Introduction
Following the publication of the Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs (1994), the government offered temporary funding to Local Education Authorities, (LEAs) to help them set up Parent Partnership Schemes. Most Schemes were established in 1994. The main focus of the work was to encourage the development of effective partnerships between parents of children with special educational needs and staff working in schools and LEAs. The brief was sufficiently wide that it encouraged tremendous diversity of practice and innovation in the ways that services to parents were subsequently developed at local level.
Some LEAs set up Parent Partnership Services in the voluntary sector. This was particularly so where individual casework was seen as the main activity of the Scheme. Others chose to establish Schemes within the LEA and the development of these services was particularly diverse. Some retained a mainly casework focus, often working alongside Casework Officers in the LEA, whilst others developed a more strategic role working with schools and as agents of change within a local government setting. Despite differences in location, the main foci was to:
Central Government funding was temporary, however, and in March 1997, the funding to LEAs for Parent Partnership activities was withdrawn. Services that had not managed to embed themselves into mainstream LEA practice, were particularly vulnerable and a large number were not sustained when the funding was withdrawn.
As of 2000 it is the Government's stated expectation that every LEA in the County will have a Parent Partnership Service. Funding for the service is again through short-term Central Government monies.
Regional Context
Regional Parent Partnership groups flourished in the early years of the development of the Parent Partnership Schemes but suffered serious depletion in many areas following the disappearance of services in a number of localities. The Eastern Region group mirrored this pattern. It began in September 1994 with 7 members and by the end of 1997 had reduced to 2.
The Eastern region has, however, recently benefited from another project funded via short-term central Government monies - the Eastern Region SEN Project. This work stems from the DfEE's ' Programme for Action', which stated that "we will help improve the way that LEA's work together, and in partnership with other agencies, to strengthen support for children with special needs by amongst other things "from April 2000, extending regional co-ordination of SEN provision across the country."
The Project, involving the 10 LEAs in the Eastern region, has a number of objectives the overarching one of which is to examine the feasibility of developing regional co-ordination arrangements for pupils with SEN. In the Eastern region the Project has adopted a strategic approach focussing on inclusion, transition at 14+, demography and data collection and training.
People from across the 10 LEAs in the Eastern region have a history of working together wherever possible to share expertise, maximise resources and build on each others experiences in the provision of services for pupils with SEN. The Regional project has, however, given regional planning a renewed focus particularly on the importance of inter-agency regional working and on the scope for greater joined up thinking at local, regional and national level.
In terms of the inclusion agenda the focus of the regional work has been on:-
i) Models of good practice including effective models of service delivery
ii) Parent partnership/mediation + the Special Educational Needs Tribunal
iii) Financial mechanisms to support inclusion
iv) Reduced and more targeted use of out-county provision
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The tasks set by the regional steering group for work on parent partnership include to: -
The intended outcomes for this work are to: -
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The Parent Partnership Group is particularly exciting both because there are three schemes in the region where parent partnership has a long history already and seven LEAs where new Parent Partnership Schemes are being developed. The group is demonstrating that by working together we can build on the best elements of each other's practice, share experiences and develop standards that we consider best practice.
Suffolk Parent Partnership Model
Established in September 1994. Staffing - one permanent Parent Partnership Officer and part time clerical assistant. One full time and a part time Parent Partnership Co-ordinator posts, plus one part time clerical assistant.
It is based within the LEA in the County town of Ipswich. The model:
The essential elements of the model are illustrated below in diagram format.
2. Community Based Parent Support Projects. This work is based in specialist provision, which can be funded either by education, social or health services. The projects have a brief that includes outreach work to parents of children who have special needs or those who are at risk of social exclusion and to staff working in mainstream provision within the community. The purpose of the support is to encourage parents to access services appropriate to their needs within the community and to encourage an exchange of skills between staff working in mainstream and specialist settings.
3. Work with schools. A number of services are offered to schools and the services are deliberately 'inclusive' in the sense that they are aimed at the schools' work with the broad parent body. Issues for particular groups of parents such as SEN or social exclusion are raised through the mainstream local and national agendas that are driving school practice. These include:
Suffolk LEA has recently gained Beacon Status for its work on school improvement and Parent Partnership was mentioned as a reason for Suffolk being recommended for the award. In particular it was stated in the report from the Department of Environment Trade and the Regions, (DETR), that the Parent Partnership work, "ensures parents' interests and concerns are met". Further more, the report goes on to say that, "the council has taken the initiative to secure more effective liaison with parents."
Southend on Sea Parent Partnership Service
Southend - A borough where disadvantage lives cheek by jowl with relative affluence.
Some 175,000 people live in the borough of Southend on Sea. It is a borough of real contrasts - areas of relative affluence alongside areas of severe deprivation. The town centre maintains a vibrant trade and remains a very important sub-regional centre. The seafront area of the town has undergone a renaissance recently and boasts seven miles of sea and foreshore with 2,000 boat moorings. It is an urban and rapidly growing community, the population increasing at a rate nearly four times that of England.
Southend's unemployment levels have been consistently high both in national and regional terms. According to official deprivation indicators Southend ranks 104th most deprived out of 354 local authorities in England. It is amongst the worst 7% of districts in terms of male long-term unemployment and falls within the worst 20 districts in terms of relative decline between 1991 and 1998.
