Dear colleagues

Following the recent Attendance & Inclusion Conference, I would like to thank colleagues for coming together with such a strong and shared sense of purpose.

Across the two days, colleagues engaged openly and constructively in how we strengthen attendance while embedding inclusive practice across Birmingham. There was a clear sense that this is something we are building together as a city.

The voices of children and young people were a standout part of the conference. Their contributions provided powerful insight into what inclusion and belonging mean in practice. I would like to extend my thanks in particular to Simon Harris (Wilson Stuart School), Colin Townsend (University of Birmingham School) and their teams for supporting pupils to take part – their contributions made a strong impression on colleagues.

The conference also marked the launch of Birmingham’s Inclusion Charter, alongside Inclusion House – our shared digital platform for inclusive practice across the city. The Inclusion Charter sets out the shared principles for how we work together as a system, with a focus on belonging, early intervention, inclusive practice, partnership working and high expectations for all children and young people. These principles are brought to life through Inclusion House, which brings together guidance, resources and examples of effective practice from across Birmingham schools and settings.

The message from the conference was clear: attendance and inclusion go hand in hand, and this is everyone’s responsibility. Creating environments where children feel safe, supported and that they belong is fundamental to improving outcomes.

As a next step, we are asking all schools and settings to engage with the Inclusion Charter principles via Inclusion House, using them to reflect on current practice and identify strengths and areas for development as part of their ongoing improvement journey. Further guidance and next steps to support implementation will be shared shortly. The conference illustrations will also be shared with schools, and we encourage settings to display these in visible areas to help keep key messages around inclusion and belonging part of everyday practice. We also ask schools to apply learning from the conference and to share examples of effective inclusive practice, so these can inform and support practice across the system.

You can explore the Inclusion Charter principles and supporting resources via Inclusion House: Birmingham's Inclusion House. Schools can also share feedback and examples of effective inclusive practice via InclusionHouse@birmingham.gov.uk.

Alongside this work, Birmingham’s SEND Reform Plan was submitted to the Department for Education on 18 June. We will begin to share further detail with schools and settings as this develops.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the conference and to the ongoing work taking place across the city. The real impact will now come from how we build on this momentum together.

Helen

Key items in this issue

• Update on proposed changes to supporting pupils with medical conditions at school
• SEN Support Provision Plans (SSPPs)
• SENAR to launch new consultations tool
• EHC Needs Assessment Processes
• Educational Psychology – Video Interaction Guidance Training
• Birmingham Ordinarily Available Guidance News
• Fully funded NPQ SENCO – Autumn 2026
• Parent Carer Workshop for Dads
• SENCO Consortia Leads Planning Day
• Writing your Inclusion Strategy

Update on proposed changes to supporting pupils with medical conditions at school

The Department for Education (DfE) consultation on proposed updates to the statutory guidance for supporting pupils with medical conditions in school closed on 15 May.

If implemented, the proposed changes – expected to become statutory from September 2026 – would have significant implications for schools and settings. The key proposals include:

• a requirement for every setting to have a published medical conditions policy
• strengthened requirements for Individual Healthcare Plans (IHPs)
• improved recording, reporting and learning from serious incidents and ‘near misses’
• a new requirement for a separate, published allergy safety policy, including staff training and the use of adrenaline devices

These proposals align closely with the Birmingham medical policy template currently being developed with schools and settings as part of the Local Area Partnership, including the role of a Designated Health Lead.

Further work is underway to develop supporting training and resources for schools ahead of implementation.

For further details, please visit the DfE consultation page: Proposal on support for pupils with medical conditions at school – GOV.UK

SEN Support Provision Plans (SSPPs)

The Delivering Better Value Workstream 2 is currently reviewing the funding mechanisms for top-up funding being paid to schools.  This review includes the pre-statutory funding via SEN Support Provision Plans (SSPPs). Analysis completed through this work has identified that a number of young people have had funded SSPPs in place for extended periods, in some cases for three years or more. We are therefore asking schools to ensure that funded SSPPs are being used appropriately, reviewed regularly, and aligned with the intended purpose of short-term, needs-led SEN support.

