Hope that you have had a good week and have settled into a routine of sorts.

Routine and consistency is always the key to everything, but the trick is to create positive habits and try and avoid developing negative habits - easy to say, but very hard to do sometimes!

I am going to try and keep this update a little lighter this week, but I do want to try and bring your attention to a few things in case you need them.

​I hope that this helps again.

The first thing that I want to draw your attention to today is the fact that my friends at IPSEA (Independent Providers of Special Education Advice) last week updated their information page on their website about how the COVID-19 measures will affect children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, to deal with all the latest Government guidance.

Rather than me telling you what it says, you can read it for yourself here:

'IPSEA update on COVID-19 and SEN provision'.

IPSEA have also added to their templates page, a model letter for making a complaint when a school is not using their best endeavours and/or refusing attendance for a vulnerable child during the National Lockdown, which you can find here: 'Model letters'

This next section will not apply to everyone,  so please feel free to skip it if it means nothing to you.
​
Again, I received another email from the Special Education Needs Division  at the Department for Education (DfE), which this time stated:

​"Dear colleagues, 
 
We would like to draw your attention to a new PPE Portal for Special Schools and Specialist post-16 institutions, and to the joint DfE/Ofqual consultations on the arrangements for awarding grades for GCSE, AS, A levels, and for vocational and technical qualifications this summer (deadline 11.45pm on 29 January).
 
PPE Portal
 
On 19 January Special Schools and Special Post-16 Institutions (SPIs) across England received an email invitation to register with the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) PPE Portal. Using the PPE Portal Special Schools and SPIs can place a weekly order of PPE (free of charge) to meet their Coronavirus (COVID-19) PPE needs. Residential Special Schools and Residential Post-16 Institutions will have already received an email invitation in August 2020.
 
This source of PPE (via the PPE portal) is solely for Coronavirus (COVID-19) requirements as outlined in the our guidance: Safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care settings, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and should not be repurposed for any other use. As per this guidance, Coronavirus (COVID-19) PPE requirements are limited to PPE use in the following scenarios:

       (i)when dealing with a child or individual who is symptomatic (and a distance of two metres cannot be maintained), and 
     (ii)when performing aerosol generating procedures (AGPs).

DHSC advise that schools are still required to supply their own PPE (from their usual supply channels) for any other purpose. 

Special schools and special post-16 institutions should have received the email invitation from: ppe.dedicated.supply.channel@notifications.service.gov.uk. It has been sent to the email address which your setting has registered with the Get Information About Schools database. This is the only email address which is eligible to register. Please ensure that you have checked your junk folder. If you have not received the email invitation, please contact the Customer Service team at 0800 876 6802 who will be able to help support you in registering with the portal. Please wait until close of play on Wednesday, 27 January before enquiring about not receiving an email invitation. To confirm the eligibility of the setting you will need to provide the setting’s URN (you can check the URN at https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/)."
 
It also stated:

"Consultation on arrangements for awarding grades in summer 2021
 
Last Friday, the Department for Education and Ofqual launched joint consultations on arrangements for awarding grades for GCSE, AS and A levels this summer and on awarding arrangements for a range of vocational and technical qualifications. We are interested in your views on the consultation proposals, in particular, the equality impact assessment of the proposals. 
 
The deadline for responses to both consultations 11:45pm on 29 January 2021."

Finally, there was some news of interest, as follows:

- 'School attendance in England higher than first lockdown'
- 'One in four UK young people have felt 'unable to cope' in pandemic'.
- 'Covid: Gavin Williamson hopes England's schools will reopen by Easter'

​P.S I understand that there are a number of educational or other useful resources now on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that other people may find useful, so that I can direct people to it.

Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN Solicitor
​18/1/2021 

So, we just seem to be settling in again; although it appears that whilst a lot of people are once more working from home if they can, many more children and young people this time seem to be (sometimes  only timidly) going back to school or college, if they are allowed to.

I must admit though that I was pleasantly surprised to hear from some people after my first (now) weekly SEN Update last week, thanking me for keeping them updated. So I write now this week again, this time knowing that there are many people being helped by my doing weekly updates again, in now in what is our third 'lockdown'.

As I provided you with a lot of information/signposting last week, this week I was going to focus on just a few things. However, there is still a lot of information or news out there that I want to bring to your attention, so this week's update is a bit longer than I expected!

Again though, I hope that this helps people.

Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
​or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).

You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons,
usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.

The first thing that I want to draw your attention to is a letter sent out a few days ago on the afternoon of Thursday 14/1/2021 by the Department for Education's (DfE's) Special Educational Needs and Disability Division, entitled 'SEND NEWSFLASH - Special & alternative schools guidance & open ministerial letter', which stated:

'Dear colleagues,

We would like to draw your attention to the additional guidance published today for special schools, specialist post-16 providers, and alternative schools (including hospital schools) during the national lockdown period. It should be read alongside the main guidance document: Restricting attendance during the national lockdown: schools and the Further education guidance for restricting attendance during the national lockdown, which covers the main operational issues.

Please also find attached an open letter from Vicky Ford MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families to children and young people with SEND, their families, and those who work to support them.

Regards,

Special Educational Needs and Disability Division.'
​
The open letter from Vicky Ford MP then stated:

"To all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), their parents/carers and families, and others who support them. 
​
As you will be aware, on Monday 4th January, the Prime Minister announced a national lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), which is expected to last until at least mid-February. Unfortunately, this means we have to return to restrictions on attendance at schools and colleges. I know that these restrictions are a source of anxiety for many children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families. 

As the Minister for Children and Families, I am committed to ensuring that appropriate education and support is available for all children and young people during the national lockdown, whether they are attending their education setting or at home. I am grateful to the families who provide care to their children and the professionals who work tirelessly to support them. 

I am pleased to assure you that children and young people with an EHC plan should be allowed to continue attending their education setting if their parent wants them to (or, for post-16 provision, if the young person wants to attend), as they are classed as vulnerable for the purpose of determining which children and young people should be allowed to attend school or college during this period. The definition of vulnerable also includes others at the education setting and local authority’s discretion, including pupils and students who need to attend to receive support or manage risks to their mental health. We know that many children and young people with SEND have faced challenges during the pandemic and I am committed to ensuring that we support their attendance wherever possible. 

Where, for any reason, it is not possible for a child or young person with SEND – including both those with an EHC plan and those who are supported through SEN Support – to attend their education setting during this period, they should receive remote education and support. The legal duty on schools and colleges to use their best endeavours to meet the special educational needs of their pupils and students, including those supported through SEN Support, remains unchanged, whether they are attending school or college or at home for any period. 

Attendance at education settings 
In the face of the rapidly rising numbers of cases of COVID-19 across the country and intense pressure on the NHS, it is essential that we reduce opportunities for mixing and transmission. For this reason, only vulnerable children and young people (including those with EHC plans) and children of critical workers should attend their school or college. Guidance on who should be allowed to access a school place can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision. 

This is not a decision that we have taken lightly. I am aware of the challenge that this will present to children and young people, their parents and teachers. We will review this position regularly to ensure that all children and young people can return to face-to-face education as soon as possible. 

I want to reassure you that the decision that attendance should be limited does not suggest that schools and colleges have become significantly less safe for children and young people. The risk of children and young people becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, including the new variant, continues to be very low, with the overwhelming majority experiencing no symptoms or very mild illness only. For children and young people who continue to attend their education setting, and their teachers, the system of protective measures means that any risks are well managed and controlled. Details on the system of protective measures that schools should put in place are included in guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak. 

All pupils and students not receiving face-to-face education for whatever reason should be provided with suitable remote education. Education settings should work collaboratively with families, putting in place reasonable adjustments as necessary, so that pupils with SEND can successfully access remote education alongside their peers. We have also published a list of high quality online educational resources to support home learning. This includes resources that are suitable for pupils and students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) of all ages, from early years to those in further and higher education settings. The list of resources can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-remote-education#special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-send. 

In addition, where a child or young person has an EHC plan, it remains the duty of the local authority and health commissioning body to secure or arrange the provision specified in the plan under section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014. However, I know that there may be times where it becomes more difficult to do so than usual. In these circumstances, education settings, local authorities and health partners (where applicable) should discuss with families to co-produce alternative arrangements for delivering provision. These decisions should be considered on a case-by-case basis which takes account of the needs of and circumstances specific to the child or young person, avoiding a one size fits all approach. At this stage, we do not intend to use the powers under the Coronavirus Act 2020 to modify the section 42 duty, but we will keep this position under review based on the evidence. 

