City and County of Swansea Dinas a Sir Abertawe

CITY AND COUNTY OF SWANSEA DINAS A SIR ABERTAWE

Final Approved Version

May 2009

INCLUSION POLICY

EDUCATION IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SWANSEA

ADDYSG YN NINAS A SIR ABERTAWE

May 2009

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SectionPage

1.Definition2

2.The Local and National Context2

4.Principles5

5.Aims7

6.Implications for the Education Directorate7

7.Consultation Process8

8.Monitoring Review and Evaluation8

1.Definition

The City and County of Swansea is committed to a policy of social inclusion of which inclusive education is a key dimension.

Inclusive education is defined as an ongoing process concerned with ensuring equality of opportunity by accounting for and addressing the diversity present in schools[1]. It requires the commitment of schools and local authorities (LAs) to develop policies and practices that:-

safeguard vulnerable pupils;
focus on raising achievement for all learners and
increase participation in local schools and communities.

2.The Local & National Context

The Inclusion Policy contributes to Swansea’s Children and Young People’s Plan 2008 to 2011 (CYPP) along with related documents including the SEN Policy, SEN Strategy, SEN Development Plan, Accessibility Strategy and Action Plan and the Behaviour Support Plan.

The CYPP is one of the statutory plans that contribute to Swansea’s Community Strategy. A Shadow Community Strategy, Shared Ambition is Critical, was approved by Cabinet on 13 October 2008 in line new Welsh Assembly Government guidance.

The Shadow Community Strategy retains the existing 2020 vision but introducesseven new themes.

By 2020 we want Swansea to be a distinctive European city.

A city where:

Everyone has a great place to live
Everyone has the best possible start in life
Everyone has a good education
Everyone feels safe
Everyone is part of a prosperous economy
Everyone can enjoy the best possible health
Everyone’s services are the best they can be

Each of the seven themes is delivered through a clearly identified plan and partnership ensuring that there is a consistent and structured approach to delivering Swansea’s overarching strategies and plans.

The CYPP has ashared vision for children and young people:

In Swansea children and young people will be assisted to develop to their full potential so they can lead successful, enjoyable and healthy lives and make a contribution to society. They will be supported and safe in school, the home and the wider community.

We will work with children, young people, families, their carers and the community to provide the best opportunities to make this happen and provide services to develop a better Swansea for children and young people.

Underpinning the vision is the key value that children and young people have unchallengeable rights: the right to be treated equally without discrimination; to be safe, valued, supported and included.

The CYPP states Swansea’s commitment to the seven core aims identified by the Welsh Assembly Government[2] that all children should:

Have a flying start.
Have a comprehensive range of education, training and learning opportunities.
Enjoy the best possible health and be free from abuse, victimisation and exploitation.
Have access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities.
Be listened to, treated with respect, and have their ethnicity and cultural identity recognised.
Have a safe home and a community which supports their physical and emotional well-being.
Not be disadvantaged by poverty.

The CYPP also states the Authority’s belief in celebrating diversity as a source of richness and potential that benefits all and Swansea’s commitment to act in line with relevant equality legislation which includes:

The Equality Act 2006
The Childcare Act 2006
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)1995 and Amendment Act 2005
The Welsh Language Act 1993
The Race Relations Act 1976 and Amendment Act 2000
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006

The core guidance in relation to inclusion in Wales is found in the National Assembly for Wales circular 47/2006 Inclusion and Pupils Support. This guidance identifies a number of vulnerable groups of children and young people who may have additional learning needs (ALN):

children of families in difficult circumstances;
pupils with special educational needs;
pupils with a disability;
certain pupils from minority ethnic groups including those learning English as an additional language;
asylum seeking /refugee children;
Gypsies and Travellers;
children of migrant workers;
more able and talented pupils;
those who are looked after by the local authority;
pupils with medical needs;
young parents and pregnant young women;
young offenders;
young carers;
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils;
school refusers and school phobics;
pupils who perform or who have employment.

This is not an exhaustive list and the Welsh Assembly Government has adopted the

wider term Additional Learning Needs (ALN) which encompasses all children and young people with learning needs greater than those of the majority of their peers. It includes those learners who require additional support, either due to their circumstances or because they have a long term disorder or condition.

The term Special Educational Needs is a sub-category of ALN and is used to identify those learners who have severe, complex or specific learning difficulties as set out in the Education Act 1996 and the SEN Code of Practice for Wales (2002).