Key messages:

• An SSPP is a structured planning document used to record a child or young person’s identified needs, provision, intended outcomes and progress over time where they are receiving SEN support.
• An SSPP is not an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), does not replace the statutory EHCP process, is not required as part of the statutory EHCP process, and should not be seen as an emergency funding route.
• Its purpose is to support clear information-sharing between relevant professionals and families and to strengthen joined-up communication across school and multi-agency partners, which can also currently be used to evidence the case for short-term top-up funding for children and young people at SEND Support.
• A funded SSPP should be understood as a short-term mechanism to enable schools to put in place a high level of provision where needs require an immediate response and/or where further evidence is still being gathered to inform a possible request for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment (EHCNA).
• All SSPPs should be reviewed in line with the graduated approach set out in the SEND Code of Practice (2015). Leaders should ensure that review decisions are timely, evidence-based and clearly linked to pupil progress, the level of provision required, and the longer-term sustainability of support from delegated school resources.

• Where sufficient progress has been made and provision can now be delivered through ordinarily available school resources, the SSPP may remain as a planning document if this is helpful, but it should no longer be submitted to the LA to support a request for additional funding.
• Where progress is evident but additional support is still required for a clearly defined short-term period, a further SSPP-based funding request may be appropriate, provided this is supported by robust review evidence and a clear plan for next steps.
• Where progress has not been secured, or has only been maintained because of a sustained high level of additional provision that is likely to be required over a longer period, leaders, along with supporting professionals should consider whether the evidence now supports a request for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment rather than continuing to request funding via the SSPP.

If further information regarding this is required then schools should contact the SSPP funding group at SSPP@birmingham.gov.uk.

SENAR to launch new consultations tool

In recent months, several schools have provided feedback on the challenges they are facing in processing consultation requests from SENAR. Due to the number of children and young people in the city with EHCPs, we do issue a high volume of consultations. This is in part because we are required by law to consult with schools named as parental preference. However, we have been actively looking at ways to streamline this process and make it less burdensome for both SENAR and schools.

Thanks to several participating schools and settings, we have tested a new tool to support the accurate and timely issue of consultations to schools and the swift identification of suitable placements for children and young people. The information you receive and that SENAR require will not change, but the method of submitting your response will now be via a Microsoft Form to enable responses to be recorded quickly to the correct child or young person’s file. As part of this process, we have also introduced additional safeguards to ensure consults go to the correct type of settings, and introduced automatic reminders to ensure responses are received in a timely way to prevent delays for children and families.

Feedback from settings involved in the pilot has been positive, noting “the process is simple and clear. It eliminates the possibility of submitting the wrong response, an incomplete response or a blank response”. Case officers reported being able to progress cases more quickly, naming placements and finalising plans without delay: “I have found the system really positive. You are immediately able to see consultation responses and they are easily accessible. I like that the chasing emails go out promptly and we get emails detailing our outstanding responses.” We also recorded a higher response return rate and an increase in positive consult responses using the tool than through our existing methods.

Following this period of testing we are delighted to be launching the tool for use in all consultations from Monday 29 June. Any feedback to support us in continuing to refine and improve the tool will be gratefully received by our Quality and Improvement Team at candfsendqualityandimprovement@birmingham.gov.uk. Many thanks in anticipation for supporting this change which we hope will ultimately be a positive one for everybody.

EHC Needs Assessment Processes

SENAR has a  strong commitment to supporting schools, Resource Bases (RBs), and Special settings in a way that fully respects staff wellbeing and professional boundaries and we are grateful to schools for continuing to work with us to help improve our service and in turn the service we offer to our children and families in Birmingham.

As you will be aware, we are currently facing a significant peak in requests for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments (EHCNA’s). We want to prevent pressure for schools for next academic year, as well as managing our own staff welfare whilst we continue to try and meet this demand.

We continue to do this in a child centred way, with families and schools at the heart of how we operate. As part of this ongoing work there is an important update to our EHC Needs Assessment processes for the upcoming 6 week summer break (20th July – 31st August).

We will no longer be able to extend the summer exception for advice to our partner agencies (including EP, CAT, LLSS etc). This means that draft and final Education, Health and Care Plans will continue to be issued throughout the summer months, in line with statutory timelines. This is to prevent a significant backlog which saw a delay in issuing funding to schools and changing placements where appropriate last year.

We appreciate that this may cause some challenges for schools so we have put together a list of questions that we think schools may have regarding this. Answers to these can be seen below.

