At the House of Commons on Wednesday, 19thJanuary 2022, the Prime Minister announced theremoval of Plan Brestrictions. This will mean:
The removal of the recommendation to wear face coverings in classrooms from 20thJanuary 2022
From 27thJanuaryface coverings are no longer advised for pupils, students, staff and visitors in communal areas.
From 27thJanuary, staff and pupils should follow wider advice on face coverings outside of school, including on transport to and from school or college.The government has said that once the existing regulations expire on the 26thJanuary, they will no longer mandate the wearing of face masks anywhere,however it is still recommended that people use them in enclosed or crowded areas, especially when meeting strangers.
Changes to the isolation expectations in a residential setting
Removal of mandatory certification from 27 January
From 27 January government is no longer advising people to work from home if they can
Testing remains important in reducing the risk of transmission of infection within settings. Staff, secondary school pupils and students should continue to test twice weekly at home, with lateral flow device (LFD) test kits, 3-4 days apart. Testing remains voluntary but is strongly encouraged
Both the relevant guidance documents were updated on the afternoon of the 19thJanuary to reflect these changes.
Suggestions were made that the government wishes to end self-isolation rules for people with coronavirus in the coming weeks. The legal requirement would lapse when the regulations expire on 24thMarch. This date could be brought forward, but nothing confirmed yet although a speculative date of January 26thhas been widely reported by the press.
As we move out of plan B, we are aware that this is a concerning time for schools -especially as cases of the Omicron variant are high within schools, in particular primaries.You should still have contingency plans (sometimes called outbreak management plans) outlining what you would do if children, young people or staff test positive for COVID-19, or how you would operate if you were advised to take extra measures to help break chains of transmission. This has not changed. However, as we do start to emerge from the restrictions, we will raise any concerns with DfE to ensure that your views are heard and considered.
If you do wish to raise any issues or concerns, please feel free to contact Mari viamdavis@nasschools.org.uk
Providing schools with the framework to self-assess their current emotional and mental health provision in order to identify strengths and good practice as well areas that may benefit from greater attention or improved investment.
Schools often took a pupil-centred approach when identifying needs and planning provision, but staff did not always know the pupils well enough to do this.
Pupils with SEND regularly spent time out of class working with teaching assistants (TAs), but there were some concerns about social exclusion and over-reliance on a single adult.
Occasionally, schools were teaching a curriculum to pupils that was not properly sequenced or well matched to their needs.
Collaboration between practitioners and families supported schools in meeting pupils’ needs more effectively.
Mechanisms for co-production with parents and carers were often in place but implementation was not always meaningful. This is likely to impact how far schools can tailor provision to children’s needs.
School SENCos were essential for mediating provision but experienced a range of challenges in carrying out their role.
Schools employed a range of tailored strategies to meet pupils’ needs, sometimes supported by multi-agency services.
Local authorities had strong ambitions for multi-agency collaboration, but this did not always translate into improved practice and positive experiences for schools and families.
Some pupils received support from external services, but not always to the extent they need.
This research raises questions about what ‘success’ looks like in terms of supporting children with SEND in mainstream schools.
New legislation to help transform opportunities for all – the Government seeks to level up FE with HE and increase choice on free qualifications. There seems to be a great deal of energy from the DfE on this area and potentially more opportunity for our young people to get into training and skills which will equip them for this post-Covid-levelling-up-build-back-better-world.
In response to these strange and often challenging times, engage in their future wanted to best to facilitate and deliver a forum that would allow our members to not just connect but to also contribute to, and benefit from, the knowledge and experience that had been gathered over recent weeks by colleagues across the national network of members.
To register, please email us at engageintheirfuture@gmail.com and we’ll send you the joining details.
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#engage_and_connect: Background
To support members during the challenges and pressures of the Coronavirus lockdown, engage in their future wanted to establish an effective and supportive way to keep everyone connected and provide informative sessions with relevant content using an easily accessible platform.
