SENRPs Effective Practice

SEN Regional Partnerships working with Sure Start

The Sure Start, Extended Schools and Childcare Group funded three SEN Regional Partnerships to undertake some work on the inclusion of disabled children and young people in out of school childcare, play and leisure services. The work took place during April 2004 to March 2005 and the Partnerships produced reports and recommendations that highlight effective practice and make suggestions for improvements.

The following activities were undertaken:

South East Regional SEN Partnership

• To investigate existing out of school/after school clubs, holiday play schemes, voluntary, community and parent group facilities and leisure and sport centre sites and provide the Partnership with a clear picture of the resources and support available both locally and nationally to promote inclusive play & leisure activities;
• To share ideas, materials and resources that promote good practice locally and to clarify what is being done & who/which services are involved;
• For local authorities and others to work together with the English Federation of Disability Sport and in particular to link into the Leisure Centre sites which are working as part of the Inclusive Fitness Initiative;
• To produce a leaflet giving contact details and training signposts to support the Partnership, Sure Start & sport & leisure facilities.

East of England SEN Regional Partnership

• To establish a broad overview of the range of play and leisure provision in the Eastern Region for children 5-16 years with the most complex SEN & disabilities, focusing on transition from inclusive early years provision to mainstream education settings (4-6 years);
• To scope childcare funding and also transport arrangements which enable access to inclusive educational facilities in mainstream primary and secondary settings;
• To identify regional case study exemplars of good practice to inform the development of practice guidance focusing initially on the experience of the Cambridgeshire Children's Trust (St. Ivo's School and feeder primaries);
• To produce practice guidance relating to older children adapting and building on existing ES material.

East Midlands SEN Regional Partnership

• To research the needs of disabled children and young people aged 8-14, with regard to their leisure and out of school activities, with particular emphasis on those children & young people with the most complex needs;
• To produce a report & good practice guidance on how to make reasonable adjustments/remove barriers to access for leisure and out of school activities;
• To focus upon geographically and socially isolated settings in case studies and to link with, though not duplicate, the work of the Nottinghamshire Children's Trusts Project.

Government action on inclusive play and leisure services for disabled children

Government departments with an interest in play, leisure and sport services met in July 2005 to discuss the reports and consider what more could be done to promote better access for disabled children. The following actions were agreed:

• Develop a ‘Know how’ booklet with case studies on including disabled children in extended school services, including play and leisure.
• Links to be made between Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s web-based ‘Know how’ guide on green spaces and relevant government departments’ web sites. The three SEN Regional Partnership Reports to be placed on Sure Start and SEN Partnerships’ websites.
• Consideration to be given to the use of new Disability Rights Commission Code of Practice as an awareness raiser for access issues relating to play and leisure using Sure Start communication channels.
• Childcare Bill consultation to ensure inclusive services for disabled children are covered.
• Consideration to be given to including a question on inclusive play and leisure services in forthcoming APA/JAR review and inspection arrangements for local authorities.
• Recommendation on use of Early Support materials for older children to be passed to Early Support programme Director for further consideration.
• Good practice and guidance developed on accessibility and reasonable adjustments planning (the APP and RAP projects) to be linked to provision of childcare, play and leisure services in any publicity about these new resources.
• Agreed action from this meeting to be included on the Sure Start and SEN Partnerships’ websites.

A follow up meeting will be held in January 2006 to assess progress.

The SEN Regional Partnerships’ reports can be downloaded from here:

Disclaimer: These reports were drafted and produced by SEN Regional Partnerships and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sure Start Unit.