Learning and Inclusion

• Executive Director: Sara Tough

• Director of Children's Social Care: Phil Watson

  Including:

  • High Needs SEND

• Director of Commissioning Partnerships and Resources: Sarah Jones

  Including:

  • SEND Strategic Improvement and Early Effectiveness
  • Inclusion and Opportunity

• Director of Sufficiency, Planning and Education Strategy: James Wilson

  Including :

  • Education quality assurance, intervention and regulation service
  • Education Strategy and Infrastructure Service
  • Education Intelligence and Effectiveness service

• Joint Associate Director Children and Young People (Health): Rebecca Hulme

• Pupil achievement and learning
• Early Years Provision

The Education Intelligence and Effectiveness monitors the performance of education providers from Early Years to Post 16. The service seeks to work with all types of education provision and all who support them, to enable all children to get the best education possible.

Our teams focus on:

• Pupil achievement and learning - monitoring the quality of education and how well pupils progress through the education system, with a sharp focus on inclusivity and the performance of vulnerable groups. Our use of data is focussed on three key priorities: keeping children safe, meeting needs early and effectively and improving outcomes for all children. Securing improvement in attainment in English and Mathematics remains a priority. Our work is underpinned by our support for accurate Statutory Assessment from Early Years to Key Stage 2 and the development of best practice in formative assessment to improve outcomes. The team includes the music service and outdoor learning at Whitlingham.
• Early Years provision (0-5) in schools, settings and childminders to be sustainable and high quality. We work with colleagues in Community and Partnerships to support community provision for 0-2 year olds and develop joint strategies to increase take up of provision for disadvantaged 2 year olds. We continue to prioritise improving language acquisition and early reading from birth into Key Stage 1.

Assistant Director

John Crowley - 01603 222557 or john.crowley@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior team:

Senior Adviser, Education Outcomes
Neil Groves: 01603 223670 or neil.groves@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, Early Years Learning
Jo-anne Lamb: 01603 638096 or jo-anne.lamb@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, Education Effectiveness
Jonathan Nice: 01603 638527 or jonathan.nice@norfolk.gov.uk

Service support

Service Support Manager
Michelle Smith: 01603 222994 or michelle.smith@norfolk.gov.uk

Education Strategy and Infrastructure Service

• School capital
• School finance
• School organisation and Partnerships
• Admissions & Place planning
• School's HR & Workforce
• Post 16

The Education Strategy and Infrastructure service is made up of a number of teams focused on creating and maintaining the conditions where sustainably good schools and providers enable learners to thrive.

The Participation and Transition Strategy Team manages a range of functions to support post-16 learners to engage in education, employment and training. They actively track participation of 16 and 17-year old students in Norfolk and provide guidance and support to learners at risk of NEET. Employer engagement, TITAN travel training, support for work experience, information, advice, guidance and support for trainee and apprenticeships form part of their work.

Our team of partnership advisers focus on school support and development by working with schools on a wide range of issues, including leadership development and structural change. We also maintain links with the Headteacher and Governor associations, with Norfolk's Dioceses, with Academy Trusts, with the Teaching Schools Hubs and with other providers of school improvement services. We actively promote collaboration to support improvement, often through curriculum focused projects.

The Service includes a number of teams which support the educational infrastructure through both statutory functions and traded services. We plan for sufficient school places, implement school organisation changes, lead on capital developments, oversee mainstream and post 16 transport policy, coordinate admissions, provide Schools HR and School Finance Services.

Assistant Director:

Samantha Fletcher:01603 638581 or samantha.fletcher@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior team and managers:

Transition and Participation Strategy Manager
Karin Porter: 01603 679174 or karin.porter@norfolk.gov.uk

Provider Strategy Manager
Jennifer Clark: 01603 638379 or jennifer.clark@norfolk.gov.uk

Capital Sufficiency Delivery Manager
Isabel Horner: 01603 222246 or isabel.horner@norfolk.gov.uk

Head of Schools Finance
Alison Randall: 01603 224273 or alison.randall@norfolk.gov.uk

School Organisation Manager
Caroline Money: 01603 228828 or caroline.money@norfolk.gov.uk

Admissions Manager
Eric Clarke: 01603 223489 or eric.clarke@norfolk.gov.uk

Place Planning Manager
Paul Harker: 01603 223548 or paul.harker@norfolk.gov.uk

Schools HR Manager
Ian Cooper: 01603 222897 or ian.cooper@norfolk.gov.uk

Schools HR Business Partner
Kate Philpin: 01603 306274 or kate.philpin@norfolk.gov.uk

