Years and Childhood Partnership and Associate, National Children’s Bureau Our Special Needs Inclusion Project Fiona Vacher, Executive Director of Jersey Child Care Trust An Introduction to the Jersey Parent Carers Forum Ellie Sharples and Heidi Lewis, Jersey Parent Carers Forum Parental engagement and improving progression and outcomes for children with SEND Brian Lamb OBE, Visiting Professor of SEND Derby University, Visiting Fellow London South Bank University, Chair of Achievement for All Early Childhood Development Programme Update Annamarie Hassall MBE, Director of Practice and Programmes, National Children’s Bureau
Education and Short Break services identified a lack of consultation with parents. • http://www.scrutiny.gov.je/news/2016/Pages/ParentForum.aspx • Agreement across Education, Health and Social Services of the value of promoting parent participation and co-production of services. • A working group of parents, and members from Education, Health and Social Services evolved to support the development of Parent Carer Forum Jersey.
parents and carers in Jersey (wider community) Parent Forum Management Committee includes Independent Chair Person Up to 16 parents/carers from the wider community Parent Forum Partnership Committee Includes Independent Chair Person Lead Reps from Management Committee members Service Leads from States of Jersey Departments
expertise and experience to help plan and improve the services that are used by children and young people with special needs in Jersey. • Work with States Departments of Social Security, Health & Social Services, Education, Housing and Adult Services to get the best possible help for families and young people.
information and experiences. • Provide feedback and make suggestions about the needs of families and children with special needs so that services can be changed and updated. • Work strategically with States of Jersey departments to create quality services for parent carer’s and children/ young people with special needs. • Promote inclusive practice.
with various States Departments on: Community Short Break Services Facilitating training & information sessions for Social Security & the Education Code of Practice Feedback on the Disability Discrimination Law • Attended Annual Conference National Network for Parent Carer Forums in November 2017
SEN is too low and the gap with their peers too wide. This is a hangover of a system, and a society, which did not place enough value on achieving good outcomes for disabled children and children with SEN” ‘What has struck us quite forcibly is that it seems no one has had a discussion with parents about the outcomes they aspire to for their child.’ Lamb Inquiry.
the impact of parental involvement in their child’s learning on attainment. Parental involvement has a positive effect on children’s achievement even when the influence of background factors such as social class and family size have been taken into account.” (Desforges C et al 2003). “The empirical evidence shows that parental involvement is one of the key factors in securing higher student achievement and sustained school performance.” (Harris 2006.) “Studies have indicated that parenting style can account for 19% of the gap in mathematics, 21% of the gap in literacy and 33% of the gap in language.” (J Waldfogel and E Washbrook, Early years policy. 2008) Pre-school has a positive and long term impact on children’s attainment, progress and social- behavioural development. • At school entry (age 5), attending pre-school improved children’s academic and social outcomes with an early start (before 3) and attending a high quality setting being particularly beneficial. …… high quality pre-school reduced the risk of later SEN identification. Effective pre-school, primary and secondary education project (EPPSE 3-16+) 2015
how well their children learn to communicate, and how quickly they learn language; Hoff shows that differences between affluent and disadvantaged children’s language ability at two years of age can be explained almost entirely in terms of differences in the complexity and diversity of the speech these children hear from their mothers. Erika Hoff, ‘The Specificity of Environmental Influence: Socioeconomic Status Affects Early Vocabulary Development via Maternal Speech’, 2003
train academic and parenting skills: Pupil Age Parent Effects School Effects 7 0.29 0.05 11 0.27 0.21 16 0.14 0.51 Best effects: Effect size Parents helped to read to child 0.18 Parents helped to listen to child read 0.51 Parents helped to teach specific reading skills 1.15
and schools must, in relation to children/young people with SEN, have regard to: • the views, wishes and feelings of the child/young person and their parents/carers • the importance of the child/young person and their parents/carers participating as fully as possible in decisions, and being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions • the need to support the child/young person and their parents/carers, in order to facilitate the development of the child/young person and to help them achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes, preparing them effectively for adulthood
years education, that is all early years’ providers in the States, private, voluntary and independent sectors that the Education Department funds, are required to have regard to this Code including the principles set out in Chapter 1. This is stipulated by the Nursery Education Fund (NEF) and the partnership agreement signed by the Education Department and each early years education provider.