Special schools and special post-16 institutions should continue to welcome and encourage pupils and students to attend full-time (or as per their usual timetable) where the parent or carer wishes for their child to be able to attend (or for post-16 settings, where the young person wishes to attend). However, I know that there may be circumstances where it is not possible for specialist settings to provide their usual interventions and provision at adequate staffing ratios, or with staff with vital specialist training. In these cases, settings should seek to resume as close as possible to full-time provision as soon as possible, discuss these decisions with families in advance to agree an approach that would be in the child or young person’s best interests, and then keep this under review. Guidance for special schools and specialist settings is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings. 

Some children and young people and their families may be understandably apprehensive about attending school or college, even where they may benefit from the routine and support available through continued attendance. In the first instance, I strongly encourage parents or young people to discuss any concerns with the education setting, to see whether any reassurance could be provided or adjustments made to support attendance. Education settings, working with other local partners where appropriate, should consider carefully the concerns of the parent or young person and work collaboratively with families so that, where appropriate, the child or young person can be supported to attend. 

The decision for a child or young person with an EHC plan to stay away from their education setting is ultimately a matter of choice rightly for parents and young people. If a parent wishes for their child to be absent or a young person chooses not to attend, they should inform the education setting of this so it can be properly recorded. Given the exceptional circumstances, the Departmental guidance is clear that it expects leaves of absences to be granted. Absence will not be penalised. 

Children who are clinically extremely vulnerable 
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published updated guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19. 

As our knowledge of COVID-19 has grown, we now know that very few children and young people are at highest risk of severe illness. Doctors have therefore been reviewing all children and young people who were initially identified as clinically extremely vulnerable to confirm whether they are still thought to be at the highest risk of becoming seriously ill and discussing this with families. Those aged 18 or over who have been identified as clinically extremely vulnerable should have received a letter informing them of the updated guidance. 

Where parents have discussed this with their child’s doctors and doctors have confirmed that a child or young person is still considered clinically extremely vulnerable (or, for those aged 18 and over, they have received a shielding letter), they are advised not to attend their education setting during the national lockdown. Education settings should work with local authorities and health partners to ensure that remote education and support is put in place for any pupils or students who are not attending their education setting. 

Mass testing in specialist schools and special post-16 institutions 
The Government is delivering a programme of rapid asymptomatic testing in the first half of the Spring term for children and young people in year 7 and above (or equivalent) and school staff, which will be delivered in mainstream and special schools with secondary-aged pupils, special post-16 institutions, Pupil Referral Units and other Alternative Provision schools. This will help to identify asymptomatic positive cases and break the chains of transmission of coronavirus. This is particularly important in special schools and specialist colleges, where the education and care provided often involves close proximity between children or young people and staff and social distancing can be harder to observe. 

Testing is voluntary, so no child or young person will be tested unless informed consent has been given by the appropriate person (usually the parent or young person). As such, no children or young people will be prevented from receiving face-to-face education if for any reason they are not tested. 

The test involves a swab of the throat and/or nose. Although the majority of secondary-aged children and young people will be able to self-swab, we recognise that the self-swabbing may cause significant concerns for some children and young people with SEND. Where self-swabbing is not possible, special schools and special post-16 institutions are likely to have staff who have undertaken a variety of training to support health needs and who could administer swabs where appropriate. In exceptional circumstances, settings may want to work with parents to agree to a parent coming in to support their child to self-swab or to swab their child. 

Detailed guidance on mass asymptomatic testing in specialist settings is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-full-opening-special-schools-and-other-specialist-settings/mass-asymptomatic-testing-in-specialist-settings. Resources and information for staff have been made available to schools and colleges as they set up their programme. More information for young people and their families, including visuals and easy-read format written materials, will be made available shortly. 

Health services and respite for children and young people with SEND 
During the national lockdown, there continues to be an exception to the restrictions on leaving your home and on gatherings set out in Regulations for provision in an EHC plan. This means that children and young people can continue to receive appropriate support from health and social care services where it is reasonably necessary for the purposes of provision specified in an EHC plan. Specialists, therapists, clinicians and other support staff can provide interventions as usual, including where this requires them to move between settings. 

In addition, there is also an exception to the restrictions on leaving your home and on gatherings set out in the Regulations where this is reasonably necessary for the purpose of respite care for a vulnerable or disabled person. This means that parents and carers may continue to access respite care to support them in caring for their disabled children during the national lockdown, including both services which care for children away from home and care which is delivered in the family home. Guidance for parents on early years providers, schools and colleges, which sets out that respite provision for families of disabled children can continue to operate, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak. 
I know that there are many positive examples of local authorities having worked with families to agree flexible solutions for delivering support – for example, increasing the use of direct payments – and I would encourage this collaborative working to continue. Parents of disabled children under 5 who require continuous care can also continue to form a support bubble with one other household, and parents of all children under 14 can continue to form a childcare bubble. Guidance on making a support bubble with another household can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-support-bubble-with-another-household. 

Building on the support that we have secured to date to ensure that health services for children and young people with SEND (for example, therapies and community children’s nursing) continue to be prioritised, on 10 December, the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (England) circulated a letter highlighting the importance of the continuation of services delivered by Allied Health Professionals (which includes therapies) for children and young people with SEND. The letter emphasised that services should continue to be prioritised and that the redeployment of Allied Health Professionals should be avoided wherever possible. This enables the provision of therapy services for children and young people with SEND to continue or to be restored where there has been disruption. 

I know that this national lockdown will be challenging for children and young people with SEND and their families. I am incredibly grateful for the continued dedication and diligence of those who work to support them, whilst recognising that there may be circumstances in which it is more difficult than usual to do so. Co-production and effective communication between all partners continue to be key to ensuring that children, young people and their families can access high quality education and specialist professional care, working together to coproduce alternative methods of delivering this where appropriate. 

Yours sincerely, 

Vicky Ford MP 
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families"

There's not really anything I can add to this, is there?.

As ever, there was a lot of other news this week.

Since I know everyone may not have time to read everything in my updates, I will just signpost you to the articles that I found most interesting and let you go and read them if they are of interest to you:

- BBC News - 'Covid-19: Early years staff 'should have vaccine priority';
- Sky  News - 'COVID-19: Poorest families hit hardest by pandemic and will find it hardest to recover - report';

and also:

- The Guardian - ''We feel forgotten': special needs teachers on helping England's vulnerable children';
- BBC News - 'Covid-19: Special school staff want jab priority'.

But I now that many parents don't just want to read the news, they want practical help!

I was therefore really pleased then when I saw a tweet from the Scope organisation which read:

"We want all disabled children and their families to get a good night’s sleep. 

Our sleep team has lots of useful knowledge and tips to share. Listen now to our first podcast series - transcripts also available.

https://scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/sleep-podcast/…

Where can I find further information?
​
Again, aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would also remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
 
- IPSEA
- Council for Disabled Children
- Contact
- Scope  
- Special Needs Jungle
 
I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get digital copies of the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN

Keep safe until next week.

With best wishes
 
Douglas

P.S I understand that there are a number of educational or other useful resources now on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that other people may find useful, so that I can direct people to it.

by Douglas Silas,
Specialist SEN solicitor
​11/1/2021

So we’re back into another ‘lockdown’ again!

It feels like March 2020 again doesn’t it? Although this time we should probably feel better prepared than the first time. But it’s back to homeschooling and online learning for children and young people, with many exhausted parents trying to teach their children once more (some whilst still working) .

I recall a popular joke going round last Spring/Summer about homeschooling with a child reported as saying: ‘My teacher this year is not very good, I hope that I don’t have them next year!’

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Anyway,  as I realise that there are many people again out there with difficulties or limited time (and I know parents of children and young people with SEN often have it doubly or triply hard), I have decided to once more try and do my bit to support everyone.

So I am starting up my weekly updates once more, to try and help parents and professionals or save them precious time from having to look for things themselves, by signposting them to news or information that I find.

​I hope that this helps people again.

Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
​or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).

You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons,
usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.

The first thing I want to clarify here is what the new 'lockdown' rules actually mean for pupils.

​The best summary that I have found is on the website of the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) on a page entitled: 'Changes to national restrictions and temporary school closures' (updated on 5/1/2021),  which states as follows:

"On Monday 4th January 2021 the Prime Minister announced that England will move into new national lockdown restrictions, in response to data on the increased transmissibility of the new variant of coronavirus, in order to bring the virus under control whilst the vaccine programme is rolled out. 

The details set out below are based on the current guidance however, we are aware this is a rapidly changing situation and we will update this page as we receive further information.

CDC is working across its networks including SENDIASS and the DCO/DMO forum to ensure information about the current situation is clear to both professionals and families across a range of agencies. If you have additional questions relating to the guidance or the new restrictions please contact us at cdcquestions@ncb.org.uk.

