NYCC: updated information for parent/carers 27th April 2020
Updated information for parent/carers 27th April 2020
In these unprecedented times we are working hard in Inclusion and across Children and Young People’s Service to ensure that the services for our most vulnerable young people and their families are able to continue to provide as much support as possible. We have all had to think creatively about how we can best make this work whilst also supporting staff to follow the Government guidance related to their own individual circumstances. Many staff from our service are now taking on new roles in order for all our frontline services to be able to continue to meet the needs of children and families and our community across North Yorkshire. This includes supporting Special schools with staffing and other services to enable them to remain open for families, and staffing the childcare hubs which have been set up around the county to provide childcare for keyworkers over Bank Holidays and weekends. Ensuring that we are there for our most vulnerable children during this time remains our key priority.
The Coronavirus Act 2020 allows certain statutory provisions to be dis-applied. Specifically, on SEND legislation (the Children and Families Act 2014) it enables the Secretary of State to:
modify the duties on local authorities and the health service to secure (respectively) the special education and health provision specified in an EHC (changing it to a requirement to use reasonable endeavours to deliver the provision)
Schools, and all childcare providers, are being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home. Where children are attending school for these reasons, they will receive a different curriculum to usual and this may not be provided by the usual teacher / carers or be in the usual classroom.
In addition to the expectation that children of key workers will be able to attend school if their parents / carers are working there is also an expectation other vulnerable groups may be able to attend school. Further guidance is expected w/c 20th April 2020 regarding support for children who have a social worker, children with EHCPs and children who are “otherwise vulnerable”. This guidance advises school attendance where the family may be experiencing significant challenges and pressures related to the child being at home full time. As soon as we receive this, we will update both schools and the Parent Carer Forum on what this means in practice. As part of this guidance, schools will review all of their children to identify those who may benefit from returning to school. It is important however that children do not turn up at school without a discussion with school if they have been socially distancing at home. Schools need to be sure that they have appropriate staffing in place for any additional children and that the appropriate risk assessments have taken place.
The Disabled Children’s Service has stopped visiting families for all but the most urgent circumstances to respect social distancing guidelines but Social Workers are keeping in touch with families on a regular basis and managers are in contact with schools for children who need places. The Children’s Resource Centres are running a reduced service and, in conjunction with the Social Work teams, have prioritised the most complex or vulnerable young people. Care provided by agencies is continuing as normal, subject to staff availability and families using Direct Payments in most circumstances should be able to access their usual support.
We continue to work with the Parent Carer Forum to listen to what families are saying is important to them in this situation. One of the areas where parents have expressed concerns is around provision in the EHCP. As staff in Health are redeployed into frontline care and schools are closed except for providing care, the provision as specified in the EHCP may temporarily change during the Covid 19 restrictions. Therapists and schools should have communicated what support is available during this period and should have agreed with parents what they can reasonably deliver over this time. Please be assured that the EHCP is a statutory document and as soon as schools re-open and restrictions are lifted, we would expect full provision to resume. In respect of Annual Reviews of the EHCP these should continue, albeit by a different virtual method, where it is appropriate to do so. It may not be possible to have the advice from Health colleagues who have been redeployed, and that advice will have to follow when it is possible for those professionals to report. If your Annual Review is due, please do contact your child’s school to discuss and agree how best to take this forward.
In trying to provide reassurance at this difficult time we are aiming for any queries about individuals to be dealt with as quickly as possible and to be dealt with by someone who is familiar with the child or young person. However, please appreciate that this may not always be as quickly as would usually be the case and you may not always be able to speak with a particular member of staff initially. We understand that, as families, you are likely to have many questions as the situation develops.
Please address any queries to your child’s school in the first instance.
If you have a specific query about a child's EHCP provision which can’t be dealt with by school, speak to your usual SEN contact.
If you have a specific query about Inclusive Education Service input which school are unable to answer speak to the IES contact involved.
For general queries the NYCC website with FAQs and lots of helpful links and advice is updated regularly: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/coronavirus-advice-and-information
or you can e-mail any general questions about education, childcare and schools to:
cyps.covid19@northyorks.gov.uk
We are also maintaining our close links with all of our health partners serving North Yorkshire who, alongside their response to the current Covid 19 situation, continue to provide healthcare for children and young people who may have an illness unrelated to the coronavirus.
Please be aware that if your child does become unwell for any reason, and this may not be COVID-19 related, do not wait to contact health service. Contact your GP, 111 or Accident and Emergency department as you need. Services to do with COVID-19 are being kept very separate from the usual running of the health services and are there to help in any emergency.’
We will continue to add to our FAQ page with queries relating to Covid 19 and update the information as the situation changes.