Educating children with health needs New Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities
www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/statutory/g00219676/health-needs-education/special-health-needs-education
Or - http://tinyurl.com/akzby6h
Department for Education accepts TYMES TRUST advice
New Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities
Following received from Jane Colby, Tymes Trust (The Young ME Sufferers Trust)
(Tymes Trust Alert 2013-01 : Dept for Ed accepts TYMES TRUST advice)
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION ACCEPTS TYMES TRUST ADVICE
New Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities
======
During much of 2012 we have been liaising closely with the team at the
Department for Education writing the new statutory guidance on the
education of children with health needs. Its official title is: 'Ensuring
a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health
needs: Statutory guidance for local authorities'.
When it was finally published last week, I was delighted to see that
Ministers have kept this guidance substantially the same as the final
draft I had been working on. This draft was mentioned in the last Forward
ME meeting and in my Alert to you of 7 November.
If you are one of my Twitter followers you'll have read my tweets of 9
January, giving the link:
http://www.education.gov.uk/g00219676/special-health-needs-education
Nothing is perfect, but we believe that this new guidance is a big
improvement on what has gone before. Many former sticking points have
been addressed.
For example:
It is made clear that letters to school from your GP are perfectly
acceptable, not just information from a consultant, and it is also stated
that delays in providing suitable education due to waiting for a
consultant's opinion or asking for repeated opinions from a consultant
are not acceptable and should not occur (paras 11/12). It is spelled out
that the 15 days' absence by which time arrangements should have been
made can be consecutive or cumulative.
Virtual education can be provided on its own when necessary (para 7)
without attendance at a school or a unit being part of the package.
Whilst the government would like children to have face to face education
when they are well enough, this does not preclude a virtual education
course when appropriate.
A reintegration plan for a return to school is not required until the
child actually appears to be approaching the stage when a return might be
appropriate. This should remove pressure to plan for a return before it
is likely to be sustainable.
The Department also makes clear that sick children cannot just be
arbitrarily removed by the school from their roll.
Moreover, the Local Authority's responsibility to ensure that sick
children get the education they need applies over all types of school
including Academies and Free schools and also Independent schools.
The Local Authority, however, does not have to get directly involved if
suitable education is already being provided, so we believe it may often
fall to parents to alert the Local Authority if they feel that a school
is not providing suitable education for their child. There is plenty of
quotable material in this guidance with which to make your case, however.
I have been giving advice to government officials and Ministers about the
education of children with ME for many years and at last it has borne
fruit.
It's amazing that the first ever 'Guidelines for Schools', describing how
schools can help children with ME (which I wrote with Dr Betty Dowsett)
were launched way back in 1991. I then wrote the first specialist article
on ME and education, which appeared in the British Journal of Special
Education in 1994, entitled 'The School Child with ME'. In 2001, Special
Children journal published my '10 Points on the Education of Children
with ME', and gave Tymes Trust permission to reprint it at
http://www.tymestrust.org/pdfs/tenpoints.pdf. And there have of course
been many other articles and committee work over the years.
So whatever you are struggling with, please do not give up. Hard work and
persistence can be rewarded. The same principle applies in learning to
manage this distressing illness in the way that is right for your own
child, rather than struggling with how some official wants to tell you to
live your life!
FOLLOWING MY TWEETS
Twitter is the quickest way to find out my news (and the occasional bit
of personal chat) and if you don't want to sign up to Twitter, you can
keep up with my tweets via www.tymestrust.org.
All good wishes,
Jane
Jane Colby FRSA
Executive Director
The Young ME Sufferers Trust
PO Box 4347, Stock, Essex, CM4 9TE
www.tymestrust.org
Tel: 0845 003 9002
Holder of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service:
The MBE for Volunteer Groups
www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/statutory/g00219676/health-needs-education/special-health-needs-education
Or - http://tinyurl.com/akzby6h
Department for Education accepts TYMES TRUST advice
New Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities
Following received from Jane Colby, Tymes Trust (The Young ME Sufferers Trust)
(Tymes Trust Alert 2013-01 : Dept for Ed accepts TYMES TRUST advice)
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION ACCEPTS TYMES TRUST ADVICE
New Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities
======
During much of 2012 we have been liaising closely with the team at the
Department for Education writing the new statutory guidance on the
education of children with health needs. Its official title is: 'Ensuring
a good education for children who cannot attend school because of health
needs: Statutory guidance for local authorities'.
When it was finally published last week, I was delighted to see that
Ministers have kept this guidance substantially the same as the final
draft I had been working on. This draft was mentioned in the last Forward
ME meeting and in my Alert to you of 7 November.
If you are one of my Twitter followers you'll have read my tweets of 9
January, giving the link:
http://www.education.gov.uk/g00219676/special-health-needs-education
Nothing is perfect, but we believe that this new guidance is a big
improvement on what has gone before. Many former sticking points have
been addressed.
For example:
It is made clear that letters to school from your GP are perfectly
acceptable, not just information from a consultant, and it is also stated
that delays in providing suitable education due to waiting for a
consultant's opinion or asking for repeated opinions from a consultant
are not acceptable and should not occur (paras 11/12). It is spelled out
that the 15 days' absence by which time arrangements should have been
made can be consecutive or cumulative.
Virtual education can be provided on its own when necessary (para 7)
without attendance at a school or a unit being part of the package.
Whilst the government would like children to have face to face education
when they are well enough, this does not preclude a virtual education
course when appropriate.
A reintegration plan for a return to school is not required until the
child actually appears to be approaching the stage when a return might be
appropriate. This should remove pressure to plan for a return before it
is likely to be sustainable.
The Department also makes clear that sick children cannot just be
arbitrarily removed by the school from their roll.
Moreover, the Local Authority's responsibility to ensure that sick
children get the education they need applies over all types of school
including Academies and Free schools and also Independent schools.
The Local Authority, however, does not have to get directly involved if
suitable education is already being provided, so we believe it may often
fall to parents to alert the Local Authority if they feel that a school
is not providing suitable education for their child. There is plenty of
quotable material in this guidance with which to make your case, however.
I have been giving advice to government officials and Ministers about the
education of children with ME for many years and at last it has borne
fruit.
It's amazing that the first ever 'Guidelines for Schools', describing how
schools can help children with ME (which I wrote with Dr Betty Dowsett)
were launched way back in 1991. I then wrote the first specialist article
on ME and education, which appeared in the British Journal of Special
Education in 1994, entitled 'The School Child with ME'. In 2001, Special
Children journal published my '10 Points on the Education of Children
with ME', and gave Tymes Trust permission to reprint it at
http://www.tymestrust.org/pdfs/tenpoints.pdf. And there have of course
been many other articles and committee work over the years.
So whatever you are struggling with, please do not give up. Hard work and
persistence can be rewarded. The same principle applies in learning to
manage this distressing illness in the way that is right for your own
child, rather than struggling with how some official wants to tell you to
live your life!
FOLLOWING MY TWEETS
Twitter is the quickest way to find out my news (and the occasional bit
of personal chat) and if you don't want to sign up to Twitter, you can
keep up with my tweets via www.tymestrust.org.
All good wishes,
Jane
Jane Colby FRSA
Executive Director
The Young ME Sufferers Trust
PO Box 4347, Stock, Essex, CM4 9TE
www.tymestrust.org
Tel: 0845 003 9002
Holder of The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service:
The MBE for Volunteer Groups
RSS Feed