and met so the child/ young person has as good a chance as possible of a fulfilling life •To be in good communication with professionals/workers dealing with their child/young person’s case •To be listened to and have their views taken on board – or at least be respectfully included in discussion around ‘next best’ options •To interact with staff who know and apply SEND law and principles and who understand good practice •To interact with staff who show understanding and empathy of the lived reality of caring for a child/young person with complex SEND These themes mirrored in surveys of Jersey parents views. 37
(1991) Models of Parent Partnership and Child Development Centres. Child Care, Health and Development 17(1), 27-38) Social Network/Parent Social Network Informal and Formal Network of Support Parent Individual strengths resources and needs Consumer Defining strategies and outcomes Professional Facilitating system Commissioning Expert role but to end of facilitating better decisions Provides advice and expertise where necessary
SEN 2. Own Resources 3. Networks 4. Support for the Approach in the Setting or School Practitioners / Teachers Bring; 1. Knowledge and Expertise on how to teach/insight on SEN 2. Settings and Schools Resources 3. Access to additional support 4. Whole school Approach Co production
are convenient for parents •Meet outside of the early years setting or school if necessary •Ensure the parents have all the information they need before the meeting •Agreed length of time for the meeting •In the meeting professionals should ask open end questions
Cieran loved to play with cars and trains, so these were used as a tool to help Cieran manage his concentration levels and to develop his ability to share and play positively with other children. As a result of a very effective partnership between the setting and the family, Cieran’s behaviour has been transformed. Cieran’s concentration, listening skills and attention skills showed significant improvement. Staff also noticed that Cieran became very caring towards the younger children in the pre- school. If a child fell over, he would stop his play, ask if they were alright, and look to give physical comfort. Jill Gowing, Playdays Pre-School Manager, said: “Cieran has come on leaps and bounds and we are delighted with his progress. The approach we implemented for him has been consistent at home and in pre-school, and he’s responded really well. He soon became much calmer and his behaviour has improved dramatically. The impact on Cieran’s learning is significant: he has made accelerated progress across all areas of learning and is now at age related expectations. He has shown particular progress in Managing Feelings and Behaviour, Speaking, and Physical Development.
talk about “An issue one of my SEN children needs addressing” Each person will take a turn to either talk or listen for 1(ish) minute The listener should attempt to paraphrase- what has been said. Maintain a conversational rhythm Avoid long silences Avoid long periods of the speaker talking uninterruptedly Go back to your setting and Practice
baseline of 23% at age-related expectations. This rose to 69% by the end of the programme. •Personal social and emotional assessments at age-expected levels rose from 23% to 73%. 100% of parents indicated that the Structured Conversations ('Taking Time for Talk') had been helpful in supporting their child's learning. •100% of practitioners reported higher levels of confidence in working with parents. •As a result of the pilot programme, the number of settings involved judged “outstanding” by Oftsed increased from 2 to 8, and the number of settings judged “inadequate” fell from 5 to 0. Achieving Early Pilot Report, 2016
Stage 2 Key Stage 3-4 Progress shown in National Curriculum levels 108,000 pupils in Achievement for All Target Groups have made more progress than all other pupils in reading, writing and maths Achievement for All Target Groups All Children Nationally 41% Higher at Key Stages 3 and 4 31% Higher at Key Stage 2
analysis and targeted at particular groups of parents – this is particularly important for minority ethnic parents and disadvantaged parents. •Parental support programs which focus on both academic outcomes and training in parenting skills are more effective than interventions that do not include such training. •Parents require specific and detailed guidance and understanding of programmes, and what programmes expect parents to do. •Significant outcomes of parenting programmes include: parents’ acknowledging that a problem exists; gaining knowledge and skills to manage children’s behaviour; the confidence and empathy to use these skills effectively. •Parental engagement interventions can significantly improve the relationship between parents and children. •Parent tutoring interventions are effective in improving literacy skills for children. •Interventions for parents targeting children’s reading outcomes bring significant benefits. Training parents to teach their children reading skills can be more than twice as effective as encouraging parents to listen to their children read.
embedded in a whole setting strategy. (Early Years and Schools SEN Policy/Schools Information Report) •Leadership-Effective leadership of parental engagement is essential to the success of programmes and strategies. (Early Years and Schools Accountability Measures/Equality Act/Schools Information Report) •Collaboration and engagement-Parental engagement requires active collaboration with parents and should be pro-active rather than reactive. It should be sensitive to the circumstances of all families, recognise the contributions parents can make, and aim to empower parents. (Assessment/parental conversation) •Sustained improvement-A parental engagement strategy should be the subject of on-going support, monitoring and development. (Early years and School SEN Policy/Schools SEN Report) Goodhall, J. and Vorhaus. J. (2011) Review of Best Practice in Parental Engagement. London. DfE.
families via class meetings, informal one-on-one conversations, and home visits •Sharing data with families about skill levels •Modelling high-impact teaching practices such as dialogic reading and hands-on math activities so families can use them at home •Listening to families’ ideas about their children’s interests and challenges, and using this input to differentiate instruction •Incorporating content from families’ home cultures into classroom lessons. (Henderson, Mapp, Johnson and Davies, 2007)
and carers or young people – to improve engagement with educators and their involvement with their child’s learning and achievement • Wider outcomes to support the participation, enjoyment and achievement to increase confidence and wellbeing • High quality teaching and learning – leading to improved progress for all pupils (assessment and target setting) • Ensure provision maintains a sharp focus on the aspirations, access, and achievement of pupils identified with SEND Leadership Teaching and Learning Parent and carer Engagement Wider Outcomes
Research in Early Childhood with parents, practitioners and stakeholders, who found that: • the ECD Programme is contributing significantly to the improvement of planning and collaborative working on the Island, with the OBA approach being particularly successful in this area • Making it REAL and Knowledge Makes Change strands of work are also making good progress in relation to the aim of improving early childhood development capacity in the sector and also within families. • So far we have worked with 3,601 islanders, including 1,299 children – including 194 practitioners trained in REAL, 24 OBA champions and over 650 regular readers of the Knowledge Makes Change series Please fill in your evaluation form for this evening – we really want to hear your feedback to inform the seminar series.