Item 13 - Services for Children, Young People and Families Update Report
West Dunbartonshire Council · 28 May 2025
Back to Educational Services Committee — 28 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL Report by Laura Mason, Chief Education Officer Educational Services Committee: 28th May 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Subject: Services for Children, Young People and Families Update Report 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of this report is: a) to inform the Educational Services Committee of progress on supports to children, young people and families. 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members of the Educational Services Committee are asked to: a) Note progress on plans to continue developing and improving supports. 3. Background 3.1 West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) is committed to ensuring all children and young people are enabled to progress through Early Learning and School with the support they need. When this support is more or different to what is generally provided for children and young people of the same age, then the child or young person is said to have additional needs. 3.2 The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009 lists four interrelated factors which individually or jointly impact on ability to learn: • Learning Environment • Family Circumstances • Disability or Health • Social or Emotional Factors Additional support may be required throughout a child or young person’s educational journey: others may only require additional support for a short period. 3.3 It is recognised that children, young people and families are best supported through effective multi-agency planning and delivery of services. Educational Services work in collaboration with a range of council, Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and third sector colleagues to support our families. This work is being developed via the Whole Family Wellbeing (WFW) planning, led by Educational Services on behalf of the Community Planning Partnership. ITEM 13
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4. Main Issues 4.1 There are currently 11 781 school pupils in West Dunbartonshire Council. 5470 Pupils have Additional Support Needs (ASN), supported mainly in mainstream schools. Approximately 280 pupils are supported in our specialist settings as they require a more specific learning environment. We also have a small percentage of our children and young people with additional support needs supported by day or residential providers in external placements. These often involve young people separated from their peers and their community and can be expensive in comparison to supporting in-house. These costs have increased significantly over the past few years due to increased salaries and increased charges from partner providers for the range of specialist support offered. This has resulted in budget overspends and it is anticipated that there might be mitigation of these to some extent by the ASN strategy implementation. The trajectory of ASN needs in WDC has increased over time (from 36.9% in 2013 to 46.4% in 2025) and has been supported by the investment in our ASN estate expansion. Over the past four years this has resulted in the availability of 78 additional places in specialist settings. Riverside School, our newest setting, is due to open in August 2025. 4.2 In preparation for transition to school session 2025-2026, 37 new secondary aged pupils are being allocated spaces within our specialist settings. 11 pupils will be offered places in the new Riverside School. Work is well underway in preparation for welcoming this first set of pupils and staff to the new establishment. A series of parent meetings has been planned, and feedback is parents feel confident in our approaches and plans. Recruitment of staff and the resourcing of the school is currently taking place in readiness for the new session. It is anticipated that pupils, staff and parents will be able to visit the school in advance of the August start date. 4.3 In line with National Guidance, we have a presumption to mainstream and almost all children with additional support needs have them successfully met in mainstream settings. Our ASN Strategy identifies and addresses these issues with a focus on the four pillars of inclusive education in Scotland which are: present, participating, achieving and supported, in order that children meet their full potential. Mainstreaming is the ‘central pillar’ to this approach. Our strategy is successfully upskilling staff and building on consistent approaches to meeting learner needs across all settings, ensuring our legal obligations are being met.
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The Year One pilot of our enhanced Local Learning Community (LLC) model of support has been completed. It aimed to establish and build on inclusive practices, moving towards a ‘new normal’, where the expectation will be a presumption to mainstream schooling for all children. High quality child’s planning, support and professional learning has been instrumental in this. A group of Central Officers and Educational Psychologists have delivered on an action plan and associated tasks to ensure that staff were appropriately trained and supported, that school environments meet the requirements of children attending and that the team around the child worked with parents to deliver the transition and supports needed to enable a successful Primary One. A cycle of monthly meetings with Head Teachers has ensured regular feedback and monitoring of progress. This will inform our plans and developments in the new school session as well as our Strategic Overview of support pathways. The outcomes of the pilot model and its successes, challenges and next steps will be shared at a forthcoming Education Leaders’ session. 4.4 Education Leaders have collaborated to identify key areas of development and focus for Year 4 of the ASN Strategy. Notable progress has been as follows: • Fostering robust parental engagement via a successful initiative involving five of our specialist settings in implementing the Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS) Framework, holding parent/carer engagement sessions, centred on its core principles of SCERTS. Feedback indicates a significant positive impact across all participating settings, with parents/carers reporting an enhanced understanding of SCERTS, increased confidence in collaborative engagement with the school regarding their child's targets, and observable improvements in children's communication and emotional regulation through a more unified home-school approach. • To foster collaborative professional development and enhance expertise across our specialist settings, a shared In-Service Day is scheduled for 6th May 2025. This strategic initiative will focus on collaborative learning and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange in critical areas such as Assessment and Moderation within complex needs environments. A key component of this day will involve practitioners engaging in SCERTS Case Studies. These in-depth explorations will document individual learner journeys within their communication stages, highlighting effective individualised plans and transactional supports implemented to maximise learners’ potential. Furthermore, these case studies will incorporate the SCERTS framework, providing valuable insights into the broader impact, not only on learner outcomes but also on the collaborative practices and enhanced understanding of the multi-agency teams supporting them, including educators, support staff, and families.
