Together for Norfolk's children and young people

A message from Sara

This is the last full week of term for some schools and academies, so it will be the last Together before Christmas, with just the ecourier coming out next week. From next term we plan to merge Together and the ecourier and issue one update on a Tuesday. You've told us that this is a better day for receiving news from us and that you would prefer everything in one place. That doesn't mean we don't want to hear your good news though - we're keen to share the impact of your work with colleagues and share what works across the system. Please do share that with jonathan.nice@norfolk.gov.uk and we will include it in a special section of the weekly update.

I'll write next week with an end of term update and any last-minute news as we head into the Christmas period. I hope the last few days of term run smoothly and you all enjoy the festive celebrations both in and outside of your school, nursery or college.

Sara Tough OBE

Executive Director of Children's Services
Norfolk County Council  
Chair of the Children and Young People Strategic Alliance

Introducing Jane Hayman

Congratulations to Jane Hayman, who was last week appointed as our new Service Director for SEND and Inclusion. Jane has a wealth of experience of supporting children with SEND, as the previous headteacher of Fred Nicholson School.

She said: "Many experiences over my career in education have come together to see me take on this role as Director for SEND and Inclusion. It's a new role needed at a time when change must happen for our young people and the education system they are a part of. I am excited and honoured to be trusted with this challenge, as with all these things it's about belief in the team and our purpose."

Jane plans to be our and about across the county a lot, meeting with education leaders.  

She added: "Collaboration is key, and I look forward to working with you in your community on establishing our locality-based way of working through our Zone Inclusion Partnerships over the coming months, so I will definitely see you at our ZIP meetings coming to a zone near you in 2025! We have a collective challenge to solve across our county as part of the national conversation right now around SEND and Inclusion. We are poised in an exciting position with our model and plans coming to fruition around you through the Local First Inclusion programme. Thank you to those who have invited me and the team to visit and discuss our future ways of working with you already. I would extend an offer to come and meet your teams and young people so we can work on our solutions in partnership. Or tell me what you are working on that is making the difference where you are so others can hear about it too; we are in this together."

Joint Targeted Area Inspection enters final week

This week is the final week of the three-week Joint Targeted Area Inspection, with inspectors now on site in Norfolk. The inspection looks at our strategic and operational arrangements, across agencies, to support children who are victims of domestic abuse, with a specific focus on unborn babies and children aged 0 to 7.  Education settings will be involved if inspectors are looking at support provided to children in their settings. Thanks to those of you who are supporting the process.

Local First Inclusion update

Tomorrow's ecourier will include the latest update on the Local First Inclusion programme, specifically the SEND and Inclusion Support model and Element 3 funding. As this update only goes out to subscribers, we wanted to ensure this news was shared with all education leaders at the same time, so haven't included it in this week's Together. Please look out for it tomorrow.  

Inclusion Summit

You can now book a place at our first "Together for Norfolk's children and young people" summit, which will focus on SEND inclusion.

The summit will take place on 14 February 2025 and will focus on achieving mainstream inclusion. We're hoping to have both local and national speakers and are in the process of developing the content with education leaders and partners.  

The event will be in our Council Chamber, and associated rooms at County Hall from 10am to 4pm. To sign-up to the free event email ssimprovement@norfolk.gov.uk.

SEND Bulletin updates

Our latest SEND bulletin was issued today and includes lots of useful updates on what is happening to support children and young people with SEND. We'd like more education providers to sign up for the bulletin, so please visit SEND newsletters web page if you are interested. In the meantime, here's two important updates in the latest edition:

SEND and AP strategy action planning

We've undertaken extensive co-production, collaboration and consultation since the Norfolk Area SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy (NASAPS) was published in June. This is to ensure that the actions we take as a Community of Practice (CoP) directly respond to what our children and young people (CYP) with SEND, their families and professionals, have told us that we need to improve.

As a NASAPS Community of Practice (CoP) we work together as 'equal partners sharing a passion and responsibility for improving outcomes for CYP with SEND.'

