These are the
child protection procedures that are used in all of the Local
Safeguarding Children Boards in Wales
The person that has made an appeal to the
SEN Tribunal.
A
social work service which is part of
Welsh Government and independent of local authorities, it helps parties to negotiate settlements about
child arrangements in private law and provides
advice to the family courts in the form of welfare reports. In most public law cases, the court appoints a children’s guardian from
Cafcass to represent the child’s best interests to the court.
Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Services, which are run by the NHS. They are specialist services for support and treatment for
young people who have emotional or mental health problems.
An order is made by the court under section 31
Children Act 1989 which places a child in the care of the local authority, with parental responsibility being shared between the parents and the local authority. A
care order lasts until a child turns 18, unless someone applies for it to end earlier under section 39 – discharge of a care order.
A person who is suitable to exercise the
child’s rights to make an appeal or claim (
SEN Tribunal)
The statement of a party’s case submitted in respect of an appeal or claim (
SEN Tribunal)
The time period during which the parties must submit their
case statement (
SEN tribunal).
A
child or
young person aged under 18. There are some differences in the law between young children and 16 and 17 year old, for example if they are looked after, and relating to capacity to make decisions.
A person in whose favour a
child arrangements order for residence has been made may apply to the local authority for a financial allowance if the order is needed to prevent the child going into care. Every local authority should have a policy on awarding this type of allowance, which is discretionary.
‘
Children in need’ is the term used in the Children Act 1989 to describe children who need services that will allow them to be brought up within their families, and that local authorities have powers and duties to provide. Section 17 Children Act 1989 states that a
child in need is a child who is unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable level of health or development, or their health and development is likely to be significantly impaired or further impaired, without the provision of services. This definition does not apply in Wales after April 2016 when the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 comes into effect.
A meeting with representation from a range of agencies, chaired by the
Child Protection Co-ordinator or an independent chair appointed by the local authority, which makes recommendations to the local authority and/or other agencies.
This is a Social Services member of staff who is responsible for the Register, chairing Conferences and the practice of
child protection across and between all agencies.
The
Core Group will meet frequently to facilitate working together on the
Plan, monitor actions and
outcomes, timetable and prepare the report to the
Review Conference. The
Key Worker is responsible for calling the Core Group meetings and providing minutes.
A local authority has a duty, under section 47
Children Act 1989, to investigate if it appears that a child in their area is suffering significant harm.
The
Key Worker is responsible for: making sure that the outline
Plan is developed and agreed by the
Core Group into a more detailed inter-agency Plan; acting as lead worker for the inter-agency work with the
young person or their and
child(ren) and family; ensuring communication and co-ordination between members and arranging Core Group meetings and minutes; completing the Core
Assessment within the maximum 35 working days.
If the Initial Conference agrees to registration on the CPR, the Conference must also confirm an outline
Plan for the
Core Group which will then develop and agree a full Plan in the first meeting.
On behalf of the Local
Safeguarding Children’ Board, the Social Services Department maintains the CPR which lists all the children and
young people in the county who are assessed by a Conference to be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm and for whom there is a
plan">Child Protection Plan, a
key worker and
Core Group. The name of the child or young person can only be placed on the
CPR by a decision of an Initial Conference that the criteria for registration have been met. A child’s name can only be removed by a decision of a
Review Conference. When a child is on the Register in one county of the UK and moves to another county, they are automatically placed on the Register of the ‘receiving’ county. An Initial Conference will be held to ‘transfer-in’ the child and decide if the grounds for registration justify remaining on the Register.
The
Welsh Government guidance on planning services for
children and
young people, setting out expectations of statutory
service providers and their partners. The local Partnership will produce a strategic statement of how the well being of children and young people will be improved across all areas of their lives, setting the agreed headline aims and objectives.
The person that deals with the administrative aspects of a tribunal hearing.
The guidance issued with the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 is a mix of statutory and non-statatory guidance known as Codes.
the term used for ongoing access and contact between a
child and a parent (or wider family) who have been separated. There are different legal provisions regarding contact, depending on whether the child is subject to a dispute between separated parents (private law) or whether a child is looked after (public law). Contact in private law comes under section 8 Children Act 1989. Contact in public law comes under s 34 Children Act 1989 and s 96 Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
Under section 8
Children Act 1989 a non-resident parent or other person may have a court order about the contact they may have with the child. Since April 2014 these orders are called
Child Arrangements Orders.
The person within an organisation who has lead responsibility for
child protection.
A
child of compulsory school age can, under section 36 Children Act 1989, be placed under the supervision of the
Local Education Authority where they are ‘not being properly educated’ because of the poor school attendance. The aim of the Order is to strengthen and encourage parents in exercising their responsibility to a child.
Services that aid a
disabled person in accessing educational facilities, materials and processes.
