This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

Listen
£5m for special needs projects
29/04/2002
Projects across Scotland that promote an inclusive approach
to the education of children with special educational needs
will benefit from a share of a £5m funding package announced
today.
From a mentoring programme in Lewis to supporting special
educational needs pupils in Glasgow schools, the Special
Educational Needs (SEN) Innovation Grants programme will
provide funding for over 40 projects which deliver better
services for children and families with special needs.
Making the announcement, Minister for Education and Young
People Cathy Jamieson said:
"Young people with special needs deserve the same
educational opportunities available to every other young
person. But working towards that goal involves working in
partnership with a range of individuals and organisations,
often in imaginative ways.
"This programme was established to recognise and fund good
innovative practice. The funding focuses on improving inclusive
practices in schools, greater partnership working, and
empowering parents and young people to participate fully in
decisions which affect them.
"We have given priority to projects involving partnerships
between local authorities and the voluntary sector. The grants
will go to a range of national and local organisations across
Scotland, including ENQUIRE, the national SEN advice and
information service ."
Projects that will benefit include:
- The development of a national network of bilingual
key-workers;
- The development of a volunteer befriending network in
Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh for children with social,
emotional, behavioural problems;
- Practical support to teachers and parents in the
educational inclusion of learners with dyslexia across
Scotland;
- The empowering of parents and young people through
outreach involving workshops, training and mentoring in the
Isle of Lewis;
- New ways of resolving problems through mediation
between professionals and parents in Glasgow and
Dundee;
- Support for the inclusion of pupils with physical
disabilities in mainstream schools in West Lothian
Ms Jamieson added:
"This adds up to an impressive programme of action aimed at
improving services and support to children with SEN and their
families.
"But the Innovation Grants Programme is only part of our
commitment to inclusive education and to providing appropriate
support for it.
"In February we proposed radical changes to the way we
assess and provide for children with special educational needs.
And earlier this month we announced a near 40 per cent increase
in our funding to local authorities through the SEN Inclusion
Programme.
"All children should have access to high quality education
and I am personally committed to policies - such as these -
that help close the opportunity gap."
The Innovation Grants programme was established in August
1999 and supported a range of national and local voluntary
organisations in the first phase of grants which expired in
March 2002.
Grant aid totalling £6 million has been made available from
April 2002 to 2004. Details of the 42 successful recipients can
be obtained from David Hood on 0131-244-5033, or from the
Scottish Executive website. Further details about each project
can be obtained from the relevant local authority.
SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS 2002-2004
(i) New projects
Organisation | Title of project and
outcomes | AWARDS 2002-2004 |
AFASIC | Understanding Dyspraxia: DCD at
home and school. In 2001, AFASIC Scotland and the Dyspraxia
Foundation collaborated to develop guidance for
teachers on working with children affected by
Dyspraxia:DCD in early years. The guidance was
distributed to primary schools and has
stimulated high levels of interest. This new
project aims to evaluate guidance and
disseminate findings. | £12,275.00 |
AFASIC | Promoting Positive
Partnerships.- The project will bring
together the voluntary sector, local parent
groups (AFASIC), education authorities and
Health trusts. The aim is to develop a
programme, and models for empowering parents,
within a framework of constructive partnership
which will support the development of inclusive
educational provision. | £163,750.00 |
(9) Barnardo's | Achieving inclusion for children with
emotional and behavioural
difficulties. the project will fund an Education Inclusion
Development Officer who will draw together the
learning derived from Barnardo's Scotland
projects concerned with inclusive education
disseminate the learning from this practice.
The work will aim to: - Highlight the barriers to achieving
inclusive education for children with
severe emotional and behavioural
difficulties.
- Identify the factors and conditions
most likely to achieve successful inclusive
education for children with SEBD.
- Identify the place and role of special
provision within the overall system.
- Disseminate findings throughout the
public and voluntary education services
throughout Scotland.
- Assess the optimum conditions for
inter-agency collaboration aimed at
achieving inclusive education.
| £ 95,877.00 |
(10) Barnardo's | Sustainability through
befriending. The project will secure funding for three
volunteer co-ordinators who will be linked to
three Barnardo's education services across
Scotland. The co-ordinators will enable the
recruitment and support of volunteer
befrienders who will be matched with children
with SEBD. The aim of the befriending will be
to maintain the children in mainstream
education or, if they are excluded, support
their re-integration back into mainstream.
Befrienders will work with children in the 5-15
age range. Partnership with parents and
families is also a key feature of this
application. | £187,125.00 |
Capability Scotland | Parents as Partners The project aims to help parents to become
actively involved in the development of
educational provision for their children. The
project will: - Encourage partnership between parents
and professionals.
