STRATEGIC PLANNING

Strengthening inclusion, support for young people with special educational needs and disability, and the effective use of alternative provision

Many local areas are experiencing considerable pressure in relation to support for young people with special educational needs. We have undertaken major pieces of national research that have helped to shape the evidence base at a national level about the extent of and factors driving these pressures, at a national level and specifically within London, as well the actions that local areas can take to mitigate these challenges and embed effective practice at local level. We have worked and are currently working with local areas to develop new, partnership-based strategic approaches to using local resource to support young people with special educational needs, including Barking and Dagenham, Bournemouth, Derbyshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, East Sussex, Essex, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough, Poole and Wiltshire.

We recently undertook a significant piece of national research, commissioned by the Department for Education, that sought to understand how local areas arranged alternative provision and what we the characteristics of an effective local inclusion support and alternative provision system. We have been invited to present the findings of this work at national conferences, and we are using the findings from this research to support leaders in local areas to consider and develop effective inclusion support and AP arrangements within their local systems. We have worked and are currently working with local areas including Doncaster, County Durham, Herefordshire, North Yorkshire, Newcastle, Rotherham, Wakefield and Wiltshire.

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