Partnerships Team

Senior Advisers, Strategy and Partnership
Victoria Groom: 01603 303307 or victoria.groom@norfolk.gov.uk
Karen Hutchison: 01603 223906 or karen.hutchison@norfolk.gov.uk

Adviser, Partnership Development
Gavin Cowley: 01603 222788 or gavin.cowley@norfolk.gov.uk

Adviser, School Improvement
Denise Beckett: 01603 638003 or denise.beckett@norfolk.gov.uk

Adviser, School Workforce and Improvement
Katie Leightell: 01603 303306 or katie.leightell@norfolk.gov.uk

Service support

Service Support Manager
Michelle Smith: 01603 222994 or michelle.smith@norfolk.gov.uk

The SEND Strategic Improvement Team have lead responsibility within Children's Services for Norfolk's Area SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) Strategy, the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Transformation Programme and the response to the Area SEND Ofsted/CQC Inspection through the implementation of the Written Statement of Action. Taken together these three improvement programmes ensure that there is collective responsibility for SEND improvement across the council (including with Adult Social Care), with health partners through the Integrated Care Board, with parent/carer groups and education and health providers.

The team also have lead responsibility for addressing the budget pressures on the High Needs Block and Home to School SEND Transport budgets, returning these to balanced budgets and ultimately restructuring these to focus on early effectiveness.

Current priorities are the ongoing development of more specialist provision (new special schools and an increase in specialist resources bases), reviewing SEND and AP sufficiency strategies to assess if more/different specialist provision will be required to address current and future need, the response to Ofsted/CQC Written Statement of Action to improve timescales and quality for EHCP, working with parents/carers and education providers in co-production to ensure an ongoing cycle of review of all SEND services, information advice and guidance

Please contact members of the team directly for ongoing project/improvement work. For any general enquiries please use the team mailbox: ssimprovement@norfolk.gov.uk.

Assistant Director

Michael Bateman: michael.bateman@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior team

Senior Adviser, SEND Strategic Improvement
Maxine Blocksidge: 01603 307738 or maxine.blocksidge@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, SEND Early Effectiveness
Stephanie Askew: 01603 307761 or stephanie.askew@norfolk.gov.uk

Service support

SEND Strategic Improvement Officer
Kate Hinchley: 01603 307572 or kate.hinchley@norfolk.gov.uk

• QA Support & challenge in maintained schools
• Ofsted Support
• 3rd Party complaints about Education Settings
• Educational safeguarding, attendance and Children Missing Education teams

The Education Quality Assurance, Intervention and Regulation Service (EQAIRS) contains teams with focuses on the statutory and regulatory roles of the Local Authority.

A team of Lead Officers oversee quality assurance in a number of maintained schools in which more support is required. For these schools they offer support and challenge and, in a small minority of cases, use the Local Authority's powers of Intervention to support rapid improvement.

The Service also focuses on quality assurance in other educational settings such as independent special schools, Alternative Provision and for other settings or providers and of EHCPs. It runs a Duty Desk to support schools which are undergoing Ofsted inspections and acts as the triage for LADO, offering advice and guidance. It also investigates third party complaints about educational settings, such as those received from Ofsted or MPs.

The educational safeguarding, attendance and Children Missing Education teams also sit in this Service offering support and guidance to settings and undertaking statutory work in these areas. EQAIRS also includes Services to Elective Home Education, Child employment and Chaperone licensing, Educational visits, the Education Covid Support team and the Governance Service.

Assistant Director

Sue Smith - 01603 307750 or sue.smith@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior team:

Senior Adviser, QA and Intervention
Micky Harcourt-Heath: 01603 303314 or micky.harcourt-heath@norfolk.gov.uk

Governance Intervention Lead Officer
Helen Wardale: 01603 303356 or helen.wardale@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Leaders, Intervention
Stuart Graver: 01603 307721 or stuart.graver@norfolk.gov.uk
Deborah Leahy: 01603 307719 ordeborah.leahy@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, Education QA and Intervention Service
Kelly Waters: 01603 307729 or kelly.waters@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser Intervention
Michael Roughsedge: 01603 303309 or michael.roughsedge@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser
Sonia Walker: 01603 303311 or sonia.walker@norfolk.gov.uk

Lead Officer
David Oldham: 01603 306543 or david.oldham@norfolk.gov.uk

Lead Officer, SEND and Inclusion
Matthew Ridley: 01603 222395 or matthew.ridley@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Child Employment & Entertainment Officer
Andrew Ridgway: 01603 303370 or andrew.ridgway@norfolk.gov.uk

Service support:

Service Support Manager
Lynda Read: 01603 307750 or lynda.read@norfolk.gov.uk

The Inclusion and Opportunity Service provides support and advice for schools on overcoming barriers to inclusion for children and young people who may be vulnerable to underachievement. The service is organised across two virtual schools and two teams which work closely together to ensure the offer of support is effective in enabling learners to successfully attend their local school.

