New contract announced to support SEND improvement in local areas
On 20th May, the Department for Education announced £12 million funding to directly support schools and colleges to work with pupils with SEND, through the new Universal Services contract.
We are delighted to announce that the Research & Improvement for SEND Excellence partnership (RISE), led by the Council for Disabled Children and including the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi), the University of Warwick and Isos Partnership will deliver a three year, £4.8m contract to support SEND improvement in local areas.
The contract includes two programmes of work:
- The first will enable targeted performance improvement for local areas with weaknesses in their multi-agency SEND system via the provision of bespoke support. This work adds to our growing suite of regional, local and targeted support for local areas.
- The second programme will design and develop a What Works in SEND programme; as a learning system, comprising research, development, and dissemination of resources and models of effective practice; and as an evidence base for exemplary practice within the sector.
We are really pleased to be continuing our partnership with DfE and share a passion with them for achieving the best outcomes for children with SEND and their families. It is exciting to do this through a strong set of partners who want to both deliver local improvement and build the best evidence about what works in system change.
Supporting local areas, delivery partners and providers to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND continues to be a high priority for government, with a clear line of sight to key government commitments on the levelling up agenda, economic growth and employment, and to lay the foundations for further reform post-SEND Review.
