Shape our new education campaign

The next national campaign from the NAS will ensure the needs of children with autism and their families are addressed in the Government's new vision for special education needs (SEN) and disability (see post dated 10 March 2011).

To develop this campaign, we have launched a new consultation discussion group.  We want to hear from you on a range of topics, from the campaigns aims and recommendations, the campaign title and the resources we produce.

To take part in shaping the campaign, sign up to the community here.

Campaigning successes on exclusions

The National Autistic Society (NAS), along with other members of the Special Educational Consortium (SEC), has been campaigning on the proposed reforms set out in the Education Bill.

We had particular concerns about proposals in the Bill in relation to exclusions. The Bill proposes replacing Independent Appeals Panels (IAPs) who currently review decisions on exclusions with new Review Panels.

Unlike IAPs, the Review Panels will not have the power to reinstate students who have been excluded if they feel that they were wrongfully so. We were also concerned about the knowledge and understanding of autism and other Special Educational Needs (SEN) among members of the Review Panels.

These reforms apply to England only.

Following campaigning from the NAS and the SEC, the Government has made the following commitments on exclusion:

• The SEN Tribunal will hear disability discrimination cases where a child has been permanently excluded and re-instatement will be a possible remedy in these cases;
• Revised statutory guidance on exclusions will explicitly state the need for Governors to take special educational needs into account when reviewing the decision to exclude;
• Parents will be able to request that an SEN expert attend the review panel; and
• Using risk of exclusion as a trigger for a multi-agency assessment of need will be included in guidance

The NAS has continuing concerns on the specifics of these commitments. For instance, who will be the SEN expert that sits on a Review Panel? We also remain concerned about who the statutory guidance will apply to and how it will be monitored and enforced.

Let us know what you think of the changes in the box below.

Calling all young people at school!

We want to hear from children and young people about what you think about school. We want to know what you like and dislike about school and how you think it could be better.

If you are 19 or younger and are on the autism spectrum and still at school, you can fill out our survey by clicking here.

The survey is open until the end of Wednesday 6th April.

We will use the findings of the survey to help us to campaign to improve education provision for children and young people with autism and tell the Government what you think about school and about their proposals to change the SEN system.  We will publish a report later in the year containing the findings of our research.

We also have a survey of parents of children and young people with autism which is available to members of the NAS.  To join the NAS follow this link: http://www.autism.org.uk/en-gb/get-involved/become-member.aspx

SEN Green Paper Published

The National Autistic Society has welcomed the ambitions set out in Government’s Green Paper Support and aspiration: a new approach to special educational needs and disability. 

The Green Paper sets out the Government’s proposals for reforming the education system for children with special educational needs (SEN). The Government wants to hear your views on the plans. See below on how you can have your say.

The National Autistic Society will be looking carefully at the proposals and consulting with its members and others to respond. We will also be launching a mini report on how the SEN system should work for children with autism in the summer. Watch this space for more details.

Below is a summary of some of the key points from the Green Paper.

Early identification and assessment

The Government proposes replacing statements of SEN with ‘Education, Health and Care Plans’, which would be determined through a single assessment.

The Government has said that these plans will provide the same statutory protection to parents as statements and that these plans will be for children with SEN or a disability from birth until the age of 25.

How the assessment for these plans and how the plans themselves are to work will be piloted from September. The National Autistic Society is keen to see how the proposal will work in practice and how the Government will ensure that the same legal protections are in place. The Government have said that replacing statements with the new plans will not happen until 2014.

The paper also talks about ensuring that children with SEN are picked up earlier. We have been calling for an early identification check to ensure that children with autism can be identified at an early stage and so we are keen to work further with Government on this.

Giving Parents Control

The Green Paper stresses the importance of consulting and involved in decisions concerning their child’s needs. It makes the following proposals:

• Local authorities and other services to set out a local offer of all services available
• The option of a ‘Personal Budget’ by 2014 for all families with children with a statement of SEN or a new ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’ to give parents greater choice over the services their child receives. This is to be piloted first
• Parents to be given a clear choice of school, including mainstream, special, academies and free schools.
• Parents to continue to have access to a short break from caring while their child enjoys activities with their peers.
• If local authorities and parents disagree, mediation is tried first, before going to a tribunal.

Learning and achieving

This section has a welcome focus on the importance of improving the support teachers have to ensure that they can identify and appropriately help children with SEN.

The National Autistic Society has been calling for initial teacher training to include autism as well as for schools to be able to access support from specialist autism teachers across clusters of schools.

In line with this, the Green Paper sets out:

• Funding will be available for scholarships and continuing professional development for teachers developing skills in supporting children with SEN
• The Government will help local networks of schools develop teachers with specialist skills and knowledge who can be deployed across local clusters of schools
• The Training and Development Agency will make sure that online materials for teachers on autism are widely available
• Special Schools will be expected to share their expertise and services to support the education and progress and development of pupils in other special and mainstream schools.
• Outstanding special schools will be able to apply to become Teaching Schools, and more teachers will do initial training in special schools

The paper also says that parents and communities are encouraged to establish new special free schools.

Preparing for adulthood

A significant proposal in the Green Paper is the extension of the Education, Health and Care Plans, which are to replace statements for young people up to the age of 25.