The Virtual School for Looked After and Previously Looked After Children leads on promoting positive educational outcomes for pupils who have experienced or who are under Local Authority care, or who have a Child in Need or Child Protection plan. Support and advice for children and young people who are unaccompanied asylum seekers, those who have English as an additional language or who are from Gypsy, Roma or traveller communities is also located in this team.

The Virtual School Sensory Support provides specialist teaching, training, advice and equipment for pupils with sensory loss (hearing and vision).

The Inclusion and SEND Team provides training, guidance, advice and support for schools on developing whole school approaches and inclusive provision, and bespoke advice to support the inclusion of pupils with SEND and those with complex SEMH needs. Statutory responsibilities relating to Fair Access and Section 19 duties are located within this team which ensure prompt placement and educational provision for pupils who are not on a school roll.

SENDIASS provides impartial information, advice and support about special educational needs & disabilities (SEND) for children, young people, parents and carers.

Assistant Director

Andy Tovell: 01603 307718 or andy.tovell@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior team:

Head of Virtual School for Children in Care, Adopted and SG
Keeley White: 01603 307794 or keeley.white@norfolk.gov.uk

Head of Virtual School Sensory Support
Kate Stocks: 01603 704040 or kate.stocks@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, Early Intervention and Prevention
Josie Rayner-Wells: 01603 303329 or josie.rayner-wells@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, Learning and SEND
Alison Toombs: 01603 307723 or alison.toombs2@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, SEMH & Transition
Vicki Setters: 01603 307774 or victoria.setters@norfolk.gov.uk

SENDIASS Manager
Niamh Keane: 01603 303369 or niamh.keane@norfolk.gov.uk

Service support

Service Support Manager
Sarah Kendrick: 01603 303316 or sarah.kendrick@norfolk.gov.uk

• Assessment and review of children and young people with EHCPs.
• Specialist provision and placement planning, decision-making and funding.
• Norfolk Local Offer website.
• Educational Psychology

The  SEND & AP Sufficiency and Strategy Service has the lead role for:

EHCP delivery for children in early years and statutory school age is organised within 3 areas aligned to district council boundaries - North/East/Broadland, West/Breckland, Norwich/South. In addition we have a dedicated team for families travelling through their first EHCP assessment and a county wide Post 16 team. Specialist provision and special school placements is commissioned through the High Needs Block and the service has lead responsibility for sufficiency planning for special school and Specialist Resource Base provision locally. Our multi-disciplinary Educational Psychology and Specialist Support service comprises Educational Psychologists, specialist learning support teachers and advisers and therapy clinicians who support schools and settings locally to best meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.

Assistant Director

Nicki Rider: 01603 223876 or nicki.rider@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior team

High Needs Programme Manager Stuart
Brunton-Douglas: 01603 222337 or stuart.brunton-douglas@norfolk.gov.uk

Projects Manager
Wendy Rudd: 01603 307742 or wendy.rudd@norfok.gov.uk

Principal Education Psychologist
James Thatcher: 01603 307562 or james.thatcher@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, SEND Statutory Operations
Sam McCallum: 01603 224486or sam.mccallum@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, SEND Statutory Operations
Amanda Walsh: amanda.walsh@norfolk.gov.uk

Senior Adviser, SEND Specialist Provision and Funding
Kim Breen: 01603 307702 or kim.breen@norfolk.gov.uk

Service support

Service Support Manager High Needs SEND
Deborah Hayward: 01603 495938 or deborah.hayward2@norfolk.gov.uk

Critical Incident phone line: 07623 912974

Safeguarding: 0344 800 8020

Exclusions: 01603 307727 or csexclusions@norfolk.gov.uk

LADO: 01603 223473 or LADO@norfolk.gov.uk

Education LADO Duty Desk: 01603 307797

Children's Advice and Duty Service (CADS) - 0344 800 8021 (CADS referrals for professionals) or 0344 800 8020 (CADS referrals for the public)

Fair Access Enquiries: 01603 307749 or 01603 224226

Admissions Line: 0344 800 8020 or admissions@norfolk.gov.uk