Bristol Co-production Charter launched
On 10 October 2024 Bristol City Council, Bristol Parent Carer Forum and NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) launched the Bristol Co-production Charter.
You can read about this on SEND Co-Production Charter.
Targeted Support Fund renamed as ‘Early Intervention Fund' (EIF)
In our July 2024 Top Up funding update, we spoke about the incoming Targeted Support Fund (TSF).
Since the update, the new Targeted Support Fund (TSF) has been renamed to the ‘Early Intervention Fund' (EIF). The funding contribution's purpose is early intervention and it was felt that the name ‘Early Intervention Fund' better explained this than the name ‘Targeted Support Fund' did.
The principles of the Early Intervention Fund (EIF) are:
- Early intervention: to support mainstream primary and secondary schools to provide targeted support to learners to help close the gap between them and their peers
- Evidence-based: to fund provision that have a strong evidence base of positive results which lead to increased independence and progress in specified target areas of need
The EIF is designed to specifically support children and young people with emerging needs who are already receiving Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP) support. OAP support is a set of resources that the council requires mainstream schools in Bristol to make available to children and young people.
The EIF is for mainstream primary and secondary schools to provide additional support at an early stage. EIF is capped at £1 million and can issue grants of up to £2,500 per pupil.
EIF grants are based on the principles of inclusion in the SEND Code of Practice.
They require:
- clear evidence of a graduated response approach: a cycle of support sometimes called an assess-plan-do-review cycle that is put in place to support the learner
- reasonable adjustments: adjustments put in place to reduce or remove disadvantages for the learner
- evidence-based intervention: support tools used with the learner that have evidence behind them that show that they work
As part of this new process, a new piece of software, the SEND Support Tool (SST), has been created to support SEND coordinators with identifying needs and provision.
More information on the Early Intervention Fund (EIF) and the SEND Support Tool (SST)
If you would like more information about the new EIF, speak to the SEND Coordinator or Learning Coordinator at your education setting.
July 2024: Top Up funding update
In September Bristol City Council will be launching a new Targeted Support Fund (TSF) which has been designed with input from education settings, SENDCos and parents and carers to further develop our approach to supporting our children with learning needs early.
The Targeted Support Fund (TSF) is for mainstream settings and is designed to support children and young people being supported through SEN Support with emerging and lower-level learning needs. The policy is designed to target funding to support early intervention opportunities for children with speech and language needs and child social, emotional, and mental health needs; this is because they are the two highest areas of need in Bristol amongst our pupils.
The TSF will be provided as a grant to be used to support children's needs at an early stage to give them the best chance of thriving in a mainstream school. For those children with more complex needs, particularly those who need longer-term and additional support, we will work alongside our schools and SENDCos to understand how those needs could be met and whether an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment will be required.
At the beginning of the new academic year, we will share more detail regarding the TSF criteria and how to apply. The type of support that might be funded through the TSF include blocks of intervention individually or in groups to fill gaps in learning and build skills, or models of emotional support that promote independence and inclusion. Proposed interventions will need to demonstrate an evidence base using resources such as Education Endowment Foundation and/or DfE guidance, for example ‘five-a-day for SEND'.
Three decision-making panels will take place throughout the academic year, one per school term, with the first panel taking place in the first term of the new academic year. Education settings will be required to plan for and review the outcomes that children and young people achieve from TSF-funded support to support the evaluation of the intervention.
In the upcoming academic year, we will prioritise collaborating with schools to provide training and essential resources for their staff. Our goal is to equip schools with the knowledge and support they need to effectively utilise the Targeted Support Fund (TSF).
For information on the changes to Top Up Funding, see Changes to Top Up Funding for Children and Young People who do not have an EHCP from Autumn 2024. If a pupil currently receives non-statutory funding via the Top Up process, this will continue to the end date agreed when funding was given.
20 June 2024: Short break sessions
We are holding a series of workshops with parent carers about Short Breaks.
There will be two initial sessions for parent carers on:
- Tuesday 2 July 7pm to 8pm online join via Teams
- Thursday 11 July 10am to 12 noon at The Wellspring Centre, Beam Street, Bristol BS5 9QY
To book email jcu@bristol.gov.uk
There will also be two sessions for parent and carer organisations, for those also able to represent the views of organisations and the sector:
- Monday 15 July 2pm to 4pm at The Park Centre, Daventry Road, Bristol BS4 1DQ
- Tuesday 23 July 10.30am to 12 noon online join via Teams
We aim to come along to do some parent engagement at various activities and coffee mornings. If you are an organisation and you would like us to come to one of your sessions to capture views, email jcu@bristol.gov.uk
In September 2024, there will be two further sessions so that the Commissioning Team can feedback to parent carers on the work undertaken and provide further opportunity to feed into finalising what future services will look like:
- Tuesday 17 September 7pm to 8pm online join via Teams
- Wednesday 18 September 10am to 11.30am in north Bristol to be confirmed
29 May 2024: Top Up Funding changes
The final Top Up Funding panel for Children and Young People who do not have an EHCP using the current model will be in June 2024. For information on the changes to Top Up Funding, see Changes to Top Up Funding for Children and Young People who do not have an EHCP from Autumn 2024.