- Influence service provision to meet the
needs of pupils and families.
- Encourage inclusion of more children
with SEN in mainstream schools.
- Give parents the skills and confidence
to continue to build strong networks.
| £147,100.00 |
Capability Scotland | Supporting the Inclusion of Pupils with
Physical Disabilities in Mainstream
Schools- The project aims to help
physically disabled pupils access activities
with a disabled peer group to develop
confidence, self esteem and positive self
image. Project outcomes include: - A local authority conference for
disabled and non-disabled pupils and staff
across sectors.
- Direct work with pupils in mainstream
provision and their families.
- A training resource for staff working
with pupils with SEN in mainstream
education.
- Increased capacity on the part of
schools to fully include pupils with
SEN.
| £105,500.00 |
Collusion Theatre Company | Activate!- Activate! is an
arts based project which strives to develop
confidence and imagination of participants. The
project will involve three local authorities
and special needs Activate! groups will be
established in each area. The intention is to
develop good relationships and understanding
between pupils of all abilities and needs and
to engage in joint projects. To culminate in an
Activate! two day national festival which will
involve presentations, workshops and sharing of
experiences. | £68,738.00 |
Down's Syndrome Scotland | Inclusion in Secondary Schools Training
Pack- The aim of the project is to
produce a training pack for staff in mainstream
secondary schools and local authorities which
will enable fully inclusive experiences for
children and young people with Down's Syndrome.
The materials will target transition stage from
P7 to S1 and all of the secondary stages. The
work should: - Facilitate the inclusion of pupils with
SEN into mainstream.
- Identify the conditions that make for
effective inclusion.
- Help to challenge the thinking and
attitudes which prevent inclusion.
| £ 60,233.08 |
Dyslexia Scotwest | Dyslexia Friendly Schools -
Development Officer will work with East
Renfrewshire Education Department, to put
together criteria and Award pack that will have
to be fulfilled by every school. Will involve
parents, young people and professionals | £79,356 |
Edinburgh Youth Social Inclusion
Partnership | Social Inclusion Partnership-
The project seeks to enable secondary
school-aged young people with social, emotional
and behavioural difficulties to participate
effectively in decision making. It will: - Develop and test approaches to
participation in decision making.
- Prepare and disseminate training and
resource materials via a toolkit to a range
of practitioners.
- Influence development of future policy
and practice in Edinburgh in relation to
young people's participation in decision
making, in an educational context.
| £173,972.01 |
ENABLE | Supporting our Children Speak
(SOCS)- The project aims to promote
the rights of children and young people (12-18
years old) through establishing a National
Special Educational Needs Advocacy Forum. The
Forum will: - Promote the views of children and young
people to schools, local authorities and
other bodies providing services to children
with SEN.
- Promote a children's advocacy model to
schools for special educational needs.
- Support the establishment of local
advocacy groups - linking them to the
National Forum.
- Establish a national picture of
children's issues - being better able to
represent the views of children and young
people to the Scottish Executive.
| £80,612.00 |
ENABLE | B.A.S.E - Bridging Aberdeenshire
Special Education The project aims to improve the abilities,
skills and capacity of the school and local
employers to encourage the transition of SEN
pupils from school to the world of work through
the development of: - two Pupil Forums to explore future
plans;
- a transitional group within the school
involving a joint group of young people,
parents and teachers, special needs careers
staff, college staff, social work staff and
employers;
- a curriculum appropriate to the needs
of young people with special needs;
- links with mainstream pupils and pupils
with special needs;
- a vocational profile for each young
person involved in the project - this
profile will be used to arrange taster work
experiences and placements;
- training to employers and school
staff.
| £79,734.00 |
ENABLE | B.A.S.E. - Bridging Angus Special
Education. project aims to improve the abilities,
skills and capacity of mainstream schools and
local employers to encourage the transition of
SEN pupils from school to the world of work
by: - Establishing pupil forums to explore
future plans.
- Developing a curriculum appropriate to
the needs of young people.
- Increasing links with mainstream pupils
and pupils with special needs.
- Developing 20 vocational profiles.
- Linking with adult providers and
employers.
- Increasing school capacity for
preparing pupils for the world of
work.
- Increasing employer capacity to employ
young people with special needs.
| £91,562.00 |
Govan Law Centre | Education Law Unit. The Education Law Unit will provide: - Tailored training in education law to
education authorities, the advice sector,
parents' groups and SEN mediators. It will
cover all areas of education law relating
to special educational needs.