The answer was #engage_and_connect! A series of sessions covering a variety of topics were held during May, June and July via Zoom. Participants could talk, share and listen as well as benefit from advice, support and resources from guest speakers.
Although circumstances continue to evolve, the need for support and connection remains, as does demand for relevant, useful advice and resources.
The #engage_and_connect sessions supplement our efforts to support engage in their future members and the wider SEMH education community, but they also enable us to connect and provide participants with the reassurance that we are not alone during these unusual times.
Many will be aware of (and extremely grateful for!) the work that continues to be done by NASS, including regular updates that collate official guidance and disseminate its contents to identify the impact on specialist education. It was therefore a privilege to jointly deliver the #engage_and_connect sessions with NASS and have the opportunity to share our combined experiences more widely.
We would like to say ‘thank you’ to all of the speakers that have taken the time to join us and so willingly shared their resources, experience and expertise, and to all those individuals and schools that supported #engage_and_connect either by “dialling in” during the sessions or by visiting this website to access recordings or resources afterwards.
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Previous #engage_and_connect sessions
Tuesday 27th April 2021 with Nick Whittaker HMI Specialist Adviser, Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities
It was great to welcome Nick to our eleventh #engage_and_connect session and hear him speak about ‘What we have learned about the experience of children and young people with SEND during the pandemic’.
Nick considered how schools might develop a connected approach that draws on those theoretical approaches, balances them with the lived experience of their school community over the last twelve months and consider how they can be integrated across policy and practice to best support meeting the expectations and requirements in the short, medium and long term of the Ofsted inspection framework
He also recommended checking the Ofsted YouTube channel for resources and information, and their rolling update service.
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Wednesday 24th March 2021 with Professor Barry Carpenter
We were delighted that Professor Barry Carpenter joined us for a second #engage_and_connect session.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of children and young people. As we start to consider the implications of the road map back to “normality”, many schools will be asking how the experience has affected the child as a learner. Many children have become disengaged, and upon return from another lockdown our quest will be to re-engage them and re-ignite the flame of learning.
Participants considered the impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health, how we might rebuild emotional resilience in children, patterns of vulnerability related to the pandemic, the process of re-engaging the disengaged, and compassionate leadership and a culture of kindness.
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Tuesday 23rd February 2021 with Rich Berry
Following his session in January around supporting the mental health of school leaders and staff, this session saw Rich focus on the mental health of children and young people facing SEMH challenges.
Statistics show that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental well-being of our children and young people. Rich shared some of the neuro-science behind why emotional connections and relationships are so important to good mental health.
A recording of the session is available here –
Tuesday 9th February 2021 with Pete Smith
During the Autumn term 2020 following a major incident, one of the engage in their future member schools experienced three visitations – a joint HMI and Local Authority Safeguarding inspection, an Ofsted Care Assurance inspection (the next day) and an Ofsted ‘Research Visit’. In short, a full diagnostic into the past, present and future and all during a pandemic (and just before Christmas!).
Pete Smith, Deputy Head Teacher at West Kirby School and College and engage in their future Regional Representative for the North West shared this experience and what the school community learnt from it during this ‘Lockdown in Lockdown’ #engage_and_connect session.
Pete shared how the school community navigated the unprecedented challenges, handled the questions posed by Ofsted, and explained some of the techniques they adopted to protect and nurture the mental health of all stakeholders, all with a view to helping support colleagues prepare and plan for future inspections in this a most unprecedented time.
An edited recording of the session is available here –
The first #engage_and_connect session of 2021 was held on Tuesday 19th January when we welcomed Educational Consultant and Co-Chair of engage in their future Rich Berry to consider –
Maintaining a Window on the World That Supports the Mental Health of School Leaders and Their Staff
Rich highlighted the importance of us all being mental health aware, recognising the signs of anxiety and mental stress, and not neglecting our own mental well-being. He shared practical advice and tips, as well as sign posting other resources.