What has changed for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable children?
​

• The Government has reinstated the shielding guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable groups in all areas of England.
• All clinically extremely vulnerable children are advised not to attend education settings.
• It is expected that education settings are able to offer them access to remote education.

​What has changed for schools and colleges?

• All primary schools, secondary schools and colleges will move to remote provision, except for the children of critical workers and vulnerable children who can attend in person.
• Summer Exams will not go ahead as planned. The Education Secretary will work with Ofqual to put in place alternative arrangements and more details will be published in due course.  
• Vocational exams will go ahead as planned in January.
• Alternative provision will remain open.
• Special schools will remain open. 
• Provision will be made for children normally receiving free school meals.
• Continued increase in provision of laptops and tablets to support remote education.  
• Early years settings, including nurseries and childminders, will remain open. 
• Existing rules for childcare support bubbles will still apply.

Who can continue to attend school and college?

The Government states that:

“the problem is not that schools are unsafe for children – children are still very unlikely to be severely affected by even the new variant of Covid. The problem is that schools may nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread between households.”

Children and young people can continue to attend school or college if they:
​

• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
• are assessed as being in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, including children and young people who have a child in need plan, a child protection plan or who are a looked-after child.
• have been identified as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children’s social care services), and who could therefore benefit from continued full-time attendance, this might include:
  • children and young people on the edge of receiving support from children’s social care services or in the process of being referred to children’s services
  • adopted children or children on a special guardianship order
  • those at risk of becoming NEET (‘not in employment, education or training’)
  • those living in temporary accommodation
  • those who are young carers
  • those who may have difficulty engaging with remote education at home (for example due to a lack of devices or quiet space to study)
  • care leavers
  • others at the provider and local authority’s discretion including pupils and students who need to attend to receive support or manage risks to their mental health

In practice, to ensure high quality education for children and young people who need to continue to attend school or college, this may require creative approaches from settings including consideration of staffing rotas and blended remote and face to face learning based on the individual needs of children, young people and their families."

I would also like to remind you that the Government still has a page up on its website entitled: 'Supporting your children's education during coronavirus (COVID-19)', which is still useful (although it was last updated in July 2020), which states as follows:

"This page and information for teachers will be updated regularly to include further resources and reflect the latest information and developments.

While staying at home due to coronavirus, parents and carers may be worried about their children’s development and the effect of missing school or nursery.

No one expects parents to act as teachers, or to provide the activities and feedback that a school or nursery would. Parents and carers should do their best to help children and support their learning while dealing with other demands.

Get specific advice on how education can continue at home for children:

• aged 2 to 4
• at primary school
• at secondary school
• with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Alongside any work your children receive from school, you can try using online educational resources covering various subjects and age groups.

Educational programmes to help children learn at home are available from the BBC.

Have regular conversations about staying safe online and tell your child to speak to you if they come across something worrying online.

Mental health and wellbeing

The change of routine and staying at home may make this a difficult time for some children. Public Health England has published advice on how to support your children’s wellbeing during the coronavirus outbreak.

Guidance is also available to help you look after your own mental health.

Advice on helping children continue their education during coronavirus

Help children aged 2 to 4 to learn at home during coronavirus (COVID-19)

Information on making child development a part of everyday life and play.

Help primary school children continue their education during coronavirus (COVID-19)How to provide support and feedback and structure the day.

Help secondary school children continue their education during coronavirus (COVID-19)How to help your child organise their time.

Help children with SEND continue their education during coronavirus (COVID-19)Resources designed to support special educational needs and disabilities.

And, although I know that it isn't strictly focused on SEN, as I know that parents and professionals also have or are involved with other children and young people, I want to also signpost you to another page on the Government's website entitled: 'Guidance and support', which further signposts you to additional information, which states as follows:

"Pupil wellbeing and safety

• Parents and carers: what you need to know
• Schools: guidance for full opening
• Face coverings in education
• Free school meals
• Supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing

Testing in schools, colleges and universities

• Mass asymptomatic testing for schools and colleges
• Guidance for schools and colleges on how to administer mass testing
• Ordering home test kits for schools and further education providers

Home learning during coronavirus

• Guidance for parents and carers helping children learn from home
• Find resources to support home learning
• Safeguarding and remote education
• Keep children safe online

Exams and managing a school or early years setting

- Exams and assessments

• Guidance on the summer 2021 exams

- Managing a school or early years setting

• Contingency framework to help you stay prepared
• Running an early years setting during coronavirus
• Running a school during coronavirus
• Running a further education setting during coronavirus
• Supporting children and young people with SEND in schools and colleges

- Recording attendance

• Recording attendance

- Childcare, holiday clubs, and after school care

• How childminders, holiday clubs and after school clubs can operate during coronavirus

- Working safely

• Safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care

Funding and support for education and childcare

• Get technology support for children and schools
• Financial support for education, early years and children’s social care
• Check if you can get Tax-Free Childcare and 30 hours free childcare during coronavirus (COVID-19)

​University students and higher education

• Students returning to higher education for the spring term
• Find information about returning to higher education
• Student loans
• University admissions
• Apprentices, employers and training providers
• Colleges
• Office for Students website: student guide to coronavirus

 Where can I find further information?

Aside from clicking on the relevant links for more information, I would again remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
 
- IPSEA
- Council for Disabled Children
- Contact
- Scope  
- Special Needs Jungle
 
I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get digital copies of the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN

Keep safe until next week.

With best wishes
 
Douglas

P.S I understand that there are a number of educational or other useful resources now on the web, so I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that you find that other people may find useful, so that I can direct people to it.

by Douglas Silas
Specialist SEN solicitor

Can you believe that we are already now coming towards the end of this very strange and difficult year for everybody of 2020. I think we have also all now gradually become a bit desensitised to the incredible changes that we have seen throughout this year.
 
We are also now constantly being bombarded with (sometimes irrelevant) information from every which way that we turn. Keeping up with things takes up more and more of our valuable time, so we now have to be very careful, otherwise we may not have any quality time left to spend time with our family, to focus properly on work or to do the other tasks that we need or want to do. 
 
So, I have now decided to try and keep these updates more focused on providing just the information that I think that people need to know about what is happening in the world of SEN. 
 
(I will still try to recount a personal story at the end though, as some people tell me that this is what they really read my updates for!)
 
In this update, you will find sections entitled:
 

• CURRENT GUIDANCE ON SEN & COVID-19 
• THIS UPDATES FOCUS IS ON…
• FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS
• I CAN’T MOVE I’M AFRAID!

Don’t forget, to ensure that you never miss one, you can get my SEN Updates personally by completing your email details above,
​or by following me on one of the social media platforms I use (i.e. Twitter/Facebook).

You can also share this SEN Update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them) by using one of the icons,
usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.

CURRENT GUIDANCE ON SEN & COVID-19 
I always try to provide up-to-date SEN news in my updates. The only difficulty with this is that my updates are only prepared once every half term, so there is always a lot of information out there for people to go through! 

As I do not want to overload people with information, I am going to try to focus in this section on the main current guidance (x 2) about SEN and Covid-19, which was provided by the DfE (Department of Education) at the end of last week, entitled: 

•    ‘Guidance for full opening: schools’ [updated on 5/11/2020] and

•    ‘What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges in the autumn term’ [updated on 6/11/2020]. 

As both of these sets of guidance are very long and detailed, I would encourage you to read them for yourselves directly if they concern or are of interest to you, by clicking on one of the links above. However, let me quickly give you an overview here.

‘Guidance for full opening: schools’ [updated on 5/11/2020] 

Focuses on how the DfE expects schools to now operate and includes:

•    school operations
•    curriculum, behaviour and pastoral support
•    assessment and accountability
•    contingency planning to provide continuity of education in the case of a local outbreak

Introduction, then set out in 5 sections, as follows:

Section 1: Public health advice to minimise coronavirus (COVID-19) risks, which covers:

•    Risk assessment
•    The system of controls: protective measures
•    Prevention
•    Response to any infection

This section then expands ‘Prevention’, to cover:

1. Minimise contact with individuals who are unwell by ensuring that those who have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or who have someone in their household who does, do not attend school

2. Where recommended, use of face coverings in schools

3. Clean hands thoroughly more often than usual

4. Ensure good respiratory hygiene by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach

5. Introduce enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often using standard products, such as detergents

6. Minimise contact between individuals and maintain social distancing wherever possible

a. How to group children
b. Measures within the classroom
c. Measures elsewhere
d. Measures for arriving at and leaving school
e. Other considerations

7. Where necessary, wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)

8. Keeping occupied spaces well ventilated

9. Engage with the NHS Test and Trace process

10. Manage confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst the school community

11. Contain any outbreak by following local health protection team advice

It also covers ‘Alternative Provision’.