- Expert legal advice to local and
national agencies.
- Information on SEN law which will be
made accessible to pupils and parents via
leaflets and the inter-net.
- Develop mediation pilots in liaison
with ENQUIRE
| £ 141918.25 |
Highland Society for the
Blind | View Point Highland The objectives of the project are to
establish a: - Highland youth forum to identify and
challenge barriers to social
inclusion.
- Network for mutual support and
confidence building.
Achieving these outcomes will involve the
appointment of a full time youth development
worker who will facilitate the youth forum and
(through consultation with the young people
involved) the development of
training/conferences and a range of multi-media
resources. | £ 57,179.00 |
MELDI | Social Inclusion of Minority Ethnic
Disabled Children: development of a
national network of Bilingual Key-workers
to empower children and families. The project aims to: - Empower families/carers of minority
ethnic disabled children in order that they
are able to make informed decisions about
their children's education and
welfare.
- Promote sustainable change in the
practice of statutory and voluntary
organisations so that they can meet their
legal duties in the provision of services
to this client group.
Outcomes will include: - A team of trained volunteer and/or paid
Bilingual key workers to work with
families.
- A more sensitised service capable of
developing culturally inclusive provision
for minority ethnic disabled children and
their families.
| £113,625.00 |
National Autistic Society | Training for professionals working in
the field of autistic spectrum
disorders. The project aims to lay the foundations for
'joined-up' training for professionals working
in the field of autistic spectrum disorder. At
present, training initiatives are disparate and
there is no national perspective either on the
extent of needs or on co-ordinated approaches
to addressing these. The project will: - Review current training provision for
ASD in Scotland.
- Identify gaps in provision.
- Develop a targeted national training
framework.
| £69,972.00 |
National Autistic Society | Action for Autism - Dumfries and
Galloway The project focuses on the need to integrate
local services for children and young people
with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. The project
aims to: - Strengthen the role of parents in
shaping local services to children and
adults with ASD.
- Increase the skills and knowledge of
frontline staff.
- Facilitate the development of
integrated care plans using the Child
Locality Disability Team framework.
- Provide audits of need for post 16
provision and for a Family Club.
- Host a regional conference to
disseminate good practice from the
project.
| £ 97,121.48 |
National Autistic Society | Dundee/NAS Partnership - Out of
School Care The project will provide additional
resources and support for children and young
people with ASD through the establishment of
four Out of School care programmes within four
identified schools in Dundee. Through this
work, a network of 'autism friendly' out of
school services will be established. | £192,381.92 |
Parent to Parent Tayside
| Mediation and advice for parents of
children win SEN in Perth &
Kinross The funding will enable the project manager
to: - Be trained in mediation skills.
- Form an advisory group.
- Attend educational review meetings to
reduce confrontation.
- Work with schools and parents to
identify the resources required to enable
children to participate in mainstream
schools.
The project aims to improve communication
and empower parents. | £43,504.00 |
Right Track | Alternatives to Exclusion - New
Model Education Initiative This project aims to provide an early
intervention programme for pupils who are
effectively excluded from mainstream education.
Outcomes include: - Stabilising the lifestyles of 30-40
seriously excluded young people of age
14-15 years.
- 45% of pupils to be re-integrated into
mainstream provision with relevant support
on either full/part-time basis.
- 55% of pupils to progress to a more
career focussed personal development
programme before attainment of school
leaving age.
- Project attendance to increase to an
average of 85%.
| £ 77,924.00 |
RNIB | If I can't read it, I can't learn
it. Accessing information: planning and
implementation. The main outcome of this project is the
publication of a planning and implementation
guide for the 32 education authorities and
independent schools in Scotland to help them
fulfil their new planning duty in relation to
'accessible information' (ref. to the
Education (Disabilities Strategies and
Pupils'Educational Records) (Scotland) Bill
and the
SEN and Disability Act 2001. The
project will focus on three related areas: - planning for accessible
information;
- in-house production of alternative
format educational materials;
- highlighting good practice within the
three partnership local authorities
| £ 24,952.00 |
RNID | Forth Valley Deaf Aware The project will establish a Forth Valley
wide
Deaf Education Development
Team which will: - Develop best practice guidelines for
deaf children in Forth Valley Schools.
- Set up a Deaf Pupils Forum to provide
opportunity to involve young people in the
development work.
- Develop a one to one advocacy service
for deaf pupils in the Forth Valley.
- Provide deaf awareness training to
pupils and staff in Forth Valley Schools
focusing on P7 and S1.
