A Transition Guide for All Services - Transition Information Network

IntroductionSchools carry responsibility to coordinate the formal transition process andare well placed to bring together other key agencies and work with disabledyoung people to ensure their views are at the heart of the process.The role of individual schools is changing. They are taking on responsibilityfor directly commissioning services, working in clusters and providingactivities beyond the school day. They need to liaise with the children’s trust,other schools and agencies to ensure the best use of local resources and tominimise duplication. Schools need to develop a clear strategy on transitionsupport as part of this changing role with partner agencies.It is in school, at Year 9, that the formal statutory transition process beginsfor children with a statement. This can be applied to other children theschool thinks would benefit – for example, those on School Action orSchool Action Plus. This transition review process is covered in Chapter 1.Strategic roles in schoolWithin schools, planning the transition to adulthood for all young people ispart of the general school activity. Additional planning for disabled youngpeople should be set within this wider context.The roles and lead responsibilities at both local authority and school level arechanging to reflect the new arrangements of children’s services under thegovernment’s Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda. For more information seepage www.everychildmatters.gov.uk.In practice, the head teacher carries overall responsibility for implementingthe transition process. This includes liaising with the local authority SENofficer and negotiating with partner agencies to ensure that disabled youngpeople who will have a Year 9 review receive input from all relevantprofessionals and others who they would like to contribute. Timetablesmust be set to give enough preparation time for staff from other agenciesand families. Often, the head teacher delegates most of this process to theschool SENCO, who typically works with the Connexions service to plan thetransition review. In many areas, the role of SENCO is being developed intothat of ‘Inclusion Coordinator’, which carries a much broader remit. Inpractice this has developed in some schools into a role working with a rangeof children beyond those with SEN and includes consideration of social aswell as educational support. For more information on this seewww.dfes.gov.uk/standardsfund/grant202.htm and Becta’s SENCO forum athttp://lists.becta.org.uk/pipermail/senco-forum. The strategic andoperational role of the Connexions service is also currently changing.Connexions services will come under the control of local authorities in 2008.Each area is currently negotiating what this will mean and how the newservice will work to meet local need. For further information seewww.connexions.gov.uk.Chapter 2: Overview of statutory servicesEducation31