A recording of the session is available here –
Friday 13th November 2020 with Carolyn Eyre
Following on from the hugely successful sessions earlier in the year, we were delighted to welcome Carolyn Eyre to the first #engage_and_connect session of the new academic year.
Carolyn had been scheduled to join us at our National Conference (which was unfortunately cancelled) but safeguarding is such a high priority issue that it was important that we still share and benefit from Carolyn’s expertise.
Carolyn’s presentation started by touching on how we got to where are now by taking a brief but relevant look at historical research, reports and guidance before moving on to the changes introduced by the most recent guidance and the implications for our schools.
Those that joined us confirmed what a comprehensive and informative session it was, and just how important our role as advocates for the children and young people that we work with is.
Carolyn has very kindly shared a copy of her presentation with us so that those who were able to join us can reminder themselves of what was covered, and those that weren’t able to make it can still benefit –
It was a privilege to be joined by motivational speaker Richard McCann for the #engage_and_connect session on Wednesday 1st July. Richard spoke at the engage in their future National Conference in 2011 so we knew to expect a presentation of exceptional quality, emotional content, and highly relevant messages.
Richard shared his personal experience of adversity and challenge, explained the impact that key individuals had on him, and illustrated how his “I Can” and “I Will” attitude helped him turn his life around. Through this, his own experience and appreciation of the difference that educators can have on their students was clear.
The key messages that he shared are as relevant to teachers as they are to their students: “we have the greatest capacity to grow when we’re facing to challenges”, “don’t be afraid to ask for help”, “kindness matters”.
A recording of the session is not available but to find out more about Richard, please visit his website – www.richardmccann.co.uk
Wednesday 3rd June 2020 with Professor Barry Carpenter and Sharon Gray
Hot on the heels of the #engage_and_connect session with Bernard Allen on Monday 1st June, Professor Barry Carpenter joined us on Wednesday 3rd June for the fourth #engage_and_connect.
Barry talked through his Recovery Curriculum work, the five key areas of loss, and how the Recovery Curriculum is a construct built on five levers “as a systematic, relationships-based approach to reigniting the flame of learning in each child”. He reiterated how important compassionate leadership is at this time more than ever, and how teaching is, at its core, relationship based.
Resources, ideas and useful links were shared and the value and relevance of Barry’s expertise was clearly appreciated given the positive feedback from participants.
For those who would like to revisit the session, pull out the resources and links that Barry mentioned, or share it with colleagues, and for those that were unable to make it, a recording is available here –
It was also a privilege to hear from Sharon Gray again as she provided more detail and insight on the work that she has been doing with the Embark Federation.
Sharon explained how they have been looking at the real lived experience of all stakeholders during the pandemic, how they are developing a library of resources to support students by age and stage as they return to school, and shared several useful and practical ideas to aid that transition.
Sharon’s session can be viewed here –
Monday 1st June 2020 with Bernard Allen
In his #engage_and_connect session, Bernard Allen referred to the need to take “reasonable endeavours” to minimise risk and do the best possible in the circumstances. Considering the language that we use in risk assessments, demonstrating the thinking behind certain actions and guidance, and ensuring that this is shared in the appropriate with stakeholders were also discussed.
Bernard also pointed out that, in legal cases, the test of what constitutes good practice is whether or not a particular course of action would be supported by a ‘reasonable body of professional opinion’. In drawing together such an experienced group to face these challenges we become that reasonable body. There are no experts in a position to pass down infallible guidance to leaders on the practicalities of managing schools and children’s homes in this new era. It is up to us to invent best practice by engaging creatively and sharing ideas that seem to work.
Many thanks to Bernard for sharing these and allowing us to make them available here.
You may also find this resource useful – Health and safety audit.pdf020620. Drafted in response to numerous requests from a wide range of educational settings for advice and support, we are enormously grateful to Tony Ryall and Jeannine Law for providing and sharing this document.