- Provide support to a cohort of deaf
pupils from P7 through the transition to S1
over the two year programme.
| £138,053.10 |
Scottish Sensory Centre | The Achievements of Deaf Pupils in
Scotland (ADPS) The project will build on the work of the
current ADPS project, but will also include
completely new innovative elements. It
will: - Provide longitudinal data, collected on
a yearly basis, which will allow
measurement of value-added aspects of pupil
development.
- Provide evidence on which to build
genuinely inclusive practices within
schools and services.
- Track the achievements of a whole
national population of deaf children.
- Facilitate effective planning of
provision for sensory impaired pupils.
- The development of standalone databases
for local authorities as a tool for
strategic planning.
- Involve parents and young people in
data collection and decision making.
| £238,352.00 |
Scottish Society for
Autism | National Autism Education Advisory
Service The project aims to provide an education
advisory service which focuses specifically on
Autistic Spectrum Disorders and the issues
surrounding it. The project seeks to: - Reduce the exclusion of ASD pupils from
local authority education provision.
- Provide a range of ASD training events
or advice to enhance the knowledge base in
local authority education provision.
- Work in partnership with other
authorities outwith the established
partnership area.
- Enable families to gain maximum benefit
from the educational opportunities
available from local authorities.
- To promote participation of ASD pupils
in decisions which affect them and maximise
opportunities for self-advocacy.
| £158,249.00 |
Scottish Support for
Learning | Celebrating partnerships to support
children and young people. Outcomes will include: - Publication of a handbook of good
practice illustrating models of partnership
to support the learning of vulnerable
children and young people.
- Celebrating and exploring good practice
through a national conference.
- Fostering local partnerships between
local authorities and networked groups of
professionals to share further examples of
good practice.
| £ 2,907.00 |
Sense Scotland | Listening to children with severe
communication impairment: phase II -
dissemination and development. Funding for the project will be used to
disseminate the findings of Phase I of the
Listening to Children project. The report and
practical resources produced during Phase I
will be further strengthened by presentations
on the development of personal passports.
Further practical resources will also be
developed as Phase I highlighted a lack of
resources to assist in listening to children
who have complex communication and support
needs. | £ 41,085.00 |
Sleep Scotland | Development of Sleep Counselling
Service This service seeks to raise awareness of the
importance of sleep as an issue for the
families of children with special needs. The project aims to: - Run 4 multi-professional training
courses, each with 16 participants.
- Set up 30 new Sleep Clinics.
- Establish a National Sleep Counselling
Centre.
- Deliver continuing professional
development including on ADHD and sleep
issues.
The new funding will ensure that Sleep
Counselling becomes part of the package of
services offered to parents by local
authorities. | £ 60,685.00 |
Scottish National Advisory Group
(SNAG) | (SNAG) - run by Children in Scotland. This
group comprises representatives from the
voluntary and statutory sectors. Key aim is to
provide and develop consultation
events/conferences on behalf of the Executive
eg national debate, Records of needs review.
They can quickly obtain a broad range of views
from the voluntary and statutory sectors. | £70,000 |
Stories in the Air | BSL Dictionary The funding will be used to create and
distribute a virtual reality BSL dictionary
resource. Existing BSL dictionaries require a
knowledge of English and are therefore
unsuitable for young deaf children and adult
BSL courses are difficult for parents to
access. The project has identified a need for
an attractive, accessible BSL dictionary
resource targeted specifically at the
parents/carers of deaf children. The resource
will be made available via the inter-net and
CD-ROM | £63,212.00 |
The Caledonian Award | Junior Award Project The Junior Award is based on the core skills
of the 5-14 curriculum. Based on achievement
rather than attainment it involves the: - Promotion of inclusive policies in
mainstream, unit based and special
schools.
- Development of links and shared skills
between all participating schools.
- Full participation of teachers,
parents, pupils and others involved in the
development of Award activities and
themes.
The project will involve employing, training
and supporting development workers to work in
local areas on a part-time sessional basis. | £ 71,000.00 |
The Disability Partnership -
MOVE | MOVE: Partnerships for the
Future MOVE is an innovative teaching programme
which helps children and adults with complex
needs to take greater control of their lives
giving them increased independence. The aims of
the project are to: - Promote the use of the MOVE programme
as a tool to ensure collaborative working
between statutory organisations.
- Demonstrate the benefits of the
programme to local authorities.
- Offer to undertake an audit of current
services based upon the principles of
MOVE.
