NNPCF Report
Our CEO Rachel Hale attended the annual conference for Parent Carer Forums, organised by the National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) and Contact. Rachel is one of 20 National Representatives for NNPCF, which works at a national strategic level with government departments and other organisations. It’s a key forum to get our voices heard and the conference is a great opportunity to meet with representatives from other Parent Carer Forums from across the country. The speakers talked about good practice as well as what the system is struggling with.
There are lots of very negative messages in the media at the moment, and bad news stories always attract more press coverage, so it was really important to hear examples of good practice and success stories. Amanda Allard from the Council for Disabled Children gave a great presentation entitled What Works Well In SEND. The Portsmouth Profiling Tool has been a national success which is great for us as that is what the Needs Led Approach for the Neurodevelopmental Pathways in B&NES is based on. This is about ensuring our children get the support they need regardless of whether they have received a diagnosis yet or are on an assessment pathway.
The ISOS Partnership spoke about SEND Reform and how consensus and trust can be built up. Their view is that two “pillars” are needed to reform the system:
Pillar 1: A holistic and inclusive approach to childhood and education – with inclusion as a guiding principle, not an add-on, and with education as the centre of a broader approach to supporting childhood
Pillar 2: A statutory framework and the role of individual choice – to improve legal definitions of SEND and tests for EHCPs, and to align responsibilities and accountabilities within the system
ISOS proposed moving away from a system where access to support depends on individual statutory plans, and towards one where planning is valued in its own right and connects to a broader offer of ordinarily available support, which is certainly food for thought.
Phil Brayshaw and Diana Boyd from NHS England gave an update on the Learning Disability, Autism and SEND Programme. The aim of the programme is to support young people with autism, learning disabilities and SEND and also to ensure that they have equity of access to NHS services as others – equity being an approach which accommodates individual needs to provide equality. They talked about their national programme of work to achieve these goals.
Finally, there was a broader presentation on current national developments in SEND thinking and policy, showing how the government is drawing in expertise from a range of charities and supporting bodies. This includes the appointment of Dame Christine Lenehan as the Government’s Strategic Adviser on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Dame Christine was CEO of the Council for Disabled Children before Amanda Allard, and has been working in SEND since the 1970s. She believes strongly in parent participation and so we will have lots of opportunities to make sure our voices and those of our children are heard nationally as well as locally and regionally.
