Spring (Half) Term 2015/16 SEN Update: “Who Says I Don’t Listen?”

Well, for those who work in the academic world, we are now at the half way point of the year. 

In this update you will find sections entitled:
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• TRANSFER REVIEWS (AGAIN)
• PINTERESTING (AGAIN)
• JUST ONE MORE LEFT…
• RECENT/FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS
• “TAMING THE EMAIL BEAST!”

 
As I always say, I know how busy everyone is, so please feel free to read just the sections that are of interest to you, or read everything; the choice is always yours.

(Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss out on one, you can get my SEN updates personally by completing your email details, or by following me on one of the
Social Media platforms that I use, at the bottom of this page.

You can also easily share this update with others (please only do this if it may be relevant to them), by using one of the icons to the right of this page (if on a computer) or at the top of this page (if on a mobile device)).  ​

TRANSFER REVIEWS (AGAIN)
The first section of my last update for the beginning of Spring Term 2015/16 was entitled: ‘MORE OF THE SAME? (TRANSFERS OF STATEMENTS TO EHC PLANS)’ and, as far as I am aware, things seems to be falling into a bit of a pattern now in terms of transitioning. 

So I was a bit surprised to find afterwards, that many people (both parents and professionals) said to me that they actually wanted even more information if possible. In fact, I even received a message from someone who follows me on Twitter which said:

“@douglassilas Please could you spend an entire update on Transition reviews!’ What should & shouldn't happen?' We are ALL desperate”

As you may recall, my colleague, Aoife Murray, prepared a dedicated page at the beginning of the year entitled ‘Transitioning Statements to EHC Plans’ which neatly summarises things. Rather than me writing too much here (as I am conscious that not everyone who reads these updates will be interested in this issue) I suggest that, if you are interested, you read that page again.

However,  it may be helpful for me to remind you of the some of the relevant (statutory) Guidance that has been given regarding ‘Transfer Reviews’ themselves. Aoife's summary provides a useful overview of this issue and I therefore quote here from the relevant part of this where it states as follows (I have updated it where necessary):

• ‘The ‘transfer review’ process is not a simple ‘rebadging’ of existing Statements but is to ensure that EHC plans are ‘person centred’ and focused on ‘outcomes’. It says that the process of EHC assessments and plan development must be carried out in a ‘timely’ manner and although time limits are the maximum time allowed, steps must be completed as soon as practicable.  Statements must be maintained by the LA until the process is completed and an EHC plan issued and provision identified.

• The ‘transfer review’ process includes the following steps:

1. The child’s parents and/or young person and Headteacher of the school attended must be notified of the ‘transfer review’ at least two weeks before it starts and they should be invited to a meeting to discuss and contribute (the LA can require the school to arrange and hold the meeting);
2. The LA should determine who should attend the meeting to ensure it achieves its purpose;
3. Although there is no requirement to seek further advice for an EHC needs assessment (if everyone is satisfied that advice should be obtained is ‘sufficient’ for the purposes of an EHC needs assessment – which includes the parents/young person themselves, as well as the LA and the maker of the advice) the LA must finalise a robust EHC plan within [after 1st September 2015] 18 weeks of the notification (unless certain exceptions apply);
4. If the LA decides not to secure an EHC plan, they must notify the child’s parent or young person within 10 weeks of the ‘transfer review’ (the statement will not be ceased until the end of an appeal or consideration of provision before an appeal).'

I hope this provides relevant information and allows people to look at things in more detail if they are interested. 

You will also find a helpful timetable at the end of the Government’s Transitional Guidance which you may wish to read. 

‘PINTERESTING’ (AGAIN)
The second section of my last update was entitled: ‘P'INTERESTING, ISN’T IT?’.

I was pleased to see that some people followed me or ‘re-pinned’ some of the information that I had ‘pinned’ on our Pinteresting page, based on our ‘Types of SEN/Disability’ pages.

