MANAGED MOVE Revised Protocol to Provide a Positive Alternative to Exclusion CONTENTS Page Background to the revised guidance 2 Principles of the scheme 2 Guidance on the process 2-4 FAQs 5-6 List of associated documents 6 Appendix 1 Sample letter to parents 7 1
Background to the revised guidance This document sets out the revised protocol and procedures for Norfolk s Managed Moves scheme. It will supersede the guidance issued in April 2006 with effect from September 2012. The revised guidance seeks to clarify the principles and simplify the process of managed moves in order to facilitate consistent and fair operation of the scheme by all maintained schools and academies and PRUs / Short Stay Schools. The revisions take into account the DCSF guidance Improving Behaviour and Attendance: guidance on exclusions from schools and Pupil Referral Units (Sept 2008) central government s changes to the in-year admission arrangements effective from September 2010, the statutory school admissions code (2010) the local authority s fair access protocols, the 2011 Education Act and the revised exclusion guidance in force from September 2012. Throughout this document, when the term school is used, it refers to all maintained schools in Norfolk including academies, free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools Principles of the Managed Move scheme The general principles underpinning this scheme are that pupil s educational needs are best served in their local school and therefore action should be taken to intervene at the earliest possible point where difficulties are identified. This ensures the greatest chance of success. It is vital that every school establishes and follows a high quality behaviour management policy and in order to help schools with this guidance on best practice can be found in the Norfolk behaviour Strategy documents published on the behaviour & Safety pages of the Norfolk Schools website, along with a toolkit of resources, information on a range of recommended approaches, techniques and interventions. It also signposts training opportunities and sources of further expert advice. What is a Managed Move? The purpose of a Managed Move is to facilitate a formal process leading to the transfer of a pupil to the roll of a new school. A Managed Move is one strategy in a toolkit of potential interventions. It is expected that the range of support and intervention strategies available to schools will be deployed before consideration is given to a managed move. This includes consideration of early intervention through a Specialist Resource Base (SRB) where available Managed Moves are most effective as a tool for early intervention Managed Moves are a consensual process where all parties (schools, child, parents / carers) must be in agreement. Managed moves must only be undertaken when it is in the best interests of the child / young person. Appropriate management of risk and sharing of information must be central to the managed moves process Managed Moves must be brokered by a third party to ensure equity and avoid suggestions of collusion. Informal or supported transfers are no longer legal within the admissions code since all in-year admissions must be arranged by the Local Authority. 2
The Short Stay School for Norfolk will act as the third party in all cases of managed move When is a Managed Move appropriate? The school s behaviour management policy has been implemented and a pastoral support plan meeting concludes that a fresh start at a new school would be a positive intervention strategy to maintain the pupil in education. There is documented evidence to show other interventions and support strategies which have been tried The pupil has not reached the number of exclusions where permanent exclusion becomes unavoidable When is a Managed Move not appropriate? A managed move must not be used as an alternative to permanent exclusion A managed move cannot be used for a pupil in Year 11. A referral for alternative provision may be appropriate and should be discussed with the SSSfN A young person subject to a child protection plan cannot have a managed move unless this forms part of the plan Where a pupil has a Statement of Special Educational Needs, careful consideration must be given to whether it is appropriate to follow the managed move process since it could cut across statutory process: where an annual review meeting concludes that the school cannot meet the pupil s needs, the SEN caseworker will apply due process leading to a new school being named in part 4 of the statement. This does not require brokering by the Short Stay School, although the risk assessment will probably be needed and behaviour support professionals may be involved Where a pupil is Looked After, a managed move can only be considered with the full involvement and agreement of the social worker who is responsible for the care plan Newcomers to the authority will be placed by the Admissions team according to the published code and using the Fair Access Protocol if appropriate. Where a pupil was on roll at a PRU in the previous authority, or was subject to a permanent exclusion which did not result in a reintegration, they will transfer straight to the roll of the SSSfN which will work with the admissions team to identify a mainstream school. This ensures that these admissions are properly considered and taken into account in other placement decisions, to meet the legal duty to ensure an equitable distribution of pupils between schools Managed Moves to the Short Stay School in order to avoid exclusion will no longer be possible. If a pupil meets the criteria for permanent exclusion, that is what must happen and the pupil will transfer to the Short Stay School as an excluded pupil How does a Managed Move work? 1. Home School identifies that a young person is in danger of progressing towards Permanent Exclusion despite a Pastoral Support Plan being in place (see toolkit for Children s Services recommended format) 2. Upon completion of the PSP no significant improvement has been evidenced and a fresh start is deemed appropriate 3