If you still have questions or concerns, and you would like to discuss these with us, SENAR Service Managers from the Assessments team will be holding a ‘drop in’ session via Teams on Monday 29th June 2pm-3:30pm. If you would like to book on to attend this session, please complete the form: Drop In Session – Fill in form.

FAQ’s

Question	Answer
What happens now over the summer?	Schools will still receive draft and final plans over the 6 week summer break. As part of our ongoing commitment to support vulnerable pupils across the city during the summer break, please could we request a point of contact for your school during this period. Please could you outline their name, email address and the weeks in which they will be 'on-call' to support any requests from SENAR. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our children and families.
Does this mean that schools will have to submit advice during the holidays?	No, this will be covered under the exception, and schools can submit their advice upon return in September. However, in line with statutory processes, a decision regarding the issuing of a plan will still need to be made by week 16 even if school advice has not been received.
If school chooses to submit the request in Autum Term 1 rather than Summer Term 2, will the information gathered in the previous academic year still be relevant?	Reviews of advice and reports completed by external professionals such as EP, CAT and LLSS as part of the graduated approach held during the summer term will still be regarded as recent, so there is no disadvantage in waiting until the new academic year to submit a request, should this be more practical for your setting.
Why is this being done now?	This approach will help support timely finalisation of Plans, release of funding to schools and earlier implementation of support for children and young people through reducing the September backlog of assessments and draft plans awaiting issue.
Are professionals still able to submit advice if they can’t see the young person in setting and liaise with the school?	Yes, professionals will still be expected to submit their reports for the assessment in line with the 6-week timescale. Professionals will still be able to use the information submitted by the school in the referral and their own reports to inform the assessment. However, when professionals are able to see the child or young person within their day‑to‑day school setting, the quality and accuracy of these assessments can be more informed, and schools may wish to be mindful of this when submitting a referral.
Will consultations still be sent during the holidays?	Yes, SENAR will continue to send consultations and finalise Plans in line with current processes, once the 15- day consultation period has been reached. More information regarding this process can be found in previous communications sent in March 2026.
Will SENAR name us even if the child is not on roll at our school?	SENAR will consider this on a case-by-case basis. If a setting is named then we appreciate a transition period may be needed, in line with the young person’s need and in agreement with parents.

Educational Psychology – Video Interaction Guidance Training

The Educational Psychology service is offering accredited training in the Autumn Term in Video Interaction Guidance (VIG). Is an evidence-based approach that uses video feedback to support positive communication and strengthen relationships. It enhances learning , social, and emotional wellbeing and interpersonal effectiveness. This link will provide more video animation information  about the intervention. What is VIG

The two-day training course enables participants to start delivering VIG straight away under supervision. This training is ideal for teachers, family support workers, speech and language therapists, and other professionals regularly working with children and / or families.

The training will take place on 19th and 20th November 2026 from 9am until 4pm . The training will be provided by Dr Katie Callicott (Birmingham EPS)  and Hilary Kennedy (Association for VIG UK) . The cost is £475 for the two days.

VIG aligns closely with SEND reforms. VIG is a flexible intervention that can be delivered across educational contexts (nursery, school, college) and within the family home. Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) will be featured at the APPG on Babies’ inaugural Showcase: A Celebration of Best Start Family Hubs in the House of Commons in June, showing government commitment to funding VIG because we know that it works so well.

The educational psychology service has been delivering VIG to families and school staff since 2015, and have found that children are more included in class, exclusion risks are reduced, parents have felt more confident in their skills and young children have been able to sustain attention for longer periods of time and started to use more communication methods, more frequently than before.

Please contact Katie.Callicott@birmingham.gov.uk for expressions of interest and/or more information.

Birmingham Ordinarily Available Guidance News

We are pleased to share that the Birmingham’s Ordinarily Available Guidance (OAG) is now fully available online across all phases - Early Years, School Age and Post-16.

This marks a key milestone in supporting a consistent, city-wide approach to inclusion. The OAG provides a shared framework to help settings develop inclusive practice, remove barriers to learning, and ensure children and young people with SEND can participate and achieve.

Explore the Ordinarily Available Guidance online

Emerging evidence from the recent Early Years OAG Action Research Project shows positive impact, including increased staff confidence and improved outcomes for children, particularly in engagement, independence and wellbeing.