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4.5 Support for Care Experienced Children and Young People Education staff across WDC are being supported to engage in the Keeping the Promise Award and CE Processes, Support and Data Gathering professional learning. The objective is to establish a shared approach to supporting care experienced learners with robust and consistent processes in place to monitor and improve attendance data. 4.6 Attendance Data shows the overall attendance gap (%) between care experienced young people and their peers in the primary sector is narrowing over recent years from 3% in 2023 to 1% in 2024. The gaps remain wider in the secondary sector with a 10% gap in attendance rates with care experienced pupils having 8% more unauthorised absences than their non care experienced peers in 2024. A small team of Care Experienced (CE) staff are providing targeted support to Care Experienced pupils across primary and secondary establishments, with a focus on improving attendance and attainment. CE Teachers track and monitor pupil data, plan interventions and work in collaboration with Additional Support Coordinators and Class Teachers to review progress and identify next steps. Additional support for Care Experienced young people is coordinated through a partnership with Care Connections, Y Sort it where services work together to allocate interventions and review pupil progress. This process also involves connecting care experienced pupils with other support networks such as Intandem and the Young Carers service. It has been noted that a large proportion of pupils discussed at multi-agency Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) meetings between Police, Social Work and Education, have significantly low attendance. This highlights the need for early, targeted support and strong partnership working to re-engage pupils and address the wider issues contributing to poor attendance. This area of work will be incorporated into the next session’s Delivery Plan, with a focus on collaborating with schools, diversionary partners, and programmes to support pupils’ transition back to education. The aim is to re-establish daily routines, encourage positive engagement, and provide meaningful pathways that promote long-term attendance and wellbeing. While our overall attendance rates continue to improve, it is recognised that there is slower improvement in attendance rates for the cohort of children and young people referred to as Persistent Non-Attenders. This is identified where attendance sits lower than 80%. To support this improvement and attempt to raise awareness of the impact of this, a targeted approach to communication with parents and carers has been undertaken. This will alert them to the category their child’s attendance falls into and offer supports to help it improve it. (App.1 Persistent Non-Attendance Rates) (App. 2 Attendance Monitoring Overview)
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4.7 We are planning to undertake a comprehensive review and revision of our current policies and procedures designed to support our Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender+ (LGBTI+) pupils, as well as ensuring an inclusive environment for all students. This proactive measure is being taken in light of recent legislative decisions and judgements by law courts concerning single-sex spaces. Our aim is to ensure that our educational settings fully comply with the evolving legal landscape while upholding our unwavering commitment to the safety, well-being, and equality of opportunity for every young person under our care. This review will reflect revised Scottish Government Guidance which is likely to follow, and involve consultation with relevant stakeholders, including pupils, parents, staff, and legal experts, to develop robust and equitable guidelines that address the complexities of this issue with sensitivity and clarity. We are dedicated to fostering school environments where all pupils feel safe. 5. People Implications 5.1 There are no people implications as a direct result of this report. However, it should be noted that in line with the recommendations in the ASN Review we must ensure we have a well-trained, high-quality workforce who are equipped to support the range of needs and rights of our children and young people. 6. Financial and Procurement Implications 6.1 The projected additional funding required for the learning estate expansion has been approved and planned for in current and future budgets. 7. Risk Analysis 7.1 If the Council is unable to ensure appropriate support to children and young people, we will not be meeting their needs under the terms of the Children and Young People Act 2014 (Equalities Act 2010). 7.2 If the Council is unable to ensure appropriate support for all children, young people and staff this could result in reputational damage. 8. Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) 8.1 As noted in the previously produced Equalities Impact Assessment, the ASN strategy and subsequent supports and guidance developed will enhance the quality of the service provided to all children, young people and staff and therefore can be seen to have a positive impact in terms of the equalities. 9. Consultation 9.1 Legal Services and the Section 95 Officer have been consulted in relation to the content of this report.
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10. Strategic Assessment 10.1 This report reflects the Council’s aspiration to reduce inequalities for the people of West Dunbartonshire. Laura Mason Chief Education Officer Person to Contact: Claire Cusick, Senior Education Officer Services for Children and Young People E-mail: claire.cusick@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Wards Affected: All Wards Appendices: App. 1 Persistent Non-Attendance Rates App. 2 Attendance Monitoring Overview