Section 2: School operations:

•    Transport
•    Dedicated school transport, including statutory provision
•    Wider public transport
•    Pupils travelling from abroad
•    Attendance
•    Self-isolation and shielding
•    Pupils and families who are anxious about attending school
•    Action for all schools and local authorities
•    School workforce
•    Staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable
•    Staff who are clinically vulnerable
•    Staff who are pregnant
•    Staff who may otherwise be at increased risk from coronavirus (COVID-19)
•    Employer health and safety and equalities duties
•    Supporting staff
•    Staff deployment
•    Deploying support staff and accommodating visiting specialists
•    Recruitment
•    Supply teachers and other temporary or peripatetic teachers
•    Expectation and deployment of ITT trainees
•    Performance management and appraisal
•    Staff taking leave
•    Other support
•    Safeguarding
•    Catering
•    Estates
•    Educational visits
•    School uniform
•    Wraparound provision and extra-curricular activity

Section 3: Curriculum, behaviour and pastoral support:

•    Curriculum expectations
•    Education is not optional
•    The curriculum remains broad and ambitious
•    Specific points for early years foundation stage (EYFS) to key stage 3
•    Specific points for key stages 4 and 5
•    Music, dance and drama in school
•    Minimising contact between individuals
•    Performances
•    Peripatetic teachers
•    Music teaching in schools and colleges, including singing, and playing wind and brass instruments in groups
•    Playing outdoors
•    Playing indoors
•    Singing, wind and brass playing
•    Social distancing
•    Seating positions
•    Microphones
•    Handling equipment and instruments
•    Handwashing
•    Avoiding sharing instruments
•    Handling scores, parts and scripts
•    Suppliers
•    Pick up and drop off points
•    Individual lessons and performance in groups
•    Social distancing
•    Avoid sharing instruments
•    Physical activity in schools
•    Catch-up support
•    Behaviour expectations
•    Pupil wellbeing and support
•    Hospital schools

Section 4: Assessment and accountability:

•    Inspection
•    Primary assessment

Section 5: Contingency planning for remote education:

•    Process in the event of local outbreaks
•    Contingency plans
•    Remote education expectations
•    Special educational needs
•    Vulnerable children
•    Delivering remote education safely
•    Remote education support

Annex A: Health and safety risk assessment:

•    Sharing your risk assessment
•    Monitoring and review of risk controls
•    Roles and responsibilities
•    Wider guidance on the risk assessment process
•    Consulting employees (general)
•    Resolving issues and raising concerns
•    Approach to risk estimation and management

Annex B: education, health and care (EHC) plans:

•    SEND legislation
•    Risk assessments for children and young people with education, health and care plans (EHC)

‘What parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges in the autumn term’ [updated on 6/11/2020]

Covers matters similar to the above but now from a parent’s perspective and also includes things like attendance/assessments/admissions/uniform/mental health & well-being/local restrictions etc.

I hope that this helps you.

​THIS UPDATE’S FOCUS IS ON…
 
IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Educational Advice)
 
If you received my weekly updates during March to July, focused on the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’, you may recall that I not only highlighted information that I found in the news, but also as much useful information that I could  find on other helpful education/disability websites. 
 
I have therefore decided to try and now make the second section of these updates focus on organisations like these, to try and signpost people to information/resources that they are able to provide to people. 
 
In this update, I want to draw your attention to IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Educational Advice) and some of the information that they provide on their website and tell you a little bit about what they do.
 
I have been dealing with SEN cases personally as a solicitor for nearly 25 years now.  Throughout this time, whether as a ‘baby’ lawyer, or the more experienced lawyer that I hope that I have now become, I have always been involved with IPSEA in one way or another.  I have also been extremely lucky during that time to watch IPSEAblossom into the very effective organisation it is now, which consistently provides help to both parents (mainly) and professionals involved with SEN. 
 
Their website is updated regularly, including for the past seven months or so about Covid-19, school re-opening and SEN provision. Under their page entitled ‘Who we are’, they say the following:
 
“Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (known as IPSEA) is a registered charity (number 327691) operating in England. IPSEA offers free and independent legally based information, advice and support to help get the right education for children and young people with all kinds of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We also provide training on the SEND legal framework to parents and carers, professionals and other organisations.
 
Why families need IPSEA
By law, children with SEND are entitled to educational support that meets their individual needs. Since IPSEA was formed in 1983, we have helped to improve educational support for thousands of children with all kinds of SEND. We do this by providing free and independent legally-based information, advice and casework support.
 
Our unique range of services has been developed to ensure that families understand their children’s legal rights and entitlements and that they are empowered to enforce those rights to secure the right education for their child.
 
How we help
IPSEA has a suite of free downloadable legal guides and resources available to parents and carers. These guides are complemented by a free Advice Line which provides legally based information and next step advice on any educational issue that is a result of a child's SEND. IPSEA’s Tribunal Helpline gives next step advice on appeals and disability discrimination claims to the SEND Tribunal and is also the gateway to our Tribunal Support Service where a referral can be made for more extensive casework support from a volunteer, including representation at the hearing. Our advice services are delivered by a national network of around 200 highly-trained volunteers, supervised and supported by IPSEA’s Legal Team members.
 
IPSEA provides legal training for parents, school staff, parent carer forums, support groups and other organisations in order to increase their knowledge and understanding of the SEN legal framework. The proceeds raised from our training courses helps fund IPSEA’s core services (Advice Line, Tribunal Helpline and Tribunal Support Service).
 
We also work to challenge unlawful SEND policy and influence policy development at both a local and national level. Our policy work is informed by information and evidence captured through our training and advice services, and has been instrumental in shaping law and policy in the field of special educational needs and disability. 
 
IPSEA also provides information about the range of services that they have developed and on their page entitled ‘Our Services’ they say as follows: 
 
“Our unique range of services has been developed to ensure that families, and those advising them, understand children and young people’s legal rights and entitlements to education provision.
 
Advice Line
Our Advice Line provides legally based information and next step advice on any educational issue that is the result of a child’s special educational needs or disability
 
Tribunal Helpline
Our volunteers give next step advice on appeals and disability discrimination claims to the SEND Tribunal
 
Tribunal Support Service
We make referrals for more extensive support from a volunteer, including representation at Tribunal hearings
 
Information Service
Our Information Service is for general legal enquiries and will signpost you to fact sheets and resources on our website”
 
If parents need help about SEN, IPSEA provide other information and also some model letters about which they say: 
 
“You can download and amend our model letters to use for your own purposes. You should read the relevant section of the site about each topic first to ensure you understand how and when to use these letters.
 
EHC needs assessments
 
·       To request an Education, Health and Care needs assessment (Model letter 1)
·       To request a re-assessment (Model letter 2)
·       Complaining when the LA does not respond to a request for an EHC needs assessment within the 6 week time limit (Model letter 9)
·       Complaining when an EHC needs assessment is not being carried out properly (Model letter 7)
·       Complaining when the LA has not issued the draft or final EHC Plan following assessment (Model letter 10)
 
Amending EHC plans
 
·       To respond to the draft EHC plan sent by the LA (Model letter 3)
·       Complaining when the LA will not consider the school or college you want named in your EHC plan (Model letter 14)
·       Objecting to the amendments the LA is proposing to an existing EHC plan (Model letter 4)
·       Complaining when the local authority does not send out the final amended EHC plan in time (Model letter 15)
 
IPSEA also provides a range of training to both parents and professionals (see their page entitled: ‘Learn about and book training’) and they also provide two very informative pages, entitled ‘News’ (which is constantly updated) and ‘IPSEA Blogs’.
 
As I say, IPSEA is a very effective organisation for those parents and professionals who need to know about SEN. 
 
I hope that this also helps you.

FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS
In my last SEN Update (at the beginning of the Autumn Term 2020-21), I said that the main SEN events that were due to take place around this time (many of which had been previously due to take place earlier this year) have had to be put off until next year now. I know that the Autism Show ran a webinar week recently, but it will not be up and running in person again until next June/July 2021.
 
In terms of more forthcoming SEN events, I would draw your attention to the following:
 

• The TES SEN Show at the Business Design Centre in London, on 8-9/1/2021;
• The Southern/Northern/Eastern Education Shows respectively on 3,9 and 25/2/2021.
• The Naidex Exhibition (on Disability) at the NEC in Birmingham on 9-10/3/2021; and

 
I do realise that further changes in the Covid-19 pandemic rules may again affect whether these events actually can go ahead in person or not, so I would encourage you to keep abreast directly of what is happening with them, if one of these events interests you.

