SALT | The Link

Speech and Language Therapy Services for Children and Young People in Slough October 2018

Description

This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Commissioning, Partnerships and Performance Team, for the attention of Headteachers, SENCO's and Schools.

Commissioned Services

Slough Borough Council (SBC) commissions services including on behalf of schools to benefit from economies of scale.

Commissions include Sophos, Egress and SaLT. Contact: Service Lead for Commissioning, Partnerships & Performance, Rodney D'Costa:- rodney.dcosta@slough.gov.uk.

Integrated Support Service (ISS)

ISS works with schools, colleges and other agencies to provide advice, guidance and support to ensure the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) are met within an educational context.

SEND Guidance Documents

High quality teaching: ‘Quality First Teaching’. QFT originates in the then DCSF’s guide to personalised learning published in 2008 which summarises its key characteristics as: Highly focused lesson design with sharp objectives, High demands of pupil involvement and engagement with their learning, High levels of interaction for all pupils, Appropriate use of teacher questioning, modelling and explaining, An emphasis on learning through dialogue, with regular opportunities for pupils to talk both individually and in groups, and An expectation that pupils will accept responsibility for their own learning and work independently.
Regular use of encouragement and authentic praise to engage and motivate pupils.

SENDCo support

SENDCO Support for Schools

Slough Borough Council have successfully recruited a SENDCO School Effectiveness Officer. This post was created to support, up-skill and develop SENDCos at schools and to develop a SENDCo network forum for all Slough Schools.

SEND in Slough

National statistics show that up to 20% (14.4% in 2017) of all children/ young people have some level of SEND. Most children/young people with SEND attend a mainstream school and are supported by resources, which form part of the school’s core budget.

Current Working Groups - Developments (Banding, Resource Bases)

There are currently two important working groups that are taking place to develop the SEND offer within Slough attributed to banding (individual top-up funding for schools) and Resource Bases (discrete specialist provision within mainstream settings).

OFSTED/CQC SEND Local Area Inspection

In May 2016, OFSTED and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) launched a new framework for the joint inspection of the implementation of SEND reforms within local areas. The framework inspects the effectiveness of all organisations including the local authority and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in implementing the SEND reforms since September 2014. All local areas will be inspected by April 2021.

SEND Funding

The SEND Service is funded through both core funding and the High Needs Block (HNB) via the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

SEND

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Service has the statutory duties to identify and assess the special educational needs (SEN) of children and young people for whom they are responsible.