Explore the resources:

• View the infographic for a quick overview of the project
• Read the one-page summary for the key messages and headline impact
• Download the Stories of Implementation to see how settings approached this work, including their focus, actions, impact and next steps.

We encourage heads to:

• Engage with the guidance as part of ongoing school improvement;
• Use it to support workforce development and strengthen inclusive provision;
• Share effective practice to support system-wide improvement.

Fully funded NPQ SENCO – Autumn 2026

The NPQ for SENCOs remains fully funded for eligible schools for the Autumn 2026 cohort. This may be relevant for:

• current SENCOs needing the mandatory qualification
• staff moving into the SENCO role
• other leaders developing SEND expertise

The NPQ SENCO has been the mandatory qualification for SENCOs since September 2024.

Registration opens at 10am on Tuesday 23rd June via the DfE NPQ Registration Service. Please select UCL IOE as your lead provider to complete the programme in Birmingham.

You can find out more about the programme on the Local Offer website.

Parent Carer Workshop for Dads

The Communication and Autism Team recently delivered its first evening workshop specifically for male parent carers, following feedback from families across the city who asked for support at a more accessible time. Hosted by Ansar Fazal and Matt Blackburn, the session welcomed fathers, grandfathers and uncles of children and young people with autism, or those currently on the Neurodevelopmental Pathway.

The workshop provided an opportunity for male carers to come together, share experiences and learn more about supporting their child or young person. Feedback from attendees showed just how valued this space was, with many reflecting on the importance of connection, shared understanding and practical advice:

• “really useful and informative”,
•  “The info shared has been great and the insights, opinions and experience has also been beneficial.”
•  “It’s comforting to see other dads going through a similar journey.”

When asked what they found most useful, several attendees highlighted the value of meeting other people, hearing their stories and learning that there are other dads feeling the same. One parent reflected that the workshop helped them realise they were “not alone in my experience.

Attendees also highlighted how useful it was to discuss practical strategies, particularly around patience, anxiety and responding to meltdowns.

This first workshop was clearly well received and highlighted the value of creating spaces for male parent carers to connect and feel supported. The team looks forward to welcoming more dads and male carers to future sessions. Information about upcoming workshops will be shared through schools via CAT and in future editions of the SENCO Noticeboard.

SENCO Consortia Leads Planning Day

On 2nd June, Birmingham’s SENCO Consortia Leads met for a city-wide planning and development day focused on strengthening local SENCO networks and supporting the next phase of SEND reform. The session explored local partnership working, inclusive practice, communication, training and peer support, alongside the development of Inclusion House as a practical digital resource for schools.

Thank you to headteachers for their continued support in releasing SENCOs to attend these sessions, recognising the importance of collaboration and inclusive practice across Birmingham schools and settings. For further information about local SENCO groups please contact senconoticeboard@birmingham.gov.uk

Writing your Inclusion Strategy

The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that schools in receipt of the Inclusive Mainstream Fund will be required to publish an inclusion strategy. The strategy should set out how the school identifies and meets the commonly occurring and predictable needs within its cohort and how it is embedding inclusive practice across the school.

DfE guidance makes clear that this activity should be supported through schools’ core funding, including the notional SEN budget, alongside the Inclusive Mainstream Fund. The fund is intended to help schools strengthen inclusive practice, improve their universal offer, remove barriers to learning early, and develop targeted evidence-based support where this is needed in addition to ordinarily available provision.

The inclusion strategy will be an important part of how schools demonstrate their strategic approach to inclusion and how funding is being used to build capacity in mainstream provision. Schools should begin to consider how they will articulate their inclusive practice, their understanding of pupil need, and the whole-school approaches they are taking to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

We are currently developing a local process and supporting materials to help school leaders prepare to write their inclusion strategy. This will include further guidance on likely content, suggested structure, and how schools may align their strategy with wider school improvement, SEND, and inclusion priorities.

In September we will host webinars where we will share further detail about the DfE requirements and the local support process:

Webinar Dates:

• Wednesday 9th September 2026, 9:30am to 11:00am
• Thursday 10th September 2026, 1:00pm to 2:30pm
• Tuesday 15th September 2026, 3:30pm to 5:00pm