An initiative aimed at better supporting the education of children with social emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) will be discussed by councillors at the Cabinet meeting on 27 June.
The report outlines the plans to provide improved support for children and young people with SEMH needs. This involves providing further support for children in their schools, enhancing the offer for those children via an improved Alternative Provision offer, and increasing the number of specialist school placements
This model recognises that even with effective early intervention, there will always be a need for specialist SEMH provision for children with the highest level of need.
Last October, Brighton & Hove became was selected by the Department for Education to be involved in piloting a new set of initiatives to support children with special educational needs (SEN).
Alternative Provision (AP) is additional specialist support for a child or young person that can either be delivered in school or more commonly off school site. It is intended to be a temporary intervention to help the child access learning in an environment where they receive support to address their needs, with the aim of them being able to return to mainstream school or a post-16 educational destination.
The model operates over 3 levels or ‘Tiers’. Tier 1 involves a lower level of specialist support based within mainstream schools.
In Tier 2, the level of support increases with full-time short-term places where specialist help from a range of professionals is provided.
Tier 3 offers a similar level of support for a child who would benefit from a fresh start at a new school or post 16 destination.
To address the gap following the decision to no longer commission places at Homewood College, provision for children with SEMH needs who require a special school placement is also being developed.
The overall result of these developments will be an increase in educational services and support for children with SEMH needs, an increase in capacity of up to 219 places across the tiers.
Early identification and support are key to improving young people’s outcomes - and with the number of local young people at both primary and secondary school age with an SEMH needs predicted to continue to rise over the next 3 years, the new model will be central to the council's overall SEND strategy.