We are delighted that we have over 180 members in our community of practice which includes representation from parents and carers, all phases of education, community and voluntary sector organisations, the NHS, the Integrated Care Board, Norfolk County Council and the Police.

At our recent local area inclusion plan (LAIP) launch sessions, we were joined by over 100 NASAPS CoP members who were keen to support the actions identified in each of our five themes. These actions are to:

• Develop inclusive provision by listening to the voices of our CYP and understanding their experiences (theme: My Learning and Development)
• Support CYP and their families by involving them in planning for their next steps (theme: My Changes and New Beginnings)
• Give young people the information they need to become more independent as they move into adult life (theme: My Adult Life)
• Listen to what families need and provide easy access to information, advice, help and support (theme: My Family is Supported)
• Widen the choice of activities for CYP across Norfolk (theme: My Friends and Activities)

Our vision is to enable all CYP with SEND and inclusion needs in Norfolk to flourish by creating a supportive community which listens and responds to them and their families

Supported internships connections event

In November, the SEND Employment team launched the first Supported Internships Connections Event, sponsored and hosted by Holiday Inn Norwich North. A variety of local businesses and organisations attended to find out more about what Supported Internships are, how they can benefit a young person's life, and how they can positively impact their business.  

A Supported Internship is often the first step into the world of work for a young person with SEND. This internship is available to any young person with an EHCP and available at all our FE colleges (and some independent Post 16 training providers) in Norfolk. Colleges and training providers work with a Job Coach to match a student to an employer for an internship based on their interests and needs. Students spend up to six months to a year as an intern, assisted throughout this time by their Job Coach who provides support in the workplace. The internship helps to bolster the young person's skills, with the aim of securing them a permanent, paid job at the end of their internship.

During the event, we heard from companies which already offer Supported Internships, interns who have completed an internship and are now employed, and current interns hoping to secure employment when they leave college.

Speakers included the host venue Holiday Inn, which already works with interns, and Great Yarmouth Borough Council, which has just begun offering internships through the support of Norfolk County Council to link with their local provider. There was great feedback from our 'Question Time' segment; a panel including a past intern who now mentors' young people with SEND at a hospital, a young person who has just started as an intern, as well a parent, job coaches and employers. One key takeaway from the discussions was that young people with SEND are keen and excited to work, that they are more than capable of working, and that they just need a bit of support to find their way.

The afternoon session focused on networking and an opportunity for employers to chat with interns directly about their experiences and aspirations.

Outcomes from the event included:

• Creating a talent bank where young people and employers can make direct contact
• Possible job outcome for one young person who met with an employer on the day
• Employers seeking contacts to set up an internship within their organisation
• Other training providers interested in offering the programme
• Creating a Norfolk network for employers involved/interested in offering Supported Internships

For more information on Supported Internships, visit the webpage here.

School and community teams - supporting inclusion

Our school and community teams are a key element of our work to support inclusion in mainstream schools. The case study below shows the impact that the teams are having for individual children.

"Over the summer holidays and throughout Autumn 1, I completed weekly, 1-hour sessions with a child linked to supporting and developing their learning and cognition and Social, Emotional and Mental Health.  

"I used the recommendation suggested in the Educational Psychology & Specialist Support (EPSS) report, as well as targets from their Special Educational Needs (SEN) support plan and discussions with parents and teachers to plan and deliver appropriate and relevant sessions that would aid cognitive ability and learning within school. As a result of our sessions, they were able to make huge progress with regards to their reading and writing ability, as well as their overall confidence as a learner and positive attitude towards school.

"They were always engaged, enthusiastic and motivated to learn during our sessions, enjoyed having the additional 1:1 support outside of the classroom and always looked forward to our sessions. Teachers would tell me frequently that they had been counting down the hours until my visit!  

"The child's parents and school staff said they had noticed a huge difference in the child since I started working with her. Parents and staff recognised that they were not only making progress academically but feeling more confidence as a learner and were happier at school because of our time together."