I CAN’T MOVE I’M AFRAID…

Having been working from home on a full-time basis for the last seven months or so, I am no longer galivanting around the place in my wheelchair in London (where I live), or going on my little ‘adventures’ around the world (where I go on my charity bike rides). 

Although I can still go to events/places ‘virtually’, over these recent months I have been reflecting on some of the situations that I have found myself in over the years, some of which have been quite amusing sometimes. So, I want to share some of these stories with you here.

​In this update, I want to first tell you about what happened to me when I was supposed to be going to a very prominent event, where an eminent person was due to be giving a lecture.  The event was held in a very prestigious place in the midst of winter.

​As I knew that it would be a sought-after event, I had booked places well ahead of time and took some of my team with me. I was really looking forward to it and put a lot of planning into making sure that I could be there. How different things would have been now if the lecture had been given virtually, so that I would be able to enjoy it from the comfort of my own home.
 
As I cannot use public transport in my electric wheelchair, we all took a large people-carrier cab up to the venue (which can also transport my wheelchair for me). We were all very excited to be going to the event and I had planned for us to arrive at the venue in good time, in order to get ahead of the curve and get good seats near the front, where I would be able to properly see the speaker (I am afraid that I also have a visual impairment, so I need to sit as close as possible to the front of a seated event, in order to see the speaker properly).
 
However, although we arrived in good time, when we got there and the cab driver took my wheelchair out of the cab for me to sit in, after I sat in it and only moved forward just a few inches, one of my front castors (the small wheels on the front of a wheelchair) came off, so I suddenly came to a complete halt and was almost tipped out forwards from the wheelchair.  The castor had obviously been coming off slowly and had probably chosen this time to come off completely, so as to cause me the maximum difficulty!
 
At the same time, the doorman of the venue, who could see that something was wrong, came down to ask me if he could help me with anything (the venue had a number of steps up to the entrance, so I had anticipated that I would be taken to a side entrance to get in, as I usually have to). When he saw the predicament that I had been placed into, he kindly brought out a chair for me to sit on. However, as it was quite a stately venue, the only chair that he could find to bring me was a very proper and ornate high-backed one, that looked a bit like a throne! Although it was very comfortable for me to sit upon, I now felt a little bit strange and self-conscious sitting on it at the front of this venue, watching people go inside, like I was some sort of king observing his subjects.  
 
Try as we may, we could just not get the castor back onto the wheelchair safely and, as time was now going by quickly and I could see lots of people arriving and going into the venue, I told the other members of my team that they should go in now and enjoy the lecture without me, which they reluctantly did, after my insistence. I then called for another cab to pick me up and take me home, but was then told that it would now be a 30 minutes or so wait, as it was the rush hour at the end of the working day. 
 
So, I waited on my ‘throne’ outside at the front of the venue, with my lopsided wheelchair besides me, getting colder and colder. Remember it was mid-winter and I had thought that I was traveling to and from the venue in a warm cab, so I was not really dressed up as warmly as I should have been. 
 
Every once in a while (although, to my increasing embarrassment, it seemed constantly), people going into the venue would ask me if I was alright and whether they could help me go in (they could see my wheelchair besides me, so had realised that I was physically disabled). I just kept smiling though as much as I could (it really was not easy) and just told them that I was fine, even though I was clearly demonstrably not!
 
Finally, just before the cab arrived and helped to end this awful chapter in my life, although I had managed to by then to keep smiling and give out my standard response that I was fine to well-meaning strangers asking if they could help me go in, I could now no longer hide my frustration.
 
So, when now it seemed the hundredth person asked me if I was alright and if I wanted to go into the venue, I heard myself now say through shivering and chattering teeth: 
 
“I would if I could, but I can’t move, I’m afraid!”.

With best wishes
 
Douglas ​

by Douglas Silas
Specialist SEN solicitor

The first thing I usually say to you in my first SEN Update, at this time of year, is welcome back again after the summer break.

But this year I am only going to say welcome back again after the break! This is because I am very conscious this year that some people have been really on a ‘break’ since the end of March this year because of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 situation and I know that the year so far has been an extremely different and difficult one for everybody. It is also like we have accelerated our move into the digital world through this time!
 
I sure that the current situation is going to continue for a while in one form or another and we are all going to have to adapt to the new ways we have had to find to do things.  For my part, I am going to continue sending my SEN Updates out (but now in the second week of every new term/half-term on a Monday morning now, as opposed to a Friday, as I did with my weekly updates during the initial ‘lockdown’. 
 
I know how important it is to have a reliable/routine source of information available from someone you know that you can trust to tell you how it is!
 
In this, my first SEN Update for the academic year 2020-21, you will find sections entitled:

• GOVERNMENT UPDATES (EXTERNAL CHANGES)
• MY UPDATES (INTERNAL CHANGES)
• FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS
• IT ALL SEEMS TO HAVE GONE VIRTUAL!

 
As I always say, I know how busy everyone always is, so please feel free just to read 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 above, or by following me on one of the Social Media platforms that I use, which you will find on the right of this page.

You can also share this update with others (please only do so if it may be relevant to them), by using one of the icons usually to the right or at the bottom of this page.

GOVERNMENT UPDATES (EXTERNAL CHANGES)
You may have already seen the SEN Update that I sent out a week or so before schools went back called ‘Getting Back to School’, which referred to lots of Government guidance issued for those of you who needed it. 
 
Although there was a lot of guidance before, as things seem to be moving quite fast still, I would like to bring your attention to a few further things that have been sent out since by the Department for Education (DfE) here. 
 
These are very long and detailed sections, so please feel free to skip one or both of them if they do not concern you.

First, I would like to draw your attention to the Secretary of State’s announcement on 2/7/2020 about ‘Changes to the law and education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to Coronavirus (Covid-19)’ which was first issued on 30/4/2020 and updated on 26/8/2020, which you can find by clicking on the link which then refers to a couple of further links, which provide more detailed information.
 
The advice itself is entitled ‘Education, health and care needs assessments and plans: Guidance on temporary legislative changes relating to Coronavirus (Covid-19)’ and says as follows: 

​‘Purpose of this guidance
On 1 May 2020 some aspects of the law on education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments and plans changed temporarily to give local authorities, health commissioning bodies1 , education settings and other bodies who contribute to these processes more flexibility in responding to the demands placed on them by coronavirus (COVID-19).

These changes were:

a) The Special Educational Needs and Disability (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 (the ‘Amendment Regulations’). This instrument temporarily amends 4 sets of Regulations that specify timescales that apply to local authorities, health commissioning bodies and others: principally for various processes relating to EHC needs assessments and plans. Where it is not reasonably practicable or is impractical to meet that time limit for a reason relating to the incidence or transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), the specific time limit (such as to issue a plan to someone eligible for one within 20 weeks of the initial request) in the regulations being amended will not apply. Instead, the local authority or other body to whom that time limit applies will have to complete the process as soon as reasonably practicable or in line with any other timing requirement in any of the regulations being amended (see Annex A: details of the amendments to the existing Regulations). These changes will come to an end on 25 September 2020, after which all the usual statutory timescales will come back into force.

b) From 1 May to 31 July 2020, section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (duty to secure special educational and health care provision in accordance with EHC plan) was modified by a notice from the Secretary of State for Education issued under the Coronavirus Act 2020. During this period, local authorities and health commissioning bodies were required to use their ‘reasonable endeavours’ to discharge this duty. To help ensure that children and young people receive the support they need to return to school, we will not be issuing further notices to modify this duty unless the evidence changes.

This guidance provides a summary of the legislative changes described in paragraph (a) above and sets out the key implications for all those who play a part in the processes relating to EHC needs assessments and plans. It is intended to help those with statutory duties relating to SEND to understand how the temporary changes to the law affect them and how to discharge any duties that have been amended. It also sets out our expectations over how EHC needs assessment and plan processes should be managed if there are likely to be cases still in progress when the Amendment Regulations expire on 25 September where the coronavirus exception has been used.

This guidance is non-statutory. All decisions must be made on the facts of the case and the interpretation of legislation is ultimately a matter for the Courts.

The target audience for this guidance is:

·       families and parent carer forums
·       SEND Information, Advice and Support Services (SENDIASS)
·       local authorities (both their SEND and social care services, at a strategic and operational level)
·       health commissioning bodies (again, at both strategic and operational level)
·       early years providers, schools, colleges and other education settings
·       others who contribute advice and information to EHC needs assessments, such as educational psychologists and other health care professionals
·       mediation advisers

This guidance also confirms which key elements of the processes over EHC needs assessments and plans are unchanged. Notably this includes that a local authority must:

·       still consider requests for a new EHC needs assessment
·       still secure all of the required advice and information in order to be able to issue a plan
·       have regard to the views and wishes of a child, the child’s parent or a young person when carrying out its SEND functions under the Children and Families Act 2014 (‘the 2014 Act’)
 
Given that the changes to legislation are temporary, we will not be updating the statutory guidance, the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years. We recommend that anyone referring to the SEND code of practice about EHC needs assessment and plan processes that are operational between now and 25 September also reads this guidance. It is also important to refer to the Amendment Regulations for the full detail of the changes.