Southend's Education Development Plan demonstrates the LEA commitment towards addressing national concerns for young people, by taking action to promote 'protective factors' in young people's lives. The EDP is sharply focused on raising standards, although it takes account of the LEA's wider responsibilities, one of which is - to provide support and guidance for parents and develop strategies that effectively encourage parental involvement in meeting individual needs.
The Southend on Sea parent Partnership Service - 'Starting from Scratch!'
In November 1999, Southend appointed their first Parent Partnership Officer. More recently an Administrative Assistant has been appointed to the Parent Partnership Scheme and a telephone helpline is now operational.
An evolving Service
Undoubtedly LEA 'ownership' of the service has helped ensure its successful start. Location, geography and identified needs of parents are some of the factors that define the approach and development of individual Parent Partnership Services. The Southend PPS has therefore not adopted 'a model' but has found the research undertaken by Wolfendale and Cook (1997) and Jeni Vernon of the National Children's Bureau to be invaluable. "The different ways in which PPSs work with parents also serve to highlight the fact that there is no one model of PPS in operation. Indeed it would appear from research that the differences between PPSs may be more significant than the similarities they share".
The current aims of the Southend on Sea Partnership are threefold:-
The major functions of the Parent Partnership Officer in Southend on Sea currently are:-
The initial focus of the work has been the collation and subsequently the development of provision of information, support and advice to parents and carers. The service is now addressing the other areas specified which are all now in various stages of operation and working well. The information, advice and support for parents is needs led and reflects the local culture of Southend on Sea.
The next phase of in the development of the Parent Partnership Scheme will be to extend closer working with schools
It is envisaged that Parent Partnership will:-
Mediation and conciliation
This aspect of the work is very much in its infancy but the model to be used is that of reciprocal working with another LEA. Where a tribunal appeal has been lodged the cross boundary mechanism of mediation will be triggered.
However, as we fully subscribe to the belief that a trusting and supportive relationship between parents/carers, the LEA and their representatives is of mutual benefit much work will have been done to minimise the need for this service. Nevertheless we do recognise that there will be situations when conflict arises and that the process of mediation and conciliation will be necessary.
The Parent Partnership Service recognises that parents possess crucially important knowledge and experience which not only complements that of professionals but is valuable in its own right. In the past, professionals may have tended to undervalue the knowledge which parents had of their children. This situation is changing and it is now realised by many teachers that while they are the experts on education, parents can be the experts on their children. *"In educational terms, parents are an essential resource and also have unique opportunities as educators - a powerful combination."
*Listening to Parents - Janet Atkin, John Bastiani & Jackie Goode
School, Family and Community Partnerships.
Thurrock LEA is launching a Borough-wide, long-term policy initiative to strengthen and support school, family and community partnerships.
Research has shown that the quality of the relationships which families and communities have with their schools is a factor which is very important to educational success. Sustained, long term improvement in educational attainment in the Borough depends upon those relationships being mutually beneficial and supportive. There is already much good practice by institutions, much goodwill on the part of families and communities, and many projects and initiatives which contribute directly or indirectly to this aim.
The need now is for a clearer overview of the issue, to establish a sense of coherence and direction. In this way, good practice can be achieved where desirable, and better connections can be established between related initiatives.
School, family and community partnerships are topical both in terms of the amount of research interest they are generating, and their relevance to a number of key areas of policy. It is important for Thurrock to have systems in place for keeping everyone abreast of developments.
A great volume of academic work has been undertaken on this subject, which has produced numerous alternative models and conceptual frameworks for thinking about school, family and community partnerships. Most of these models are similar in their description of various kinds of partnership, and in their understanding of the key factors which affect home-school relations. Common elements are an emphasis on the need to take a broad view of what is included within the partnership relationship, and an acceptance that the quality of the relationship can be improved by actions which can be taken by the education system.
The particular model chosen as the basis for an overarching framework has been selected not because it is necessarily superior to others in academic terms, but because it is simple to understand and apply in practice. This model, known as the Epstein model after its originator Joyce Epstein, has well developed support arrangements for practical implementation which have been used effectively in the USA, and much of which could be readily adapted to a UK setting.
The Joyce Epstein model.
The key features of this model are summarised as follows:
There are SIX distinct types of partnership:
1. Parenting - helping families to establish home environments which best support their children as students
2. Communicating - designing effective forms of school to home and home to school communications about school programmes and children's progress
3. Volunteering - recruiting and organising parental help and support in school
4. Learning at home - providing information and ideas to families about how to help students at home with homework and other curriculum related activities
5. Decision making - including parents in school decisions, governance and representative functions
6. Community collaboration - identifying community resources and organisations through which to strengthen school programmes and family learning
and THREE key principles:
a) Each type of partnership needs specific attention and a different approach.
b) The respective roles of the partners differ between the different types of partnership.
c) Schools, the LEA and other agencies can make a difference to the quality of each type of partnership, but this can only be sustained through a systematic programme of support and development.
Contact: Victor Baldock, Parent/School Partnership Co-ordinator, Thurrock Adult Community College, Richmond Road, Grays, Thurrock Essex RM17 6DN. Tel: 01375 399333, Fax: 01375 399099 or e-mail vbaldock@thurrock.gov.uk.
Conclusions
Why regional working is important
Future areas of work:
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