AP & SEND Briefing 20th November 2024

Welcome to our mid-week round-up of Alternative Provision and SEND news across the South West and beyond.

Below you'll find summaries and links of what's been in the news recently, the latest thinking and some of the great training links we think you'll find useful. Grab a coffee and take 10 minutes to get updated and through the midweek hump.

Serious Youth Violence More Far Reaching Than Many Realise

Today's Ofsted/ CQC Report on Serious Youth Violence starts a disturbing maelstrom of articles this week on the changes that schools are dealing with every day, such as knife-carrying being the norm in some areas amongst children as young as eleven. The report raise several issues, including:

• the prevalence of children with additional needs among those affected by serious youth violence, in particular the high number of children who have SEND or are neurodivergent, including those diagnosed with autism and/or ADHD
• the delay in children receiving appropriate assessments to diagnose and address these needs
• diagnoses of disability not being recorded properly on social care records or understood and addressed by the professionals working with the child

Some better news perhaps is that when agencies work together towards effective initiatives (addressing ACEs, supporting children to access education, giving children opportunities to develop interests and skills and helping the stay safe) it is possible to reduce the likelihood of youth violence on an individual and community level. You can read the whole Ofsted/ CQC report here

The Effect of Youth Club Closures on Teen Crime and Education

The Institute of Fiscal Studies latest report explores the connection between youth club closures, youth crime and education revealing, amongst other things, that closures impacted GCSE results by 4% (half a grade) and increased prevalence of youth crime by 14%. 

Whilst it's been known anecdotally for some time that youth club closures affected the youth population, the IFS study is the first to look for direct correlation, comparing students in areas where all youth clubs within 40 miles closed to their peers in more fortunate areas. 

Find out more in the IFS Report

Safer Phones Bill

Labour MP and former teacher, Josh MacAlister's Safer Phones Bill hits the House of Commons this week building on the recent Online Safety Bill.

Josh's bill asks for further safety measures to be put in place by media companies to ensure families and schools can cut down on children's social media time and its negative impacts.

Health professionals are increasingly concerned about the impact that phone use has on sleep patterns, education and mental health. The average UK 12 year old spends 21 hours per week - equivalent to a part-time job - on their smart phone. Research from King's College reported an increase in anxiety (double) and depression (triple) in children with problematic smartphone use.  Read more about the bill.

A Positive Outcome

At Next Steps we work with other agencies to support the progress of our students, reflecting the good practice outlined in the articles above. Some of the agencies we collaborate with and positive outcomes we've delivered on include:

- working with the Youth Justice Service to mentor students at risk of serious violence

- attending mental health hospital discharge meetings to understand a student's most up-to-date needs

- attending TAF meetings with Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, feeding back into the mentoring work we do with family members

- attending CIN meetings with Social Services involvement, discussing ways we can work together to make sure a student can attend lessons

- offering counselling to parents finding the challenges of a 'child in the system' a struggle

- arranging welfare checks for students with the NHS Ambulance Service

- working with other organisations such as North Devon PINN, One Atlantic, The Tutors' Association, ACAHM and IRCT.

- And of course, working with schools and local authorities to update student progress, set targets and safeguard students

We can offer flexible, bespoke packages for students:

- with attendance difficulties

- with SEMH

- at risk of exclusion

- on EOTAS packages

- on Section 19 packages

- who have been permanently excluded

FIND OUT SOME MORE...

1. Take a look at our website’s about us page where you can learn more about how we can work together with you and your community.

2. Find and follow us on LinkedIn

3. Book a meeting with us 

Until next time, take care,

Sarah

Director, Next Steps Education

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