This document is part of delivering on our ongoing commitment to ensuring that children and young people with complex needs are supported effectively during this national health emergency. As such, it sits alongside the autumn term guidance for:

·       early years and childcare providers
·       mainstream schools
·       special schools and other specialist settings
·       further education (FE) colleges and providers

The autumn term guidance provides information on steps these settings will need to take to ensure children and young people with SEND can return to full-time provision.’

I also referred previously to the ‘Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings’ in my previous email, but this guidance was updated last week on 8/9/2020 and the email I received the next day from the DfE said as follows:

‘We would like to draw your attention to an updated version of the Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings to reflect the actions special schools and other specialist settings need to take to support full opening from the start of the autumn term. The main updates are listed at the start of the document and include:  
 
•           changes to SEND legislation 
•           use of face coverings in settings 
•           the framework for supporting transport to and from settings 
•           pupils who are shielding or self-isolating 
•           actions for all schools and local authorities with regards to recording attendance and absence 
•           employer health and safety and equalities duties 
•           support available for schools with regard to supply teachers 
•           performance management and appraisal for teachers 
•           health and safety 
•           music, dance and drama in school 
•           wraparound provision and extra-curricular activity 
•           physical activity in schools 
•           new resources available for pupil wellbeing and support 
•           behaviour expectations 
•           primary assessment 
•           additional resources available for delivering remote education 
•           health and safety risk assessments for those with an EHC plan 
 
AGPs 
 
The government is committed to a full return to school for all pupils. There are a small number of children with complex needs that require AGPs to be undertaken where risks need to be carefully managed in the context of the pandemic and we are aware of the concerns being raised around this issue. Schools, health and local authority partners need to work together on how the current guidance applies in their setting and to the specific children they are working with in order to enable them to return to school safely. We have heard examples of good practice locally and are working with PHE and NHSE to establish whether any changes to the guidance or further information about practice principles are needed. It is important that schools communicate clearly with parents on progress towards supporting children who need AGPs to return to school safely.’  ​​

There have also been further developments in terms of education, so I would also draw your attention to a letter sent out by Vicky Ford, the parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Children and Families, addressed to children and young people with special educational needs (SEND), their families and carers and those who work to support them. The email that I received, which I was asked to share as widely as possible, said:
 
‘The letter provides advice and guidance on several issues, including behaviour, risk assessments, face coverings, specialist and visiting practitioners, mental health and well-being, aerosol generating procedures and hospital schools, as well as linking to some of the support available to help’, 
 
The letter itself states:
 
‘As minister with responsibility for special educational needs, I wanted to write to you about support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to return to school.
 
Return to school 
I am extremely grateful to those working in schools and colleges for the preparations they have made to ensure all children and young people can get back into the classroom, with many returning for the first time since March. I recognise that for children and young people with SEND, and their families and carers and those who work tirelessly to support them, this is a particularly challenging and anxious time.
 
Returning to education is vital for the education of all children and for their wellbeing – time out of school is detrimental for children’s development, particularly for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. All children and young people value the structure and routine of regular attendance as well as the support and strong positive relationships provided by their school or college. It is critical that all children can one again benefit from a full time five day a week on-site education.
 
I do recognise, though, that the return to school may be more difficult for some children and young people, particularly those who have had to shield, received their education remotely without full access to specialist support, or been exposed to a range of adversity and trauma including bereavement, anxiety and in some cases increased welfare and safeguarding risks. Schools and colleges should work with children and young people with SEND and their families and carers so that they receive the education, therapeutic/specialist support, and reasonable adjustments that they need. The prolonged period of absence from schools and colleges may contribute to disengagement with education upon return to school, resulting in anxiety which could lead to increased incidence of poor behaviour.
 
School leaders should be mindful that disruptive behaviour might be the result of unmet educational or other needs and consider whether a multiagency assessment is necessary.
 
The Whole School SEND (WSS) Consortium have produced a handbook to support educational professionals to successfully re-engage pupils with learning after a period of disruption. They have also produced a COVID-19 SEND Review Guide to help schools reflect on their provision before September and a leaflet to support families and carers ask questions to schools to support successful returns. These resources are available on the SEND Gateway and webinars are hosted on WSS’s YouTube page shortly after being delivered. Details of future training sessions are held on the events page of the SEND Gateway. You can opt to join Whole School SEND’s community of practice when you sign up for an event to receive notifications about future training and resources as they are published.
 
Behaviour policies 
To assist all school leaders and staff in welcoming back all pupils, we have developed a tool for mainstream schools to support the re-engagement of pupils. To further support schools, our full opening guidance advises that schools and specialist settings should update their behaviour policy to reflect the new protective measures, as well as any new rules and routines.
 
In the event that a pupil’s behaviour warrants disciplinary action, the normal rules apply and the disciplinary powers, including exclusion, that schools currently have remain in place. Permanent exclusion should only be used as a last resort and must be lawful, reasonable, and fair. Where a child with a social worker is at risk of exclusion, their social worker should be informed and involved in relevant conversations. Any disciplinary exclusion of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be consistent with the relevant legislation. Headteachers should, as far as possible, avoid permanently excluding any pupil with an Education, Health and Care Plan. Pre-empting that a pupil may commit a disciplinary offence, and thus not allowing a pupil to attend school is an unlawful exclusion.
 
Ofsted will continue to consider exclusions, including the rates, patterns and reasons for exclusion and to look for any evidence of off-rolling. Off-rolling is never acceptable. Ofsted is clear that schools placing pressure on parents to remove their child from the school (including to home educate their child) is a form of off-rolling. Elective Home Education should always be a positive choice taken following a discussion between parents the school, and the local authority about how the needs of the child might best be met. This is particularly important where vulnerable children, children in need, and those at greater risk of harm are involved.
 
Risk assessments 
It may be necessary to undertake individual risk assessments to understand the level of additional support a child or young person may need. These can help reassure pupils, families and carers, and staff that it is safe for the pupil to be welcomed back to school. Risk assessments should inform a plan of action which focuses on supporting attendance and engagement and identifies what additional support children and young people need to make a successful return to their full time education. Such an assessment would also be useful if children and young people have to self-isolate or if a local outbreak of Covid-19 requires a school or college to return to more limited attendance.
 
Face coverings 
To provide further reassurance, we have also updated our guidance on face coverings. Schools and colleges will have the discretion to require face coverings in indoor communal areas where social distancing cannot be safely managed, if they believe that it is right in their particular circumstances. In areas of national government intervention where the transmission of the virus is high, in education settings where Year 7 and above are educated, face coverings should be worn by adults (staff and visitors) and pupils when moving around indoors, such as in corridors and communal areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain.
 
However, we have been clear that some individuals are exempt from wearing face coverings, including people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment or disability or people who are speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear sound or facial expression to communicate. The same exemptions will apply in education settings, including for staff providing specialist interventions and therapies, and we would expect teachers and other staff to be sensitive to those needs. More information on face coverings can be found here.
 
Specialist and visiting practitioners
Settings should minimise the number of visitors where possible, however, visiting specialists such as therapists, clinicians, peripatetic teachers and other support staff for pupils with SEND should provide interventions as usual, including moving between settings as required. Visitors may also include NHS staff, such as those delivering vaccinations as part of the national childhood immunisation programme, which are essential for children’s health and wellbeing. Such specialists will be aware of the PPE most appropriate for their role.
 
Mental health and wellbeing 
There will be some children and young people with SEND who will return to school with additional social, emotional and mental health needs. NHS mental health services remain open and have adapted to provide ongoing support to children and young people who need it. NHS mental health trusts are ensuring ongoing access to 24/7 crisis lines to support people of all ages.
 
The Wellbeing for Education Return programme will provide £8 million of funding, training, and resources for local authorities to equip education staff with resources, training and ongoing advice and support to promote children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health. This will link to and include resources sensitive to and supportive of children and young people with SEND.
 
Aerosol generating procedures 
There are a small number of children with complex needs that require aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) to be undertaken. Schools, health and local authority partners need to work together on how the current guidance applies in their setting and to the specific children they are working with in order to enable them to return to school safely. We have heard examples of good practice locally and are working with PHE and NHS England to establish whether any changes to the guidance or further information about practice principles are needed. It is important that schools communicate clearly with parents on progress towards supporting children who need AGPs to return to school safely.
 
