Introduction
In the recent
Schools
White Paper and
SEND
Reform Consultation document: Putting Children and Young People First, we set
out the intention to establish an expert panel to develop recommendations on the design, structure and content of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages:
• National Inclusion Standards will set out what all children and families should be able to expect from their mainstream setting. They will provide settings with clear, evidence-informed tools, strategies and approaches to make their setting more inclusive, and enable them to identify and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream settings.
• Specialist Provision Packages will be nationally defined, evidence-based packages of support for children and young people with the most complex needs, setting out the interventions across education, health and care to respond to a child’s needs, and the resources, curriculum approaches and environmental adaptations required to support them.
Subject to the consultation, and any changes to the Government’s approach that may result from that, we are now seeking to appoint the expert panel. The Panel will consist of two Co-Chairs and between five to eight other members, plus co-opted representation from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and the DfE’s Scientific Advisory Council. This recruitment exercise seeks to appoint five to eight members from a range of backgrounds across education, health and social care research and practice in order to establish the Panel. The Panel members will be appointed to fill the roles as individuals acting in the public interest, and not as representatives of their particular profession, employer or interest group.
Panel members will need to have a strong understanding of either the evidence and research base for supporting children and young people with SEND and their families, or extensive experience of delivering exceptional evidence- informed practice across mainstream and/or specialist education environments. Applications are welcomed from education, social care and health professional working across the 0-25 age range.
Introduction from the Minister
Dear Candidate,
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the independent Expert Panel for National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.
The Panel’s focus is to develop National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages, including building on feedback received through the consultation process in order to strengthen the proposals. The Panel will use their own expertise as education, health or social care professionals as well as engaging more widely, including with children, young people and their families. This important work will inform how we will best meet our main objectives for SEND reform: to ensure that children and young people who can achieve and thrive in mainstream education will be supported to do so; and children and young people who need specialist support will receive it promptly and with dignity, clarity and care.
To do this means investing in understanding the existing evidence base around how we identify and meet children’s needs and engage them in education. It also means building the evidence base where we do not have sufficient evidence on the effectiveness of support for particular barriers to learning and participation.
Panel members will need to be able to demonstrate leadership and/or expertise in identifying, disseminating, or delivering evidence-based approaches which have a track record of improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
The Panel’s work will help our education system adapt to be able to support all children, ensuring that SEND support is dynamic, well-evidenced, high-quality and timely. As a member of the Panel, you will make a real and lasting positive difference to children and young people’s lives.
My department is focused on removing barriers to opportunity. We welcome applications from women, people with disabilities, LGBT candidates, and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
If you share my conviction for improving outcomes for children and young people, and have the skills and experience to support this important work, I urge you to apply for this role.
RT HON BRIDGET PHILLIPSON - SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION
Appointment description
Under the leadership of co-Chairs, Panel members are responsible for making recommendations to government on the structure, design and content of National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages. Members will also be responsible for improving the quality and promoting the use of evidence-based practice.
Key Responsibilities
- Drawing on your professional expertise and experience from education, health and/or social care to contribute to the development and subsequent review of National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages.
- Engaging widely with key stakeholders and experts to inform the development and review of the National Inclusion Standards and Specialist Provision Packages, firstly as part of the SEND consultation and then through ongoing engagement. The panel will gather insights from a wider representative group of key stakeholders to act in an advisory capacity to support and challenge this work. This will include ensuring the voices of children, parents and sector groups feed into the development of both the Standards and Packages.
- Mapping and evaluating the existing evidence base on strategies to identify and address barriers to learning and participation, identifying evidence gaps across these strategies and making recommendations on research that needs to be commissioned.
- Providing recommendations to government on the content, design, and structure of National Inclusion Standards, including overseeing the drafting of the Standards.
- Providing recommendations to government on the content, design and structure of Specialist Provision Packages, including overseeing the drafting of the Packages.