Call for Feedback - the outcomes and experiences of children and young people attending residential special schools and colleges

Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families Edward Timpson has asked Dame Christine Lenehan to conduct an independent review looking at the outcomes and experiences of children and young people attending residential special schools and colleges.

The review is designed to find practical outcomes for the government and other agencies who work with this group of young people, who often have the most complex needs and require more intensive support.

To ensure that the review is informed by a wide range of views and evidence from the sector, Dame Christine has launched a call for evidence and is asking for contributions from people working in residential settings, students attending these residential schools and colleges, their parents or carers, and children, young people and adults who have now left these settings. Councils, academics and other sector groups are also encouraged to take part.

Director of the Council for Disabled Children since 2003, Dame Christine will be supported in the review by Mark Geraghty, chief executive of the Seashell Trust, which runs an outstanding residential special school and college for children and young people with complex needs.

The call for evidence is available at the following address:

https://consult.education.gov.uk/special-educational-needs-and-disability-division/lenehan-review/

Dame Christine Lenehan would like to receive evidence about:

• the characteristics of the children and young people currently in residential special schools and colleges;
• how and why these children and young people come to be placed in residential special schools and colleges;
• the pattern of provision across the country and how it is commissioned and procured;
• what good quality support looks like for these children and young people, both pre- and post-placement (including the role of early intervention, family support and community services);
• the experiences and outcomes of these children and young people and their families, and how these can be improved;
• how schools and colleges are supported to meet the needs of these children and young people by all agencies;
• how effectively the workforce in residential special schools and colleges meets the needs of these children and young people; and
• destinations for these children and young people.

She’s interested in evidence from:

• people running or working in residential special schools or colleges
• children and young people who are attending/have attended residential special schools or colleges, and their parents/carers
• local authorities
• representative bodies from across the sector
• academics with an interest in this area

Please send responses to Lenehan.Review@education.gov.uk by 17 March 2017, along with any other enquiries about this call for evidence.