Top Up Funding will be replaced by new SEND services developed in collaboration with education settings and SENDCos. A new, co-designed, targeted funding model will replace Top Up from September 2024.
Alongside the targeted fund, a portion of funding will be used to provide new outreach services which will support schools to improve their Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP). If a pupil currently receives Top Up Funding, this will continue to the end date agreed when funding was given. At the end of this funding period, these pupils will be supported either through the new Targeted Support Fund, a transition onto an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan; or through their school's OAP.
29 May 2024: Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS)
PINS is a national initiative led by the Department for Education, Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England and is part of the push to meet the needs of children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) in mainstream schools improving outcomes across attainment, attendance, and wellbeing and parental confidence as set out in the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan (2023).
PINS will bring health and education specialists and parent carers into mainstream primary settings to:
- help shape whole school SEND provision
- provide early interventions at a school level
- upskill school staff
- support strengthening of partnerships between schools and parent carers
Schools will get up to £5000 each which includes £1000 to work with parent carers, tailored to each individual school and delivered over 5 days or equivalent from September 2024 to March 2025. The school support level will be set following a range of school self-assessments by children, staff, governors and parents and provided by organisations on a “Menu of Support” who can meet the identified needs of the school.
The aim is to nurture and sustain a greater awareness, knowledge, confidence, and ability to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children and reframe the focus to how a supportive learning environment and well-equipped school can improve the outcomes for this group of children and support a shift away from the need for diagnosis and more intensive levels of support.
The project is being led by BNSSG ICB through local PINS teams which are being led by the local Parent Carer Forum.
These schools will be involved in the initial project:
- Avanti Gardens School
- Badocks Wood
- Cabot Primary School
- Easton CE Academy
- Elmlea Infant School
- Elmlea Junior School
- Fairlawn Primary School
- Filton Avenue Primary School
- Frome Vale Academy
- Greenfield E-ACT Academy
- Hannah More Primary School
- Hareclive E-Act Academy
- Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
- Ilminster Avenue E-ACT Academy
- Nova Primary School
- Perry Court E-ACT Academy
- Sefton Park Infants & Junior Schools
- St Anne's Infants School
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
- St Ursulas E-Act Academy
25 April 2024: SEND Guidance: Supporting children and young people from Black and Minoritised Communities
Our new SEND guidance focusing on supporting children and young people from Black and Minoritised Communities is now available.
All staff in Bristol Schools, Early Years Settings and Colleges are encouraged to read the guidance which is based on discussions with parent carers of CYP with SEND from Black and Minoritised Communities in the city. The guidance includes:
- statistics about SEND in Black and Minoritised Communities in Bristol
- the experiences of families from Black and Minoritised Communities and advice about:
- implementing the graduated response
- effective communication with parent carers
- inclusive settings which understand and welcome CYP and families from Black and Minoritised Communities and
- support for parent carers
21 March 2024: Bristol City Council to receive over £50m in funding from the Department for Education as part of the Safety Valve programme
The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that Bristol City Council (BCC) has been included in its Safety Valve (SV) Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) management programme.
The local authority will receive £53.79m over a period of seven years to address the historic DSG deficit. The DSG includes High Needs Block funding which funds services for children and young people (CYP) with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
There are 34 local authorities across England that have already joined the Safety Valve programme to gain access to the additional support and funding offered by the DfE initiative.
The agreement with the DfE also means that BCC will invest up to £46.5m as part of the programme.
The full details of the Safety Valve agreement were under embargo by the DfE until announced on the 21 March, read more on Bristol City Council to receive over £50m in extra funding from the Department for Education.
7 March 2024: Together for SEND family and practitioner support day on 20 March 2024
Bristol Parent Carers are hosting a free day of learning and discovery. It's open to anyone, from families to school staff and health and care practitioners.
About the day
Date: 20 March 2024
Venue: BAWA Health and Leisure Club, 589 Southmead Road, Filton BS34 7RG
Time: from 8.45am to 4.45pm
The day will include:
- 30 talks
- interactive workshops
- insightful clinics
- over 50 exhibitors all under one roof
Bristol Parent Carers are offering to reimburse bus fares in cash on the day, and can support you if you need help with English.