- Formulate a plan for the development of
child/family centred collaborative working
practices through the use of a structured
and measurable framework (the MOVE
programme).
| £120,111.00 |
Scottish Dyslexia Trust (and
Scottish Dyselxia Forum) | Count me In - Aims to provide
practical support to teachers and parents in
the educational inclusion of learners with
dyslexia - will build on current best practice,
and deliver a rang of tools and materials in
variety of formats to improve understanding and
skills in responding to dyslexia within
schools. | £102,875.00 |
The Yard | Play Inclusive The project will develop and disseminate
expertise on the use of play to foster
participation, inclusion and understanding
between children with diverse abilities and
special needs. It will: - Initiate and implement play projects
focussing on inclusion and participation
with 4 schools for primary aged children of
diverse abilities and special needs.
- Develop learning packs based on the
good practice identified from the 4 school
based projects.
- Disseminate findings through the media
and training/development
opportunities.
- Explore the possibility of establishing
a Play Inclusive education outreach team at
The Yard.
| £ 53,728.00 |
University of Strathclyde | Collaborative professional
development for pupils with developmental
disorders. The main proportion of the funding will be
used to employ a consultant to construct an
open learning course on children's
developmental difficulties such as specific
language impairment and Dyspraxia. The course
will be taken by professionals from a variety
of disciplines, gathered together for
collaborative professional development. | £ 80,772.00 |
University of Strathclyde | "
Share" - development of home-school
links: the Lanarkshire Programme of Support for
child and family, post diagnosis, for families
of children with autism in the early
years. The funding will be used to recruit two link
workers for liaison between the homes of
pre-school children with autism and the range
of public services they will receive in
Lanarkshire. The link workers will be trained
in the 'joint-play communication approach'
developed at the Universities of Strathclyde
and Edinburgh. The outcomes will include: - Improved communication in children with
autism.
- Better targeted IEPs.
- Improved liaison between families and
professionals and the active involvement of
parents in the development of the
joint-play approach.
| £179,360.00 |
Voluntary Action Lewis | Open Sesame II This project seeks to: - Develop training programmes for
befrienders, mentors and buddies.
- Connect families and the community via
the development of a databank of
organisations who can help to facilitate
participation.
- Raise awareness of issues relating to
children and young people with special
needs.
- Build parent capacity and empower
through parent workshops.
- Increase the range, quality and breadth
of activities that young people can
access.
| £130,700.00 |
Young People Speak Out | Video Groupwork with Pupils
Experiencing Social, Emotional and
Behavioural Difficulties. A full time project worker will work with
groups of young people who are in need of
support and who have been identified as being '
at risk of exclusion'. Outcomes will
include: For the school - improvements in behaviour,
attendance and participation in learning. For
the young people involved - increased
confidence; better self control; improved
social skills;increased involvement in
community activities. Video is used to record interviews, role
plays, drama sketches, documentaries etc. The
aim is to encourage young people to speak out
and reflect on their individual circumstances,
and develop their own unique video story. | £76,247.00 |
Scottish Marriage Care | Emotional Intelligences Project:
Looked After Children. The project aims to: - Provide professional curricula
materials for the teaching of emotional
intelligence for mainstream and special
education.
- Deliver training to teachers and
support staff in the specialist area of
relationship education.
- Establish an early intervention
education strategy to promote stability and
security for children or young people in
preparation for adult relationships.
- Demonstrate that relationship education
is a critical foundation on which to build
sex education, citizenship and
community.
| £ 30,500.00 |
| Total of Proposed New
Projects | £3,782,247.84 |
Note: all successful organisations will receive a
summary of each project and contact point, to enable
collaborative working, share good practice and to ensure
there is no duplication of effort.
(ii) Core Funding
| Core Funding Requests 2002 -
2004 | |
CALLCentre | They provide specialist expertise in
technology for children who have
speech/communication and/or writing
difficulties. Their objectives include -
developing new approaches to the use of IT,
Research and Development projects, to provide
specialist assessment, advice and support and
to provide a loan bank of specialised
technology | £405,140.00 |
ENQUIRE | Provides general advice across the whole
spectrum of SEN. The main elements of the
service are an advice and information
help-line, training support to local networks,
holding national conferences/events, producing
a variety of publications (Including the
Parents Guide to SEN) and taking forward a
pilot mediation project. Run by Children in Scotland (contract
concludes March 2003). | £506,120.00 |
Scottish Sensory Centre | They provide a national source of advice and
guidance to teachers and others working with
pupils with visual or hearing impairment.
Objectives include providing access, advice and
training for professionals and parents;
maintaining a database and library and carry
out research and development. | £331,672.34 |
| Total of Core Funding
Requests | £1,242,932.34 |