ACE Team
The ACE service is available to provide advice on whole school strategies in relation to improving attendance and on the legislation and guidance that informs LA work with children with poor attendance. This will include but not limited to:
- Advice on registration codes
- Authorisation
- Undertaking 'reasonable enquiries' when necessary to support a head teachers' decision to remove a child from roll.
- Interpreting relevant DFE guidance
ACE will support school led prosecutions, and/or penalty notices dependant on evidence from school and FS/Early Help, if interventions have not improved attendance sufficiently.
The School Attendance Support Officer (SASO) works with all schools across H&F to ensure compliance with DFE attendance guidance. The SASO focus is to support schools to maximise their impact on attendance before external referral. In schools receiving support, the aim is to ensure individual attendance action plans are in place for identified pupils.
The H&F ACE Team oversee a robust policy framework to ensure the LA fulfil its statutory duties in relation to children missing education. As a result, H&F have an up to date and accurate Children Missing Education register and processes for tracking pupil movement within the borough.
Early Help Team
H&F Early Help Team (FS) is the key service working with schools and families, to support children to access education and reduce barriers to good attendance. The Early Help service is fully integrated within the Children and Young People's Services.
Early Help is a consent-based service and works with families with children aged 0-19 to identify individual needs and support. The aim of the service is to have a positive impact on families' futures, providing them with effective support that enables them to bring about desired and sustainable change and negating the need for statutory and specialist children's services. This is achieved through the adoption of a whole family approach with one key lead practitioner. A range of targeted interventions are offered, to ensure families get the right help at the right time.
Statutory intervention
If there is a need within the family for statutory involvement under the Children's Act 1989, the family will be progressed to the Contact and Assessment Service (CAS) whereby a child and family assessment will be completed by a qualified social worker. This assessment is completed within 45 working days. Depending on the circumstances of the situation several outcomes can come from this:
- Initiating child protection processes under s47 of the Children Act 1989
- Initiating legal processes due to significant concerns of immediate harm
- Children becoming looked after
- Identification of additional intervention needed under S17 Child in Need
- Step-down to Early Help
- No further action and closure
In all service areas, the concern about attendance is taken seriously. Practitioners are aware of the need for children to be in education and the ramifications of not attending. Professionals ensure that plans for families include ensuring attendance is a priority and will work with them to identify the barriers to school attendance and provide support where needed.
There are multidisciplinary support services that practitioners have access to, to support attendance from mentoring, mental health support, systemic family therapists and community based young people's support.
Depending on the context of the individual cases, several strategies to support attendance can be considered including:
- Work with the network and family to identify the barriers to attendance.
- Identify a workable plan (for the child) to return to education in conjunction with the school and family.
- Complete school attendance plans and support families to attend school attendance meetings.
- Complete a variety of meetings from team around the families (TAF), Child in Need (CIN) meetings, Core Group Meetings (CGM), network/professional meetings, Child Protection Conferences or Legal Planning Meetings (LPM) with relevant professionals to consider how best to support a family based on the concerns arising and put together support/intervention plans accordingly.
Medical needs pathway
Where a child or young person is unable to attend school with the support of the universal or targeted services and their medical needs result in them being away from school for 15 days or more, whether consecutive or cumulative, the Local Authority has a duty to ensure suitable, fulltime education provision is arranged. This applies whether or not the child is on the roll of a school and whatever the type of school they attend. It applies to children who are pupils in Academies, Free Schools, special schools, and independent schools as well as those in maintained schools.
For most children who are unable to attend school due to medical needs, the school will be able to provide suitable alternative provision utilising funding that has been provided to them. However, in some instances, where the child's individual needs require a tailored approach, schools can liaise with a named officer in the INSPIRE team to access further advice and support.
Emotional based school avoidance
Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA) is a widely used term to describe children and young people who are experiencing persistent and severe challenges with attending school due to various emotional based factors. This often results in frequent and prolonged absences from school (West Sussex Guidance, 2018). All Schools have access to training and guidance on EBSA prevention and early intervention from the Educational Psychology Service and are encouraged to reflect on a whole school approach emphasising relational approaches and building resilience.
SEND
Some pupils face more complex barriers to attendance. This can include pupils who have long term physical or mental health conditions or who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Their right to an education is the same as any other pupil and therefore the attendance ambition for these pupils is the same as it is for any other pupil but additional support may need to be provided.
The council's Ordinarily Available Guidance is intended to support schools and settings to reflect and develop their inclusive provision to benefit all the children and young people in the school or setting including those with SEND. By outlining a set of expectations, we are encouraging consistency between schools and settings across the authority. Whilst this document is primarily aimed at professionals, we also intend that this document will support parents, carers, children and young people themselves to better understand the support that will be provided for children and young people with SEND without an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP). "Ordinarily Available Provision" refers to the support that all Hammersmith & Fulham schools, early years, and post 16 settings should be able to provide for children and young people including those with SEND from within their own resources.
Educational Psychologists (EPs) are available to schools and partner organisations via the H&F Educational Psychology Service. Educational Psychologists have expertise in:
- Education and learning across multiple contexts, including nurseries, schools and colleges
- Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- Child development from 0-25
- Well-being/mental health of children and young people, including behaviour and social and emotional needs
- Up to date research and the evidence base concerning what works to promote positive changes
The Inclusion and Specialist Intervention Outreach Service (INSPIRE) provides specialist interventions to inspire children and young people with SEND to transform their lives and achieve the best outcomes. Specialist interventions, assessment, teaching and advice are provided specifically for children and young people with hearing impairment, visual impairment, autistic spectrum disorder and dyslexia as well as advice for young children with significant developmental delay.
A wide range of bespoke training and workforce development is available for professional colleagues and parents and is tailored to meet an individual's or organisation's specific requirements. We are committed to building capacity within our schools to meet the educational needs of all Hammersmith & Fulham learners to enable them to be independent in adulthood.
Virtual School
The H&F Virtual School work jointly with schools and LA partners to monitor the attendance for Children Looked After and children with a social worker. This is a priority area for the Virtual School. Advisers within the team follow up individual cases and attend the PEP Meetings to ensure there are plans in place to increase attendance. This is monitored over time.