Barnsley Education Inclusion Services

BESS provides education if a child or young person isn't able to attend their school for health or other reasons.

Education support may be agreed in these cases to enable a return to their school or other provision. We work flexibly to plan the provision and agree the exit strategy and timeline with:

the child or young person
their parents or carers
other partners and agencies

The child or young person remains the responsibility of the school where they are on roll.

Our practice is underpinned by Barnsley’s SEND Strategy values and beliefs.

Our vision

Our vision is for every child and young person in Barnsley to be fully included, to be happy, and thrive in their education and community so that they can:

develop independence
lead fulfilling lives
achieve outcomes that are important to them

We'll endeavour to support children and young people to access suitable, full time education.

Our values

Children and young people always come first: we are here for them.
We will improve outcomes for children and young people.
Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the core of what we do.
We are open, transparent, accountable and work with partners and stakeholders.

Meet the team

Our education support team are:

SEND improvement service manager:
- Bev Bradley
Lead teacher for EOTAS and education support:
- Catherine Worthington
Tutors:
- Ron Blakely
- James Whittington
- Caroline Skiffington
- Katy McLen
- Joanne Pashley

Who can access BESS

Any child or young person of school age, who is not able to attend their school for health or other reasons, can be referred into the service.

What we do

We work together with the child or young person, school and parents/carers to further understand the barriers faced by the child or young person. Where a mental health issue is affecting attendance, the team will meet with school, parents/carers and other services. We'll look at what support is required and how services can work together to ensure a return to education and regular attendance.

Once a decision has been made to provide education support, we'll provide suitable education for a minimum of five hours per week for a six to eight week period. This tuition will be delivered within the child or young person’s school or local community.

Our team of teachers and tutors will build a meaningful relationship with the child. They'll support their transition back into their education setting. They'll deliver a curriculum, provided by the child or young person’s school, which is in line with the education being received by their peers. Our team have a wealth of knowledge and experience in education and SEND.

Our ambition is to provide quality education at a time when it's not possible for the young person to attend their school. We'll support children and young people back into full time education and work with schools to ensure this is successful.

We want to ensure that the education delivered is in the right place at the right time.

Our offer

Hours of offer

Education support tuition is available term time and within normal school hours only.

Each child or young person will be offered a minimum of five hours tuition per week.

What we'll do

The provision within an education support package will be coproduced with:

the child or young person
their family
relevant professionals

Once education support has been agreed, a meeting will be carried out by the lead teacher with the school and parents/carers. This will be to develop a personal program of work and a reintegration plan. These will:

Provide the child or young person with an education that is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and special educational needs.
Detail an initial six to eight week package of support.
Record agreed outcomes.
Specify how it will facilitate the child or young person’s return to suitable full time education.
Ensure provision is quality assured.

How we'll monitor and review provision

We'll monitor a child or young person’s progress on their support program and share attainment and attendance with school. A review of that provision will occur each three to four weeks during the cycle of support.

The review will include:

the child and young person’s views
parents or carers
involved professionals’ view of current provision

Attendance and progress will be discussed, along with the suitability of the offer.

Support arrangements will be monitored termly by the service manager.

We'll work with the school where the young person remains on roll so that arrangements for exam entry and the completion of external exams can be made.

The team will ensure that the right support is given in the right place and at the right time for all children and young people.

Our intended outcomes

Increased attendance and engagement of all learners, particularly of vulnerable groups.
Improved educational outcomes for learning, social and emotional development, wellbeing, and resilience.
Improve transition to new settings for children and young people.
Improved wellbeing of pupils.
Reduce barriers to children and young people accessing full time education.

Mental health support team

Compass Be mental health support team work with children, young people and families in education and community-based settings in Barnsley. They provide free, confidential low intensity cognitive behavioural therapy. They also provide wider help and advice for young people, families and schools for issues related to mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Compass Be work closely with our tutors to create a package of care. This is to ensure that children and young people’s emotional and mental health needs are understood and supported as they work towards transitioning back into an education setting. The aim is to provide the right support, at the right level at the right time.

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