In situations of crisis where a
child needs immediate protection, under section 44 of the Children Act 1989, the local authority can acquire parental responsibility for the duration of the Order, which is up to 8 days (and may be extended to a maximum of 15 days).
The Education Act 1993 provides for the establishment of two
funding authorities: in England, the Funding Agency for Schools (FAS), which was established on 1 April 1994; and in Wales, the Schools Funding Council for Wales (SFCW), which the Act empowers the Secretary of State for Wales to set up by Order. No Order has yet been made.
The FAS is responsible for calculating and paying
grants to grant-maintained and grant-maintained special schools and has responsibilities for the provision of school places in areas where there are significant numbers of grant-maintained schools. The SFCW has similar responsibilities.
Describes a
child aged under 16 who is judged to have sufficient maturity and understanding to make a particular decision e.g to consent to
medical treatment or to instruct their own solicitor.
Description of the actions taken by an individual, deliberately selecting and establishing a relationship of trust which they then manipulate to exercise power over the victim (and their family).
Habilitation involves one-to-one
training for
children and
young people with a
vision impairment. Starting from their existing skills, it aims to develop their personal mobility, navigation and independent living skills. At whatever age the training is started, the overriding goal is to maximise the child or young person’s independence, opening the way in the future, to further study, employment and an independent life.
A
local education authority (LEA) is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction. Since the
Children Act 2004 each local education authority is also a children's services authority and responsibility for both functions is held by the director of children's services.
Pupils with
MSI have a combination of visual and hearing difficulties. They are sometimes referred to as
deafblind but may have some residual sight and/or hearing. Many also have additional
disabilities but their complex needs mean it may be difficult to ascertain their intellectual abilities. Pupils with MSI have much greater difficulty accessing the curriculum and the environment than those with a single sensory impairment. They have difficulties in perception, communication and in the acquisition of information. Incidental learning is limited. The combination can result in high anxiety and multi-sensory deprivation. Pupils need teaching approaches that make good use of their residual hearing and vision, together with their other senses. They may need alternative means of communication.
This is the person from the Local Authority who liaises with parents over all the arrangements relating to statutory
assessment and the making of a statement. LAs will inform parents of the identity of the officer when they issue a notice of a proposal to make a statutory assessment of a
child.
This is the person whom the Local Authority must identify when sending parents a final version of a statement. The
named person, who should usually be identified in cooperation with the parents, must be someone who can give parents information and
advice about their
child's
SENs. He or she may be appointed at the start of the
assessment process and can then attend meetings with parents and encourage parental participation throughout that process. The named person should normally be independent of the LA and may be someone from a
voluntary organisation or parent partnership scheme.
This is a note issued to the
child's parents and school when, following a statutory
assessment, the LA decides not to make a statement. The note should describe the child's
SENs, explain why the LA will not make a statement and make recommendations about appropriate provision for the child. All the
advice received during the assessment should be attached to the note sent to the parents and, with their consent, also be sent to the child's school.
A non-ministerial government department established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 to take responsibility for the inspection of all schools in Wales. (The English equivalent is Ofsted). Their professional arm is formed by Her Majesty's Inspectors (HMI).
Pupils with
profound and multiple learning difficulties have complex learning needs. In addition to very severe learning difficulties, pupils have other significant difficulties such as physical
disabilities, sensory impairment or a severe
medical condition. Pupils require a high level of adult support, both for their learning needs and also for their personal care. They are likely to need sensory stimulation and a curriculum broken down into very small steps. Some pupils communicate by gesture, eye pointing or symbols, others by very simple language. Their attainments are likely to remain in the early P-scale range (P1-P4) throughout their school careers (that is below level 1 of the National Curriculum).
This is the headteacher or appropriate governor that is chair of the governing body unless the governing body has designated another governor for the purpose. In the case of a nursery school, the
responsible person is the headteacher. The responsible person must be informed by the LA when they conclude that a pupil at a school has
SENs. The responsible person must then ensure all those who will teach the
child know about his or her SENs.
This is an independent tribunal set up by an Act of Parliament for determining appeals by parents against their LA about
children's
SENs, where parents cannot reach agreement with the LA. SENDIST also considers parents' claims of
disability discrimination in schools.
The 1996 Education Act defines a
child as having
Special Educational Needs "if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them". Children have a learning difficulty if they:
have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age; OR
have a
disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local authority; OR
are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition at a. or b. above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them.
(Sec. 312 Education Act 1996) Special Educational Provision means: "...educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the Local Authority..."
This is a
plan that should form part of the first
review">annual review after the
child's 14th birthday and any subsequent annual review. The purpose of the plan is to draw together information from a range of individuals within and beyond the school to plan coherently for the
young person's transition to adult life.
These are legal provisions that provide for a smooth changeover from the legal regime established by the Education Act 1981 and the Education (
Special Educational Needs) Regulations 1983, to those established under the Education Act 1993 and the Education (Special Educational Needs) Regulations 1994.
