Paper consultations
The needs assessment was carried out during June and July 2011 by Briony Waite, Dee Chaddha and Kay Sibley. The information that was gathered consisted of quantitative information which was collected through the use of a questionnaire, and qualitative information which was gathered through focus groups.
The questionnaire was agreed with stakeholders including parents and youngpeople and then was administered through the SENCO’s of the schools that the children attended. We consulted with the two special schools: Threeways and Fosseway School with separate questionnaires for children and young people (cyp) and parents/carers to complete. A primary and a secondary school from ea ch of the following areas Chew Valley/Keynsham, Norton Radstock, Bath were also selected. These were Chew Valley School, St Keyna’s School, Peasedown Junior, Somervale, St Michael’s Junior and Culverhay School. These are all schools with significant numbers of children and young people with statements or who have a large number of pupils in the category of School Action Plus. Questionairres were also sent to parents receiving the Lifetime service and parents whose children were in early years settings although this gave a limited response. (3 from Lifetime and 3 from 0-5’s).
There were two focus groups held at the special schools and another open group which was held at 117. Eight parents attended the Threeways Focus group, one parent at 117 and there was a full attendance at Fosseway School. There has been one meeting to date held with YAGA (Youth Action to Gain Access) where four young people attended.
The intention was to reach both the parents of disabled children who attended special schools and also those children who were in mainstream schools.
Disabled children and young people were also asked to complete their own questionnaire.
The outline of the results of the needs assessment is attached to this report.
Please refer to appendix A.
Mainstream Picture
In mainstream schools, the picture is more complex around what constitutesdisabilities. SENCOS reported back that statemented pupils were not necessarily the most needy. The category of disabilities that children who are most in need fall into, are: ADHD and emotional and mental health problems.
Teachers felt quite strongly that among parents whose children were most disturbed there was a culture of dependency, very high levels of functional illiteracy, aggressive behaviour and an inability to take responsibility. As a result, the questionnaire going to parents of pupils in mainstream schools contained the following question –
2a Is your child’s behaviour affected by any of the following?
Bed-wetting
Won’t go to bed
Aggressive behaviour
Withdrawn
Cries a lot
Cannot get on with siblings
Other (please specify
On the advice of staff, we changed the wording of the questionnaire for mainstream parents/carers to Children with Additional Needs and we asked if the child was statemented rather than disabled.
EMERGING THEMES FROM PARENT/CARER CONSULTATION
1. Children and young people with ASD constituted the single largest group (49%) in the sample sent back from special schools. In mainstream, children and young people with ASD constituted 22%, with the largest group being ‘Other severe learning difficulties’ (44%). There seem to be many more young males and children with language difficulties in both groups. Physical mobility was an issue for both groups.
2. Parents/carers in Special Schools are much more likely to know what short breaks are, what types of provision this encompasses, how to get information about activities and to use them on a regular basis.
3. Parents in mainstream schools may have less information about short breaks but the need for them is not in question. Some parents really struggle particularly during long breaks away from school. What might be in question is whether they would recognise their child as being ‘disabled’ and therefore eligible.
4. Specialist provision is favoured by parents/carers whose children and young people are attending special schools. Special schools provide a good range of activities in a known safe environment with staff parents can trust.
Children maintain contact with their schools – very important during the long breaks – and therefore do not regress and have to be re-engaged with school at the beginning of terms. There were also parental support for activities to take place outside school time and which were based in the community.
5. The major priority for short breaks in both mainstream and special schools was the quality of staff capable of building relationships with children and Young people, providing a safe environment and understanding the needs of individual children.
6. In the comments that parents in both groups made, the greatest need for short break provision was during the school holidays and in particular, the summer and Christmas vacation. There is a greater spread and range of short breaks accessed by families whose children attend special schools..
Emerging issues from this consultation:
• Parental confidence in provision is paramount. Confidence came from knowing the organisation and the staff who work at the settings. For confidence to grow providers need to raise their profile at parents evenings, parents groups and invite families to providers fairs.
• The need to balance out the needs of disabled children with those children with other, sometimes hidden disabilities (particularly mental health).
• After School provision is more successful when there is an organised activity on offer rather than a place to just ‘hang out’
• To provide a targeted provision for children and young people with disabilities that can be accessed by a wider group of children and young people.
• Transport or rather lack of it and whether money should be allocated for this alone
CONSULTATION WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
There was no separate consultation with children and young people in mainstream or special provision. However the largest sample was from Threeways and Fosseway School, followed by two primaries: St Kenya and Peasedown St John Junior School.
• Children engage in a range of activities and experiences. They have aspirations to try out many more.
• There wasn’t necessarily a pattern of children and young people wanting to do activities with only disabled children.
• Concerns over transport and money was a recurring theme.
• The older the children and young people were, the more they wanted activities that made them independent of parents and carers.
Appendix A
Bath and North East Somerset carried out a needs analysis in the form of questionnaires and focus groups. The needs analysis covered the families of children attending the two special schools’ Threeways and Fosseway School as six mainstream schools across the area. There were 68 parent/carer questionnaires returned and 48 child/ young person questionnaires returned. The following data was used to shape this commission
Question: Is this something you would like to see developed (have more of) in the future.
Parent Carer where child attends special schools said
• Holiday Playschemes
• Weekend Provision
• After School Clubs
• Daytime breaks away from home
• Holiday breaks with whole family
Parent carer where child attends mainstream school
• Holiday Playschemes
• After School Clubs
• Holiday breaks for the whole family
• Daytime breaks away from the home
• Daytime breaks at home
What types of activities would you like your child to take part in? (optional response)
Parent Carer where child attends special schools said
• Swimming
• Horse riding
• Youth Groups
Parent carer where child attends mainstream school
• Outdoor pursuits
As part of the Children and young people’s consultation we asked
What activities would you like to do?
Children attending a special school
• Swimming
• Horse riding
• Camping
• Climbing
• Football
• Ice skating
Children attending mainstream school
• Swimming
• Go Karting
• Canoeing
• Cricket
Bath and North East Somerset also carried out a consultation families of severely disabled children. There were 21 returns.
What type of short break would your child like to access
• Stay away from home
• Activity based
• After School Club
• Holiday Club
• Outings
• Stay away with Family