Hospital schools 
There may be other reasons where any child or young person may be absent from school, including those with SEND. Where children and young people are receiving hospital education on hospital sites then should continue to be supported, including through remote learning support as necessary, to minimise the impact of their hospital stay on their education.
 
Once again, we would like to thank you for the hard work that you have done to prepare for the full return of children and young people for the new school year.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Vicky Ford MP
​Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families’

I hope that this helps people.

MY UPDATES (INTERNAL CHANGES)
I have also made a few internal changes to things to try and help people.
 
You may have noticed that our website now has a more clear and simplistic approach, which I hope you will find much easier to navigate and find information on that you may need.  For example, I have put all of these SEN Updates into an easily navigable page simply called ‘SEN Updates’ and have also tried to categorise my updates so that you can search for topics more easily if you need to.
 
You can now also sign up to get one of my (free) email courses entitled: ‘A Guide to SEN’, ‘How to Win a SEN Tribunal Appeal’ or to just get these regular ‘SEN Updates’ on every page and I have also made it easier to find our video cartoons/SEN FAQs which help explain things to people.

Additionally, I have updated my Guide to the SEND Code of Practice for the academic year 2020-21, which is available (again free) to read on theKindle bookstore.
 
I hope that this also helps people.

FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS
In my updates, I always like to try to draw people’s attention to some forthcoming SEN events which I think may be of interest to them.  I actually talked about this in my Update on 13/7/2020 called ‘Dates For Your Diary’.
 
Unfortunately, many of the things that I usually refer to are not available at the moment, because of the restrictions currently in place, and some have now been put back again, so I will just highlight the same things as follows:

• The Autism Show webinar week from 12-17/10/2020;
• The TES SEN Show at the Business Design Centre in London on 8-9/1/2021;
• Nadex Exhibition (on disability) at the NEC in Birmingham on 9-10/3/2021;

IT ALL SEEMS TO HAVE GONE VIRTUAL NOW!
As I am physically disabled and quite vulnerable myself as a wheelchair-user, I have to be very careful because, so personally have not even ventured out of my front door more than once in the past six months (don’t worry, I know that this thing will eventually pass). 
 
But I and many people have very quickly got very used to doing things virtually and have even actually enjoyed being able to work from home and to have more time now to be able to see more of my family.
 
Although some restrictions have been lifted (although some have also recently been put back in place), ‘holidays’ this year for many people were very different from how they have been in previous years. I knew that I would not be able to leave my home, but I still took a week’s holiday in August with my wife, Erica, and we visited many places around the globe ‘virtually’. 
 
We actually visited many places that I would never be able to go to in real life, because of my accessibility requirements and we also visited lots of places that we could never do in just a week’s holiday. For example, we visited the Taj Mahal in India one day, to the Great Barrier Reef and a lot of Australian cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra the next; then to Tokyo in Japan, to the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the Colorado Plains, Death Valley in America; then to the Pyramids in Egypt. In fact, we even saw the Northern Lights in Norway, the Colosseum in Rome, Mexico, Alaska and there were other places too. Phew! I cannot believe now that we saw so much in just a week!
 
And whilst doing this virtually, my mind was taken back to the time that we physically visited Amsterdam a couple of years ago. We had booked tickets to visit the Anne Frank museum.  When we got there though, it was explained to us that, as a wheelchair user, I would not be able to do the tour, as it required a lot of climbing up quite steep steps. 
 
However, I was told that I could do the tour ‘virtually’ through a virtual reality headset being put on me in the cafeteria. This was the first time that I had ever used a virtual reality headset and I found the whole experience quite amazing.  It must have been very funny for people to watch me in the cafeteria constantly turning my head around from right to left, to see everything that I wanted.  
 
When Erica returned after having done the physical tour, we compared our experiences. I was then very amused to find that I had actually visited a lot of places virtually, that she had been unable to on the tour physically because they had been sectioned off to protect them.
 
You see, sometimes doing something virtually, can actually be better than doing it for real itself!
 
As I said in the title of this update, ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’.
 
With best wishes
 
Douglas 

by Douglas Silas
Specialist SEN solicitor

Hi
 
I have decided to write/send this quick SEN Update about a week before schools go back for the new academic year this year (I will send my normal SEN Update for the Autumn Term in the week after schools go back).

​This is because I know that this year there is a lot of confusion and complexity about getting children and young people back into school after the Covid-19/Coronavirus situation.

I thought I would firstly try and make things a little easier for people by preparing this video below...

I am also sending you links to some information and guidance that you may benefit from, as follows:
​

• 'Guidance for full opening: schools' [updated from August 2020]
• 'Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings' [from July 2020]

You may also find it helpful to look at:

• ​Guidance on ‘Safe working in education, childcare and children’s social care settings, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)’ [from June 2020]; 
• Guidance on ‘Shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from Covid-19’ [from July 2020];
• 'COVID-19: guidance for young people on shielding and protecting people most likely to become unwell if they catch coronavirus' [updated in August 2020]

 
And if that were not enough(!), I am also putting a link here to some further guidance produced over the summer, as follows:

• ‘Transport to school and other places of education: autumn term 2020’ [from August 2020]

 
I hope that this helps people.
 
With good wishes, 
 
Douglas

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor.

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

The third bit of guidance that I want to highlight is the one entitled: ‘Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak’, which was first issued in March, but was updated this week. It says that it is guidance for providers registered with Ofsted and childminders registered with childminder agencies for children of all ages and says…

READ MORE ​

2. What does all of this mean?
The best summary that I have found of everything is on the Council for Disabled Children’s website entitled: ‘Department for Education publishes new guidance for schools and other educational settings in September’, which says:
 
‘Today the Department for Education has published detailed guidance to support schools and colleges to fully reopen in September and early years and childcare providers from 20 July.
 
At a press conference this afternoon, the Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson announced:
 

• Limits on attendance to be lifted to allow schools to open at full capacity
• Schools and colleges to deliver their full curriculum, ahead of exams next summer
• Limits on nursery group sizes to be lifted from 20 July
• “Covid-19 secure” measures to remain in place, with children self-isolating at home where needed

 
This means all children are expected back in school, full time from September and all provision for SEND should be in place.
 
Risk assessments for children and young people with education, health and care plans will remain in place. The government published ‘Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings’.
 
Below is an extract:
 
“Following the partial closure of educational and childcare settings from 20 March 2020, we asked local authorities to consider the needs of all children and young people with an  EHC  plan and to carry out a risk assessment. Local authorities were asked to work with education settings and parents or carers to determine whether children and young people would be able to have their needs met at home and be safer there than attending an education setting.
 
Risk assessments may prove useful now and over the autumn term, in identifying what additional support children and young people with  EHC  plans need to make a successful return to full education. Risk assessments may also prove useful if children and young people have to self-isolate, or if a local outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) requires a setting to return to more limited attendance, or temporarily close.
 
Whether individual risk assessments are used to help plan for the autumn term or not, education settings should, in the spirit of coproduction, contact parents and involve them in planning for their child’s return to their setting from September. They should also contact and involve young people over 16 who have EHC plans. That might include visits to the setting, social stories, and other approaches that specialist settings normally use to enable a child or young person with SEND, who has spent some time out of education, to return to full provision.”
 
The usual rules on school attendance will apply, including:
 

• parents’ duty to secure that their child attends regularly at school where the child is a registered pupil at school and they are of compulsory school age;
• schools’ responsibilities to record attendance and follow up absence
• the availability to issue sanctions, including fixed penalty notices in line with local authorities’ codes of conduct

 
The only pupils who are exempt are those who are unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical and/or public health advice. In that case, schools will be expected to be able to immediately offer access to remote education. Schools are also required to ‘monitor engagement with this activity’.
 
In regards to the temporary changes to SEND legislation where local authorities and health commissioners were required to use ‘reasonable endeavours’ to secure or arrange provisions for a child’s EHC this is expected to cease on July 31st and the absolute duty to provide back in place.’
 
I should probably also amplify on the last point, as the relevant guidance fully states:
 
‘Temporary changes to SEND legislation
Since May, as a result of the outbreak, it has been necessary to modify Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 so that local authorities and health commissioners must use their ‘reasonable endeavours’ to secure or arrange the specified special educational/ health care provision in EHC plans. We are committed to removing these flexibilities as soon as possible so that children and young people can receive the support they need to return to school. As such, unless the evidence changes, we will not be issuing further national notices to modify the EHC duties, but will consider whether any such flexibilities may be required locally to respond to outbreaks.
 