3.Principles

The National Assembly for Wales circular 47/2006 Inclusion and Pupil Support sets out a set of essential principles for an inclusive education service:

inclusion is a process by which schools, LAs and others develop their cultures, policies and practices to include all children and young people;

all children and young people should have access to an appropriate education that affords them the opportunity to achieve their personal potential;

an inclusive education service offers excellence and choice and seeks and responds to the views of parents, carers, children and young people;

the interests of all children and young people are safeguarded;

with the right training, strategies and support, nearly all children and young people with additional learning needs can be successfully included in mainstream education;

mainstream education is not always right for every child or young person all of the time but if mainstream education is not right at a particular stage this should not prevent the child or young person from being included successfully at a later stage; and

those pupils not in mainstream education should have links to their peers in mainstream schools.

(Inclusion and Pupil Support, 2006)

Additionally, in the City and County of Swansea we believe that:

all learners present a rich and diverse range of strengths and needs and that recognising strengths and actively meeting needs raises standards for all children and young people;

the diversity of culture, ethnicity, language and beliefs should be celebrated by schools and the local authority;

the individual needs of all learners should be met and that there should be a coherent range of provision across the City and County of Swansea to support the needs of children and young people with additional learning needs;

inclusion requires joint agency planning and integrated service delivery;

the effective and efficient use of resources should guide decision-making and the allocation of resources.

4.Aims

The aim of this policy document is to set out the commitment of the Local Authority (LA) to the principles of inclusive education and the responsibilities of the Education Directorate in implementing this commitment across all the relevant service areas and activities. Our inclusive principles inform the work of the LA within the context of the City and County of Swansea’s support for Lifelong Learning and will mean that the Education Directorate and schools will:

Develop cultures, policies and procedures to support inclusion.

Recognise and promote the entitlement of all children and young people to be offered learning opportunities that meet their individual needs.

Develop a curriculum that recognises and values diversity.

Reduce the number of fixed term and permanent exclusions.

Provide services that are accessible to all people.

Work jointly with other agencies and service providers to meet individual needs.

Monitor and evaluate inclusion across the City and County of Swansea.

5.Implications for the Education Directorate

We recognise that a commitment to inclusive education requires a range of activities and processes to take place. These include:

Training

Providing training, advice and support for school and local authority staff to promote their understanding of the concept of inclusion and ways of managing diversity in the context within which they work.

Research and Development

Supporting the research, development and dissemination of effective teaching and support strategies which facilitate inclusion

Joint Working

Working jointly with other agencies, including the Local Health Board and Trusts, Social Services and the Voluntary Sector, as well as schools, when developing and implementing the Inclusion Action Plan.

Partnership

Working in an open and collaborative partnership with all schools, governors, agencies, voluntary bodies and parents/carers.

Accessibility

Improving the accessibility of education buildings, activities and events to the wide diversity of learners living in the City and County of Swansea.
Improving access to the curriculum.
Improving access to written information provided by schools and other educational settings.

Resources

Providing adequate resources so that all educational settings are able to maximise their capacity to include the needs of all learners in the City and County of Swansea.
Promoting mainstream options when developing new provision.

Admissions

Developing an admissions policy that states clearly the entitlement of learners to access the full range of educational settings available in the City and County of Swansea.

Evaluation

Evaluating LA inclusion strategies by providing information and evidence about the levels of inclusion in the City and County of Swansea and the successes and difficulties encountered as well as bench-marking with other LAs.

Linking with other Policies

Making sure the Inclusion Policy and Action Plan relate to other relevant policies and plans including the Community Strategy, Children and Young People Plan, SEN Policy, Accessibility Strategy, Behaviour Support Plan, Early Years Strategy and Corporate Parenting Strategy, English as an Additional Language Policy and Single Equalities Scheme.

6.Consultation Process

This policy document has been developed through consultation with a variety of education providers and partner agencies.

7.Monitoring, Review and Evaluation

The Inclusion Policy will be regularly reviewed and revised when appropriate and/or at times of significant legislative change or change in service delivery.

The impact of the Inclusion Policy will be monitored and evaluated regularly by the Directorate through the work of the Children and Young People’s Partnership and its regular review arrangements.

The Inclusion Policy will be subject to an Equality Impact Assessment.