I have therefore decided to now do the same in relation to our pages on ‘SEN/Education Info’ (which I have also updated to provide more information) and, again, I have tried to make each of the issues that we have written about as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible, by using the format of ‘Questions and Answers’ and interlinking pages where more detail is written about a term/word used.

Please have a look at our Pinterest page now, in case there is something you can find there which may be of help to you, which you can then easily ‘repin’ for others, or ‘follow’ one of our ‘boards’ to be automatically updated, as I will be adding more information to it over time if I believe it can help other people.

Again, if you come across something that you feel can benefit other people as well, please forward me the link by email here so I may be able to share it with others.  

With many thanks in advance.

JUST ONE MORE LEFT …
I cannot believe how time goes by so quickly (or maybe I am just getting older!) 

There is now only one of my training sessions left to run at my offices for this academic year entitled ‘Learning By Doing (LBD): The New SEN Framework (One Year On)’. 

Just as a reminder, it takes a closer look at the new SEN framework, one year on, considers the main issues and advises people on how to avoid difficulties.

It runs from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm and is made up of two main sessions as follows:
 
The New SEN World (1 Year On)

• Where Are We Now
• Common Issues/Problems
• Post-16/Personal Budgets/Appeals

 
Specific Issues

• Outcomes
• Transitioning/Transfer Reviews
• How To Write a Bad EHC Plan!

 
These two sessions are then followed by a third session called ‘Ask Douglas’ where I will answer any questions about SEN law (think of it as free legal advice!).
 
Please note that places are limited to 15 delegates per day and my training is CPD accredited for all types of professionals. I am also again offering a 10% discount per place to the first three people reading this update that book for each seminar using the promo code ‘SEN10’ (this cannot be used with any other offer).
 
I have attached a flyer for those receiving this update email to make your lives easier, otherwise you can download one by clicking on the image above.  
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I hope that you will be able to join me. 
If this is something of interest to you and you want to book a place, click here:

www.SpecialEducationalNeeds.co.uk/Training

RECENT/FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS
In terms of recent SEN events, I am afraid that I haven't been anywhere of note since the beginning of 2016 so there is no information for me to share with you for now. 

However, in terms of forthcoming SEN events, there are two events fairly soon which you may want to attend and one a long way off that you may wish to put in your diary now, as follows:

• SEN Education Law and Practice Conference 2016 in London on 10 March 2016 run by Jordan Publishing;
• The Education Show 2016 at the NEC Birmingham on 17-19 March 2016 (although I realise this is not strictly dedicated to SEN/disability);
• The Autism Show 2016 at Excel, London on 17-18 June 2016; at the NEC, Birmingham on 24-25 June 2016; and at EventCity, Manchester, on 1-2 July 2016.

As I said in this section of my last update, I will be speaking again this year at the Jordan’s Conference.   My presentation this year is entitled ‘Working Better’ and will cover problems and solutions I have identified which will help people to hopefully work both more efficiently and effectively.

In fact, when I wrote it, I found that I had enough material for three presentations, so there will be more coming if I am allowed to speak again!  

​“TAMING THE EMAIL BEAST!”
Just in case you aren’t able to make it to the Jordan’s conference personally this year, I thought that you might like to hear about one of the problems I have identified that I will be speaking about, which I have entitled: ‘Taming The Email Beast.’

We now spend so much of our time being controlled by our technology, rather than us controlling it, with emails being a prime example of this. In fact, I was reading recently that, nowadays, people spend approximately 30% of their working day just dealing with emails (i.e. 3 hours in every 10 hours!).

Frightening isn’t it?

Although people spend a lot of time reading, deleting, or filing their emails, they usually just find more emails then filling up their inbox, so the task is constant and relentless. I will therefore be giving tips and strategies about what you may be able to do about this, which can hopefully help people solve (or at least reduce) this problem.

So, given that this update overall is trying to respond to things that people are either asking me directly or perhaps unconsciously, it probably seems apt that I have called it:

'Who Says That I Don’t Listen!’

With best wishes

​Douglas