“Team Around the School”- Primary: a proposed way forward

This proposal is based on the outcomes of discussions and consultation opportunities with officers and headteacher colleagues that took place during the academic year 2007-08. The feedback from consultation on the LA SEN Review is taken into account as appropriate.

The proposed model for the development and implementation of the Primary Team Around the School is based on the following agreed criteria:

• Primary colleagues will form TAS consortia of between 6-8 schools. The consortium representatives would identify common areas of need, for example pupils with ADHD. Identification would be based on agreed data and would be subject to the support and challenge of representatives, Locality Teams and officers. Preventive and early intervention measures may be identified from within the consortium, for example through sharing well-proven good practice or through the provision of shared training for consortium members
• Schools will complete a TAS consortia Provision Plan to pinpoint and focus on areas of need; such plans would identify areas requiring support from external sources and aspects that can be managed within the school or TAS consortium. The Provision Plan would contain a section for success criteria, outcomes and impact 
• Schools in the TAS consortia will be geographically close within their neighbourhoods; the onus will be on head teachers to self-select which group they join within their neighbourhood. The Neighbourhood Learning Directors would support this process to ensure that no school is left without an appropriate TAS
• Children’s Centres will be included in the consortia closest to their location
• Special schools should have the option to join their nearest primary TAS as appropriate-given an understanding they will provide city-wide support beyond their neighbourhood
• Secondary colleagues are establishing TAS around their individual schools which best suits their high numbers and across the secondary sector as a whole for specialist provision. This would not rule out the option for them to join with a primary consortium if appropriate, for example around the transition of particular pupils from primary to secondary school
• Schools will share common ground in respect of social disadvantage-based on analyses of  the relevant index(es)
• Schools will share a knowledge and understanding of common priorities and community based issues
• Schools will, where possible, be able to draw upon previous experience of collaborative working opportunities
• The focus of TAS attention will be on those pupils in the consortia identified at SEN school action plus; those requiring a CAF; vulnerable learners including those pupils on the edge of care; those whose poor attendance and punctuality contributes to their additional needs and those at risk of disengagment
• Each TAS consortium would agree a set of common principles that would include a) child at the centre of the planning b) child and family involved in and aware of plans c)willing to share expertise between schools d) willing to consider contributing to resources where this could prove effective

Further consideration:

Over time, the establishment of primary TAS should assist in prevention and early intervention, reducing the need for crisis type responses. It should sharpen the focus of multi-agency and joint working, putting the needs of the child at the centre; improving swift and easy access to appropriate services. Over time a greater degree of consistency in terms of how needs are defined, and in terms of what can be expected of schools in relation to the support they provide to individual and groups of children, should be expected.

Managers of services identified within Provision Plans are, in the main, members of the five Locality Teams. These team managers will take responsibility for the requests for support, prioritising them as appropriate. Where it is necessary to make decisions based on capacity to deliver this will be reported back to TAS consortia. Every effort will be made to ensure that consortia receive a fair and equitable service from the available resources.

Time-line for primary TAS:

• Discussion of this draft will take place with the steering group in September 2008
• The final proposal and suggested groupings will be shared with LPHA and the other head teacher associations in October 2008
• Head teachers and their staffs would begin to form their TAS consortia during the latter half of autumn term
• LPHA proposes that schools would carry out analyses of children’s needs by April 2009; a pro-forma to assist this process will be agreed in the autumn term. The analysis would also identify those pupils who are persistent absentees
• Members of TAS consortia will share the outcomes of their analyses and agree the content of the consortia Provision Plan in May 2009; guidance on this process has been produced by LPHA and will be developed during the autumn term
• Appropriate members of each Locality Team will scrutinise the Provision Plans-this should not necessarily include the Neighbourhood Learning Director
• Team Around the School  and consortia provision plans   would become a standing item at each meeting of either the full or partial Locality Team
• Relevant extracts of Locality Team meetings would be shared with PLG and Senior Management Team members
• NLDs will have the opportunity to share TAS related issues with the Children & Young People NPWorking Group