S) work with Children and Young People (CYP) from 0 – 19 years of age where they meet the criteria for intervention. Whilst ST P&S are qualified to monitor and assess the level of impairment and the impact that has on acquiring developmental skills and access to and full participation in education, ST P&S do not provide a diagnostic service. Where there are concerns regarding physical or sensory development, children and young people should be seen by their GP or referred via the school nurse for further investigation.

Requests for intervention will be considered from professionals using LIFT, ES or SPA.. For sensory impairment referrals are accepted from health colleagues, (e.g. East/West Kent Children’s Hearing Services, ENT consultants, Ophthalmic consultants, Orthoptists or through the CVI registration). In situations when an immediate response to a severe or profound impairment is required referrals will be considered from parents/carers and schools/settings. Criteria for Intervention The ST P&S use the National Sensory Impairment Partnership eligibility criteria for sensory impairment together with the additional physical impairment eligibility criteria current in the process for ratification through the National Network of Advisory Teachers for Physically Impaired Pupils.

The criteria are used to enable a quality specialist service to be provided to those with permanent moderate, severe or profound impairment. For those with sensory impairments this must be bilateral.

The criteria include consideration of the level of impairment as well as how CYP function with their disability. Additional factors such as a progressive or deteriorating condition are taken into account. Other factors include training needs as well as issues relating to access to the learning environment, the curriculum and information.

A request for support form must be completed by the initiator and a signed parental agreement form must accompany all requests or the equivalent multiagency form. The initiator should give clear indications of the degree and type of impairment together with current reports whenever possible.

Where a CYP is educated in a specialist provision for their need type a support package relevant to their educational placement will apply as part of the continuum of specialist support.

Support allocation will be determined according to functional ability as identified following completion of the eligibility criteria which should be re-visited annually or at the end of a programme of intervention.

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Leve

l

Levels of Intervention

NatSIP eligibility criteria score

HI MSI PI VI

Enha

nced

Physical and Sensory Enhanced Support Planned programmes of direct teaching of pupil in specialist area or to acquire specialist skills to enable

access to the curriculum Specialist advice particularly regarding alternative communication modes Need for attendance at multiagency meetings and to undertake joint planning of individual programmes,

resources or training with other professionals Ongoing specialist bespoke training to professionals and parents

75 + 65+ 60 + 65 +

C

ore

Physical and Sensory Support Advice and support for the implementation and monitoring of Wave 3 interventions Support for transition into settings / school adaptation of curriculum Short term programmes to support the use of alternative methods and strategies to access the curriculum Focused training to professionals and parents

50 - 74 45 - 64 41 - 59 45 - 64

Physical and Sensory Supporting access and monitoring Assessment and advice provided to enable access to the learning environment, curriculum and information Assessment and where appropriate trial of ICT and/or specialist equipment Planning for future needs particularly where a child or young person has a deteriorating condition Training opportunities provided

25 - 49 26 - 44 25 - 40 26 - 44

Info

gat

her Physical and Sensory Functional Assessment

Functional assessment and observation Discussion with parents and/or school/setting staff Information, advice and strategies provided to support transition into early years setting or school Eligibility criteria completed to indicate any further interventions

New requests for intervention where the initial information requires a further gathering of information.

Physical and Sensory Information Information on the STS website and the links provided Information on parent groups and voluntary and community organisations Information on Quality First Teaching for children and young people with Physical & Sensory Impairment

25 and below

25 and below

25 and below

25 and below

National Sensory Impairment Partnership (South East Sensory Impairment Partnership) Eligibility Criteria and Scoring Support Levels together with those for Physical Impairment are available in the STS handbook and on the STS website.

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Appendix 4

Abbreviations:

AAC Alternative Augmentative CommunicationBSL British Sign LanguageCVI Certificate of Visual ImpairmentCYP Children and Young PeopleENT Ear, Nose and ThroatFTE Full Time EquivalentIBP Individual Behaviour PlanICT Information and Communication TechnologyIEP Individual Education PlanGP General PractitionerHI Hearing ImpairmentLAC Looked After ChildLIFT Local Inclusion Forum TeamSEND Special Educational Needs and/or DisabilitiesMI Management informationMSI Multisensory Impairment/DeafblindNPA National Portage AssociationNQT Newly Qualified TeacherOLAC Looked After Child from another Local AuthorityPD Physical DisabilityPI Physical ImpairmentPSP Pastoral Support PlanSEN Special Educational NeedsSENCo Special Educational Needs CoordinatorSEND Special Educational Needs and DisabilitySPA Single Point of AccessST P&S Specialist Teachers for Physical and Sensory ImpairmentsSTS Specialist Teaching ServiceTA Teaching AssistantTAC Team Around the ChildTAF Team Around the FamilyVI Visual Impairment