Please see below a press release from the Department for
Education. CDC is pleased to be part of these new partnerships and
looks forward to working with these other organisations.
Voluntary and community organisations to play a key role in
helping children with special educational needs and
disabilities
Voluntary and community organisations will help deliver key
reforms to support children with special educational needs (SEN)
and disabilities, and their parents.
The Children's Minister Sarah Teather today announced contracts
involving voluntary and community organisations which will deliver
the support, including the Council for Disabled Children and I CAN,
the children's communication charity.
The Department for Education is providing funding of around £6
million a year for two years to deliver the support.
The organisations will support the delivery of short breaks,
provide greater information and help to parents, and help disabled
young people and those with SEN prepare for employment, training
and independent living after they leave school.
Children's Minister Sarah Teather said:
We're proposing some of the biggest reforms to special
educational needs and to help disabled children and we're testing
out the best ways of doing this over the next year. But it's
important that children, young people and their families get help
and support now, from organisations they trust.That's why we're
funding and extending programmes that have been successful so far
and that parents have told us they value - like short breaks and
helping young people make the often difficult transition from
school to employment or training.
The successful contractors will provide knowledge and support on
the delivery and improvement of local services and help the 20 SEN
Green Paper pathfinder areas test some of the Government's key
reforms.
The organisations and contracts are:
- The IMPACT consortium (SERCO in partnership with the Short
Breaks Network): to help local authorities deliver their legal
obligations to provide short breaks and involve parents in how
short breaks are provided.
- The Council for Disabled Children: to support
local parent partnership services across England that provide
parents with clear information about their rights and
responsibilities under SEN legislation, along with local
information about options and choices to meet their child's
SEN.
- A consortium led by the National Development Team for
Inclusion: to improve outcomes for young people with SEN
and disabilities. The consortium will work with local authorities,
schools, young people and their families to raise aspirations in
secondary school and plan for employment, training and
independent living after they leave school.*
- The ES Trust with the National Children's Bureau: to extend the
successful Early Support programme to improve the quality,
consistency and coordination of services for disabled children
over five years old (the programme is currently designed from birth
to five years old) and help develop key worker training.
- The Early Language Consortium, led by I CAN, the children's
communication charity: to introduce Early Language Development
Training for people working with children up to five years old. The
training will focus on the importance of early language development
to improve communication and language skills for all children,
particularly those with SEN.
* CDC note: The Council for Disabled Children, which
hosts the Transition Information Network, will work in partnership
with the National Development Team for inclusion and Helen
Sanderson Associates to deliver this programme.