Education Strategy
Strategic priorities 2 and 3.
The Education Strategy was launched in mid-March and is available to read. The Education Strategy outlines five key priorities, with the voices of children and young people at its heart.
Each priority explains its purpose, how we plan to achieve it and what success will look like. Progress towards these goals is reported to the Dorset Education Board every half term. This strategy provides a clear, agreed roadmap for delivering the Best Education for All from 2024 to 2027.
Impact:
Our children and young people belong in their local communities and are supported to learn and achieve alongside their peers.
Dorset Education and Advice Line (DEAL)
Strategic priorities 1 and 3.
DEAL provides a place for young people, parents and carers and practitioners who want a conversation about emerging special needs. The service was initially available 10am to 4pm, weekdays during term time. We received 300 calls during the time of operation.
In Autumn 2023, we analysed the types of calls we were receiving. We then provided a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section on the Local Offer. We saw a reduction in the number of calls after this was published, which indicated that people were able to find answers to their queries without having to contact us directly.
From May 2024, the function of the Advice Line is being provided through the Family Support and Advice Line (previously known as Children’s Advice and Duty Service, or ChAD). This means a wider range of professionals are available to provide advice and guidance throughout the year.
Impact:
Children, young people and families receive the right help at the right time, and concerns are resolved before getting worse.
Annual Reviews
Strategic priorities 1, 2, 4, and 5.
In the 2023/2024 academic year, our SEND Teams held 91% of all annual reviews on time. We prioritise our attendance at annual reviews for children and young people in phase transfer years, who are in care, have a social worker, attend an independent setting, are electively home educated or who have an ‘Education Other Than at School’ (EOTAS) package of support.
We write to parents and carers within 4 weeks of an annual review being held to inform them of the outcome of the review. Our performance here is a key area of focus on for 2024/2025. Annual reviews are important as they ensure that a child or young person's needs and their EHCP are accurate and up to date. These provide an opportunity to look at the child or young person’s outcomes, and to celebrate achievements.
Impact:
Children and young people’s needs are identified early, they receive support that is right for their needs and can achieve and learn alongside their friends in their communities, wherever possible.
Coombe House
Strategic priorities 2, 4, 5, and 6.
A focus of the school this year has been to ensure pupils have access to a clear pathway to their next steps of education, employment or training and to support their skills in accessing and being part of the wider community. We are very proud that pupils participated in various community events, including shopping trips, museum visits and weekly activity centre visits where they challenged themselves with abseiling, zip wires and climbing.
The progress the pupils have made within their personal development has enabled them to become more resilient to overcome new challenges. The changes within the curriculum have enabled pupils to complete examinations to prepare them for their next stages with pupils sitting GCSE exams in English Language, English Literature, and Maths alongside Functional skills in both English and Maths.
Through this work, we have two pupils who have been allocated places and are able to return to maintained colleges for September 2025 to continue their studies.
Impact:
Dorset Council established the Dorset Centre of Excellence to establish and run a local special school for the pupils of Dorset, and through the SEND Capital Strategy, have invested significantly and increased the number of special school places.
Outreach
Strategic priorities 1, 2, and 3.
Outreach from 5 of the Dorset Special schools is provided to all our mainstream schools to support them in meeting the needs of children with SEND at all stages of the Code of Practice.
- over the last year 48% of the children do not have an EHCP
- the approach has been extended to include our 4 learning centres
Impact:
Increased attendance, increased time in school and in the class, improved achievement, change in staff practice and inclusive practice.
Therapeutic Thinking
Strategic priorities 1, 2, and 3.
Therapeutic Thinking is being rolled out to all schools in Dorset.
Therapeutic Thinking trains school and education setting staff to develop a therapeutic approach to behaviour. This means staff in schools and education settings are trained to think differently about children’s behaviour. They are trained to think about behaviour as a form of communication and that children and young people can respond unexpectedly, often due to their worries and anxiety. The approach helps schools to include all children and young people by creating positive relationships and a welcoming environment. Staff are trained to think about different ways of responding to children and this helps to support them to belong to their school.
63% of all Dorset Schools have at least one trained tutor.
Educational Psychologists, specialist teachers and outreach practitioners from Dorset special schools and learning centres support schools in putting this is place.
Impact:
We have seen a reduction in suspensions and exclusion. Feedback from the training shows that staff have a better understanding of how to support children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. The training impact has shown that staff in schools begin to use the same language when talking about children’s behaviour and feedback tells us that there is a change in the attitudes of staff and governors.
One school told us “We changed our policy to reflect the fact that relationships are the key... Ofsted said that the children told them that relationships matter."
Beaucroft Post 16
Strategic priorities 4 and 5.
The College at Beaucroft Special School opened in June 2023. It is located one mile from the school site in Wimborne. The college provides a rich learning experience for their post 16 young adults.
A huge part of their learning experience is taking part in the management of enterprises. This provides them with experience in work-related learning environments, enhancing their life skills, independence, interpersonal skills, communication and teamwork. It helps prepare them for adulthood and supports them in playing a meaningful role in their local community.
The young adults support the 1HQ Cafe half termly. They serve customers, prepare food and take payments. To support this the menus are visual, and they have a specially adapted visual till. The cafe is self-supporting and able to employ staff to work alongside the students and volunteers. Arts and crafts produced by the students are available to purchase at the cafe. Future plans are to expand and relocate in the very near future and to incorporate bicycle repairs.
Impact:
Young people are able to extend their learning in a familiar setting, leading to better outcomes and preparation for a settled adulthood.
Sufficiency Strategy
Strategic priorities 5 and 6.
Children’s Services’ Social Care Placement Sufficiency Strategy has been updated for 2024 to 2027. This addresses how we will provide and commission foster care, children’s homes and supported accommodation for our Children in Care and Care Leavers. It also links to our Families First for Children Pathfinder, Birth to Settled Adulthood and other work. All this work supports children to continue to live with their families, preventing entry into care.
We have reduced the number of children in care from 475 in 2020 to 385 currently, and 25 to 30% have SEND. More children live in foster placements and fewer live in placements outside Dorset. We worked with partners to increase the number of children’s home places within Dorset from 16 to 30 places.
This means that young people with the most complex needs can stay close to their families and communities. We are dedicated to helping children with disabilities and intensive support needs stay with their families. To improve our services, we’ve opened two new short breaks homes: Hayeswood Bungalow in Wimborne and Chesnut House in Weymouth. Over 500 children use our short breaks services, and we've increased support for home and community-based care.