Agenda and minutes

Education and Local Economy Scrutiny Commission - Tuesday 16 November 2021 7.00 pm

Venue: Ground Floor Meeting Room G02A - 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2QH. View directions

Contact: Amit Alva  Email: Amit.Alva@southwark.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

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    To receive any apologies for absence.

    Minutes:

    Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Nick Johnson and Councillor Eleanor Kerslake.

     

    Apologies for lateness was received by Councillor Karl Eastham.

2.

Notification of any items of business which the chair deems urgent

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    In special circumstances, an item of business may be added to an agenda within five clear working days of the meeting.

    Minutes:

    There were no items of business which the Chair deemed urgent.

3.

Disclosure of interests and dispensations.

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    Members to declare any interests and dispensations in respect of any item of business to be considered at this meeting.

    Minutes:

    There were no disclosure of interests and dispensations.

4.

Minutes

5.

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY (SEND) - OVERVIEW

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    To hear from Nicky, Parent and Chair of Southwark Independent Voice, a parent-led volunteer organisation working to share information and resources to improve the life of individuals with SEND living in Southwark.

     

    To hear from Simon Eccles, Executive Head teacher, Spa Education Trust. An introduction to Spa Schools and its specialist services.

     

     

    To receive a report from Yvonne Ely, Head of SEN & Inclusion, Children's and Adults' Services on Special Educational needs and Disability (SEND):

    (Report to follow)

     

    ·  Additional overview of SEND processes and their complexities within Southwark.

    ·  Provision for children with SEND, including NHS community-based paediatric referrals.

    ·  Overview of Southwark’s Local Offer.

     

    Supporting documents:

    Minutes:

    The commission first heard from Nicky, Parent and Chair of Southwark Independent Voice (SIV), a parent-led volunteer organisation working to share information and resources to improve the life of individuals with SEND living in Southwark. The commission learnt about Nicky’s difficult experiences with her son who suffers from Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), in addition to self-harming tendencies, severe anxiety, obesity and sleep issues. The commission also heard that Nicky’s son is intelligent and that he is on his tenth educational setting, average educational placements last 12 months and mostly part-time. Nicky also informed the commission that initially through Southwark Council and under her supervision her son would attend tuition in the library, however for the past two and half years her son has been attending a school which involves a lot of travelling which cause him to have severe anxiety and be travel sick, this current educational placement ends in July 2022.

     

    The commission learnt from Nicky about the struggles of being a single parent of a child with SEND with regards to changing educational settings and travelling to schools with her child that are further away, it was at the current Spa specialist school where she got introduced to Simon Eccles, Executive Head Teacher, Spa Education Trust who was also present at the commission meeting.

     

    Nicky also explained to the commission, how the initially setup parent care forum for SEND failed and a new forum was started by herself to help parents navigate through the process with guidance from experienced parents such as herself. Nicky explained further that since 2015 every borough has a parent care forum for SEND which has been linked into its Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP), the government has mandated that each parent care forum receives £17,500 a year through the Department of Education also ensuring its parent-led, parent voices are heard and it is supported by professionals. The commission also learnt that the staffing costs amount for half of the £17500, this does not leave a lot of money for other aspects of running a forum and providing support. Nicky explained to the commission that she led an initiative to convince parents who have professional experience from different fields to run coffee mornings, webinars and much needed training for parents who are relatively new and inexperienced with processes of SEND.

     

    The commission heard from Nicky that specialist schools such as Spa have been doing an amazing job at providing specialist education however mainstream provision has a lot of issues. Southwark Independent Voice has won the community group of the year award within the borough and is now reaching to help other parent led groups by sharing their experiences and practices. When a child is identified at an early age with special needs, specialist provisions in Southwark work quite well to support the child, some mainstream schools do have provisions but with rise in more independent schools there is a lack of interaction and training, more work needs to be done  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

CABINET RESPONSE TO THE REPORT OF THE EDUCATION AND LOCAL ECONOMY SCRUTINY COMMISSION: EDUCATION: CHILDREN'S EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

7.

PROPOSED WORK PROGRAMME 2021-22