Tuesday 19th May 2020 with Keith Fraser, Chair of the Youth Justice Board
For those that missed the session on 19th May with Keith Fraser, Chair of the Youth Justice Board, you can view the session here.
Keith reflected on how the circumstances caused by the Coronavirus pandemic have provided an opportunity to reflect and to challenge if we should return to the “old” normal.
He also talked through how the “child first” approach must translate into strategy and operational procedures, and that it should be genuinely understood and delivered by all stakeholders and involved parties to be truly effective.
Wednesday 6th May 2020
The first #engage_and_connect session provided a useful and informative opportunity for participants to come together. Experience, feedback and concerns were shared but it was finding reassurance that they weren’t alone in the prevailing unprecedented circumstances that proved to be so invaluable for participants. It provided a much needed forum for sharing collective support for the emotional and mental well being of school leaders who found themselves supporting so many others and facing so many challenges.
Sharon Gray OBE, Education Consultant and Co-Opted member of the engage in their future National Commitee was a guest on BBC One’s The Big Questions on Sunday 14th March 2021.
Representing engage in their future, Sharon was asked to contribute to the conversation around whether or not our genes define us. Sharon spoke with knowledge and passion about the incredible work that engage in their future member schools do to develop trusting enabling relationships with children and young people who have experienced significant adversity or trauma and as a result have communicated that through their behaviour.
Sharon explained how integral the exploration and understanding of the neuro-science of learning and the biology of stress is to enabling staff better support students.
If you missed the show, it’s currently available on BBC iPlayer. Sharon’s contribution is around 36 minutes in but the discussion around the question of “is how we turn out due to our parents care or is it the result of the genes they passed on to us?” is well worth a watch.
London Regional Representative, engage in their future
engage in their future is looking to recruit a Regional Representative for the London region.
The voluntary position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the work of engage in their future and to represent SEMH schools and other educational settings across the London region.
Actively support the leadership, direction and development of eitf at a national level for the benefit of its members.
Represent their region at the national level within eitf.
Provide regional support on behalf of eitf as a national organisation.
Identify and deliver regional, and support national, efforts to retain existing and recruit new member schools to eitf.
In return, the successful applicant will enjoy –
Extensive opportunities for informal professional development and networking.
Satisfaction of supporting students facing SEMH challenges and peers working with them, locally, regionally and nationally.
Scope to develop and shape the direction and impact of the organisation.
Being able to actively contribute to the collective voice representing SEMH education.
Required skills include –
Proven management, networking and communication skills.
Ability to identify key factors, make appropriate timely and well informed decisions, and identify possible impact on eitf and / or wider (SEMH) education framework.
Commitment to dedicate appropriate level of time, involvement and support to executing the role and liaising with colleagues.
Experience of the SEMH education sector and the wider education framework.
Ability to disseminate information, identify impact and communicate to colleagues either within their region or the National Committee.
Familiarity with, or experience of, eitf.
If you are interested in applying for the position of engage in their future London Regional Representative, or would like to receive further information about the role, please send us an email to engageintheirfuture@gmail.com
Did you know that you can support engage in their future when you shop at Amazon?
All you need to do is click on the link below and it will take you through to Amazon smile and set engage in their future as the charity that you wish to support. Amazon will donate a percentage of the amount spent to engage in their future which we’ll use to support our work with children and young people facing SEMH challenges and those working with them.
Don’t forget to shop through smile.Amazon.co.uk each time you make a purchase.
As schools return, these two books from Beyond Words provide an invaluable resource to help children make sense of their experiences during the Coronavirus pandemic, communicate their feelings and prepare for more change as they go back to the classroom.
As the stories are told in pictures alone, it is not necessary for children to be able to read words to enjoy them. This means they are appropriate for pupils in both mainstream and special education settings.
Supporting text at the end of each story gives teaching staff and parents guidance on how to use the stories with children.
Holding an event at your school which you’d like to open up to other member schools? Or heard about a conference that may be of interest to others? Tell us about it and we’ll spread the word!
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