The Green Paper also highlights the importance of ensuring that young people with a disability are supported into work and that work experience is made available for them.

Further detail about the Governments plans for improving transition will be published later this year. The Government says that it wants to ensure that by 2015 disabled young people and young people with SEN will have:

• early and well integrated support for and advice on the birth to 25 single assessment process.
• access to better quality vocational and work related learning opportunities to enable young people to progress in their learning post 16.
• good opportunities and support in order to get and keep a job
• a well co-ordained transition from children’s to adult health services

Services Working Together for Families

Joint working across health, social care and education is a strong focus in the Green Paper.

The Government proposes that local authorities play a pivotal role in ensuring the co-ordination in support for children with SEN, both on an individual level and on a strategic planning level.

There are also proposals to fund training for key workers and to review the training for speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.

The Chapter also states that the Government will look at how best to co-ordinate services once the GP consortia are in place and new Health and Wellbeing Boards are given responsibility for planning local services.

Have your say

The Government wants to hear what you think of the proposals. You can respond online at www.education.gov.uk/consultations or emailed to send.greenpaper@education.gsi.gov.uk, or by downloading a response form which should be completed and sent to:

Consultation Unit

Department for Education

Area 1C, Castle View House

East Lane

Runcorn WA7 2GJ

Please also let us know what you think by commenting in the box below or by emailing policy@nas.org.uk

My Ideal School

The Guardian is asking children for their views on what would make an ideal school.

They will be compiling the responses to write a Children's Manifesto.

Ahead of the SEN Green Paper, now due this month, the NAS is keen for children with autism to get involved.

Please email school.i'd.like@guardian.co.uk with your ideas on what would make an ideal school by 4th March giving your name, age, year, school and phone number.

Please also email policy@nas.org.uk with your ideas or comment in the space below, as this will help us with our work on the SEN Green Paper.

MPs highlight impact of Education Bill on children with autism

Yesterday, the Education Bill was debated for the first time in Parliament. The Bill will implement some sections of the education white paper, published in December.

We briefed MPs on the Bill, before it was debated and as a result, the impact of the Bill on children with autism was raised a number of times during the debate.

Exclusions

In particular, we had expressed concerns about the replacement of Independent Appeal Panels for exclusions with Review Panels, which would not have the power to reinstate children who had been permanently excluded.

A number of MPs highlighted the disproportionate number of children with autism who have been excluded. Conservative MP Richard Fuller said that the high number of exclusions of children with autism needed more attention.

Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham said, “Parents of children with disabilities and special needs already face a battle to get them a good education. With changes to admissions and exclusions, which will see schools become judge and jury, the Bill stacks the odds against those children even further”.

Education Minister Nick Gibb responded that parents would still have the right of appeal on exclusions.

Joined-up working

The NAS are also particularly concerned that the Bill removes the duty on schools to co-operate with other local agencies.

We also oppose the Government’s earlier decision to remove the duty on local authorities to develop a Children and Young People’s Plan.

Liberal Democrat MP Annette Brooke stressed the importance of these plans and of joined up working between education, health and social care, particularly for those with complex needs, such as autism.

We look forward to the imminent publication of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Green Paper to determine further how the Government intends its educational reforms to impact on children with SEN.

Education Select Committee publishes report on Behaviour

The National Autistic Society has welcomed the report from the Education Select Committee on behaviour and discipline in schools.

Director of Education at the NAS Jane Vaughan gave evidence to the Committee to feed into the report. We also submitted written evidence to the Committee.

The NAS is particularly pleased that a number of key points that Jane made in her oral evidence were reflected in the report and its recommendations, including:

Ø       The importance of ensuring that all school staff have training in autism. The report recommends that all schools should ensure that their staff can identify special educational needs (SEN) and that teachers should receive SEN training as part of their initial teacher training.

The NAS believes that this is fundamental to improving provision for children with autism. We also believe that all schools should be able to receive support from autism specialist teachers who should be employed to work across clusters of schools.

Ø       The importance of ensuring that behaviour related to autism is not mistaken for bad behaviour. The report recommends that exclusion is used as a trigger for assessing the needs of a child.

This is something we have been calling for, for some years and we would urge the Government to adopt this policy.

Ø       The importance of focusing on engaging with a child’s learning and the support they need to learn rather than the behaviour itself. The report recommends that schools ensure that they are providing appropriate support to a child so that they can get the most out of their education.

We also welcome the following conclusions and recommendations from the report:

• Guidance on restraint needs to include advice on SEN and the current requirement to inform parents when their child has been restrained at school is important. 

• Independent Appeals Panels for exclusions should be retained

• The Government’s plans to introduce a phonics reading test at age 6 to identify learning problems should be expanded to look also at language comprehension

• The Inclusion Development Programme (IDP), which was a Government funded project which included the development of resources on autism for teachers, should be refreshed and disseminated

• Local authorities should retain responsibility for some local specialist services that provide support to schools around special educational needs. This may include educational psychology or autism outreach teams.

The National Autistic Society will be putting pressure on the Government to accept this findings and recommendations in the lead up to the publication of the Green Paper on SEN, expected later this month.

Click here to read the report