We will also continue to monitor the need for the temporary changes to the law on EHC needs assessments and plans that give local authorities and others who contribute to the relevant processes more flexibility in responding to the demands placed on them by coronavirus (COVID-19). These changes are currently in force until 25 September.
 
We remain committed to listening to and working with local authorities, parent carer representatives and specialist SEND organisations, to ensure that the lifting of the temporary changes is managed in a way that supports the needs of children and young people with SEND.
 
All education settings have a statutory duty under equalities legislation to make reasonable adjustments for disabled children. Many children and young people will have found lockdown exceptionally difficult socially and emotionally. Settings should consider any challenging behaviours or social or emotional challenges arising as a response to the lockdown and offer additional support and phased returns where needed.’

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

​2. What does this mean?
I’m not sure really!
 
Extra money for education is always a good thing, but the devil is always in the detail they say.
 
Let’s hope this is not just a knee-jerk reaction and there is now sufficient time to sort this out carefully and properly.

​On Tuesday, the Government then issued guidance called: "Supporting children and young people with SEND as schools and colleges prepare for wider opening”, which stated: 
 
“From the week commencing 1 June 2020 at the earliest, we will be asking primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups (vulnerable children and critical worker children). From the week commencing 15 June 2020 at the earliest, we will ask secondary schools, sixth form and further education colleges to offer some face-to-face support to supplement the remote education of year 10 and year 12 students who are due to take key exams next year, alongside the full time provision they are offering to priority groups.
 
As settings prepare for wider opening, this guidance provides information on provision for children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans and others with complex needs, such as children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) who do not have an EHC plan, but for whom the educational setting or local authority has exercised its discretion to do a risk assessment and offer a place at an educational setting1.
 
Throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, educational settings have been asked to ensure that vulnerable children and young people can attend where appropriate, including those children and young people who have an EHC plan, and for whom it is determined, following a risk assessment, that their needs can be as safely or more safely met in the educational environment. As settings prepare for wider opening, they should continue to offer places to vulnerable children and young people and should look to bring back more children and young people with EHC plans in these target year groups. Their return should be informed by their risk assessments, to help educational settings and local authorities ensure that the right support is in place for them to come back.
 
From 1 June we will be asking special schools and hospital schools to work towards a phased return of more children and young people, without a focus on specific year groups and informed by risk assessments. From 15 June, we will be asking specialist post-16 institutions to work towards a phased return of young people, without a focus on specific year groups or proportion of learners and informed by risk assessments….”

3.    Where can I find further information?
​
There isn't really much more that I can say in this update now.

However, as I always like to do at the end of my updates, I would again remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
 
- IPSEA
- Council for Disabled Children
- Contact
- Scope  
- Special Needs Jungle
 
I would also highlight again the fact that you can now get digital copies of the magazines: SEN Magazine and Autism Eye which are both very helpful to any parents or professionals involved with children/young people with SEN.

Remember also, that there are other videos on this website, especially the one at the top of this page which explains the coronavirus and its effect clearly to children.

Keep safe until next week.

With best wishes
 
Douglas

P.S I understand that there are a number of educational or other useful resources now on the web - I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that people are finding useful, so that I can direct others to them.

P.P.S.  I also want to highlight again the fact that there are currently a lot of scams out there, both online and through texts/WhatsApps. Please be extremely careful and help yourself and others not to become victims. You can learn more at: www.FriendsAgainstScams.org.uk.

Here is my update for this week.
 
Following last week's very long and detailed update about the recent changes to the law regarding SEN (which I will explain more soon), I have realised this week that I have a lot more detailed than information to provide to you, both of which may have been or may well be a bit of a 'wall of text' for people to read.
 
So, I have decided this week to try and do things slightly differently by putting the first couple of sections of this update into an animated video that should be easier for people to understand more quickly. Apologies for any mispronunciations!
 
I hope that this helps people again.
​

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

by Douglas Silas, specialist SEN solicitor

Following the very welcome reception that I received last week to my update, in particular to my sharing resources available, I am going to concentrate in my update this week with bringing you other information/resources that I have found on the web this week.

I hope that this helps people again.

1.    What has happened this week?
Although children and young people are now officially on their Easter holidays, I know that many people who are home-schooling recently have found it quite difficult to engage their children (both with SEN and without SEN) in learning, especially if they have also been trying to work at home.

There has been a bit more of a flurry of activity in the last week on the web, as many people have probably by now realised that the significant impact of the Covid-19/coronavirus situation is probably going to be here to stay for some time.

Although there have been a lot of educational resources provided for children who are doing online learning, as well as lots of other useful information being provided by many people/organisations, I have tried in this week's update to boil the information below down to only those which I think are of more significant help to as many people as possible. This does not mean though that there are not other good resources out there, but I may not yet have come across these.

(If you have found something else that you think will benefit others, please do let me know, so that I can tell others).

I have tried to separate the below into four kinds of information, as follows:

•    Government information
•    Financial information
•    Educational resources
•    Legal information  

Government information

The first thing that I want to highlight is current Government guidance:

•    First again, there is the "Coronavirus (Covid-19) Guidance on Vulnerable Children and Young People”, which you can find here.

•    There is also the "Guidance for Parents and Carers for Supporting Children and Young People's Mental Health and Well-being during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Outbreak”, which you will find here.

•    Then there is the revised “Guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” which now points out those people unable to work due to caring responsibilities, can now be furloughed by their employer (which came out on 6/4/2020), which you can find about on Contact’s website here and on the Government’s website here.

Financial information

•    There is also now clarification that are free school meal vouchers will continue for the Easter holidays, more details of which you can read about on the BBC’s website here).

•    There is also the fact that the Government has announced a hardship fund to provide Council Tax support to vulnerable people in households affected most by coronavirus, more details of which you find on Scope’s website here and on the Government’s website here.

•    In addition, there is a lovely roundup of resources currently available for people on the Disabled Children's Partnership "Coronavirus Help and Support” page on Scope’s website, which you can find here.

Educational resources

•    In terms of educational resources, the Government has also now provided support for schools and parents with educational resources that will help children learn at home, which you can find here.

•    There is also a nice round up of resources that are available both educationally and generally on the Special Needs Jungle website, which you can find here.
S
•    There is also a nice update on "Ways to keep your kids entertained during lockdown" that appears on the Scope website, which you will find here.

(In addition, there are a number of websites offering educational resources, which you can find under the Twitter feed "#homelearning”).

Legal information

•    In terms of what is happening on the law concerning SEN generally, you may benefit from the webinar presentation produced by the team at 39 Essex Chambers, which you will find on their website here.

•    There are also helpful articles answering questions about the Coronavirus Act 2020 and the legal duties of local authorities, education institutions and childcare providers towards children with SEN and disabilities on the Irwin Mitchell website, which you can find here.

•    There is also free access now to individual Chapters of “Disabled children: A legal handbook" which is in its third edition now and is written by Steve Broach and Luke Clements, which you can find on the Council for Disabled Children's website here.

2.    What does this all mean?
Whilst this should feel helpful theoretically, there is always a practical difficulty when you are faced with a number of different bits of information or resources, as to whether it is really helpful to you, or whether it actually just overwhelms you!

The trick that I have found personally over the years, is to initially look at everything and triage it according to its benefit and importance. You then need to make a personal decision about whether that information is really useful to you or not (or whether it is also worth sending to somebody else if you don’t need it, in case it may actually benefit them, even though it may not benefit you).

The worst thing that you can do though is to open up all of the above links/resources and then leave them there waiting for you to return to them at a later time. The more time that then goes by will only increase your anxiety over it.

What I have found with these kind of things (and in life generally) is that it is always better to deal with something at the time, rather than leaving it until later to return to, to look at it properly. As people often say, you may actually never get the time to look at it properly.

This is especially if you are now trying to work at home with children running about who need to be entertained!

3.    Where can I find further information?
Personally I often find it find more helpful to watch a video to help explain things to me if I am able to, rather than just reading text, which is sometimes more difficult to decipher.
​
Finally, I would again remind you of the very useful resources and information provided on the following websites:
 
- IPSEA
- Council for Disabled Children
- Contact
- Scope  
- Special Needs Jungle

Remember also, that there are also other videos on this website, especially the one at the top of this page which explains the coronavirus and its effect clearly to children.

Keep safe until next week.
 
With best wishes
 
Douglas

P.S I understand that there are a number of educational or other useful resources now on the web - I would be very grateful if you could let me know of any that people are finding useful, so that I can direct others to them.

P.P.S.  I also want to highlight again the fact that there are currently a lot of scams out there, both online and through texts/WhatsApps. Please be extremely careful and help yourself and others not to become victims. You can learn more at: www.FriendsAgainstScams.org.uk.