3. Parents are offered the option of a possible managed move and both they and the child accept. 4. The Short Stay School local Admissions and Reintegration Officer is contacted to arrange a Managed Move. Contact details can be found in the SSSfN brochure 5. Home school supplies SSSfN with SSSfN referral form and pupil information pack as defined in the process (see below). This includes a mandatory risk assessment 6. The SSSfN contacts the nearest appropriate school to agree a place. There is a duty on all schools to take part in the scheme and make necessary reasonable adjustments to receive managed - move pupils when approached by the Short Stay School to do so. However, The NASHPOINT system and league tables will no longer operate 7. Once an appropriate school has been identified a Managed Move Planning Meeting is arranged by the SSSfN. Present at the meeting are representatives from the SSSfN, both Schools, young person, Parent / Carer, (social worker or SEN caseworker as appropriate see above) and all of the necessary paperwork. 8. If all of the above are present a Managed Move Agreement can be completed setting out the terms of the Move. This will include the start date, transition plan and review date within six weeks. Transport is set up and provided by the LA where the pupil lives further than the qualifying distance from the school (2 miles if under 8yrs and 3 miles if over 8yrs) 9. The move will initially comprise a maximum six week period of dual registration where the young person attends the new school but remains on roll at the home school. At the end of this period a review meeting is held between schools and SSSfN and if the young person has met the targets contained in the managed move agreement then they transfer full time to the new school and come off the roll of the home school. Contents of Managed Moves Information Pack The following documents must be supplied by the home school prior to a managed move being organised 1. Completed SSSfN Referral form 2. Completed 16 week Pastoral Support Plan 3. Norfolk - approved Individual Child Risk Management Plan 4. Current Attendance Print Out 5. Copies of behaviour log from previous term. 6. Copies of any Exclusion letters from previous 12 months 7. SEN statement and Annual review if applicable 8. Personal Education Plan (PEP) if applicable Contents of Managed Move Agreement Details of start date and timetable for new school Details of Uniform for new school and means of supply Details of transport arrangements to new school Details of end of trial date and review meeting Three clearly quantifiable targets to be used to judge success of placement Signatures of all parties Frequently Asked Questions 4
1. Why is there no points system or league table? This is because in effect this system does not work. A league table suggests that the top school will automatically accept each student this does not take into account the actual needs of the young person, the suitability of the school or the needs of that school. In effect Managed Moves rely on the good will of schools not a league table. To maintain good will a process of publishing data on student moves is important, but a points system and league table are unnecessary. 2. Why can t the criteria for permanent exclusion be met? This proposal aims to shift MM into the realm of early intervention rather than waiting until issues have escalated to the point of PEX. The success of moves at PEX point is increasingly limited as the level of challenge and disaffection at that point is too great. Equally this proposal aims to get away from the use of MM to in effect hide PEX figures. 3. Won t this remove governor scrutiny? The removal of the need for PEX does also remove Governor scrutiny from this process. However this can be overcome with annual reporting to Governing Bodies of the numbers of MM undertaken in each school. 4. What happens if the trial period fails? There will inevitably be young people whose trial fails. These will return to their home school for a further fresh start. It would be ridiculous to not acknowledge that the probability of PEX for these students is going to be very high, however it is likely that these young people form the group for whom PEX is already a high possibility. By moving the MM process into Early Intervention we will hopefully reduce the numbers who fail their trial. 5. Why doesn t the SSSfN support the trial period? This proposal does not contain provision for Managed Moves to the SSSfN or for SSSfN staff to support Young people during their trial period. This is deliberate as this is an early intervention strategy designed for students with lower levels of need. SSSfN intervention and the limited resources available have to be reserved for students being reintegrated from the SSSfN who are invariably at a higher level of need. 6. How will the revised scheme ensure equity of distribution to schools of pupils who are subject to a managed move? A database of schools losing and receiving managed move pupils will be kept and monitored. This will be published termly to all schools so that there is transparency and peer moderation of the scheme. The SSSfN will assist with the monitoring and quality assurance of the scheme. The principle of equitable distribution of hard-to-place pupils is enshrined in law and the Fair Access policy and can be enforced by the LA s Admissions team 7. What happens if a parent subsequently requests a return to the home school once the pupil has been taken off roll? The school cannot refuse admission unless they are full in that year group. If the school refuses admission the parents have the right of appeal. If the original transfer is still considered to be appropriate, the Local Authority will not provide support in finding alternative provision 8. How do you know the new scheme will work better than the previous one? There was a short pilot of the new scheme in the Central area schools who previously used the CASHPOINT system. This was coordinated by the Executive Head of the SSSfN. The 5
pilot was successful and feedback from participating schools was positive. Amendments to the scheme following feedback from the pilot have been made. 9. Will all schools including Academies be obliged to take managed-move pupils? Yes.. List of associated documents: DFE Statutory Guidance Exclusion from September 2012 (link) DFE The School Discipline, Pupil Exclusions & Reviews England Regulations 2012 (statutory instrument) (link) Norfolk Behaviour Strategy (link) DFE Behaviour & discipline in school guides (link) Norfolk Pupil-specific risk assessment and Risk management Plan( recommended format) (link) Norfolk Pastoral Support Plan (recommended format) (link) Norfolk Pastoral Support Plan parent leaflet (link) SSSfN referral form (link) SSSfN brochure (link) 6
Appendix 1: Sample Letter for Head Teachers Managed Move Letter from Headteacher to notify parents that a managed move is being considered as a positive intervention. Dear (parent/ carer) (Name of child) (DOB) I am writing to advise you that despite the support which has been put in place, we are concerned about the future success of your child at our school. Therefore it is vital that alternative methods for supporting (child s name) can be put in place. A pupil s educational needs are best served in a local school, with the support of external professionals where necessary. However, for some pupils, a fresh start at a new school can be a positive way to manage poor behaviour when other ways have not been successful. In Norfolk this is called a Managed Move. I would like to explore whether this could be an appropriate way to support (child s name). Therefore I am inviting you to attend a meeting to discuss this. Please contact me on the above number to confirm the date and time of the meeting. Yours sincerely (Name) Head teacher 7