Kent Tonight Special: SEN Empowering and Upskilling
We have been out in the community, learning the challenges faced by young people with additional needs and exploring the programmes available to them in Kent.
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00:00Good evening and welcome to this special edition of Kent Tonight. Empowering and upskilling,
00:27SCN provision in Kent. I'm Lucy Atchison and today we're shedding light on an often overlooked
00:32part of our community, children and young people with special educational needs and
00:36disabilities. For youth with disabilities, having the right support and access to inclusive
00:41environments is crucial. In this programme, we'll be highlighting some remarkable initiatives
00:46that are ensuring young people of all abilities have the chance to flourish. From accessible
00:51outdoor play to programmes focused on developing essential life skills, we'll introduce you
00:55to the dedicated individuals who are working to create empowering opportunities for these
00:59young people. But first, our team reached out to the public to gauge the community's
01:04awareness and understanding of the provision available for people in Kent. I think the
01:10awareness in the public generally is certainly better than it ever has been before, but to
01:17be aware of how much money it actually costs to improve the lives of children with SCN,
01:26that is something that's perhaps not understood quite so well. I think a lot of the taxes
01:31are swallowed up with the administration and red tape, and I think it doesn't like the
01:36actual support, the actual practical support doesn't actually reach the people who really
01:41need it. I wasn't diagnosed until like many, many years afterwards, and it was nothing
01:47to do with schools. Like I think they either brush it under the rug, or it's stigmatised
01:52in a way that makes people totally unaware if they have anything, or identify what they're
01:58struggling with. But most of us, it's a lack of education and exposure. Giving an SCN student
02:04just a piece of paper, the worksheet, or just a text is not going to work for them. Like
02:09schools these days are jam-packed. A lot of parents are trying to get their children
02:14into special needs schools, and it's pretty difficult. We need to integrate in a way that
02:21celebrates the differences. To find out more about the provision available for people with
02:26special needs in Kent, Ima Morrow went to visit Boar Place. Do they like being patted?
02:32Yeah, they like being stroked. It's feeding time here at Boar Place in Edenbridge. Doling
02:38out the hay and water today are these students from a local school for children with special
02:42educational needs, or SEN. The aim is to build their confidence and self-esteem outside the
02:47classroom so they can thrive within it. There's a few in there. Do you want to cut that one?
02:51No. Go on, you can do it. No. Shall we do it together? Yeah. OK. The SEN schools, they
02:56come once a week. You get a real opportunity to get to know the young people, get to know
03:01a bit about them and what they like, what they don't like, and to build their confidence
03:05throughout. One in five children in England has a special educational need and demand
03:10for assessments and diagnoses is growing. As councils around the country grapple with
03:14severe funding shortfalls, children with SEN and their families have had to look further
03:18for support. Places like this one can be transformational for these children to thrive in a classroom
03:23setting. We're a space where it's OK to make a mistake if the tomatoes don't grow very
03:27well or they don't ripen. We make green tomato chutney and again it's still a product at
03:31the end of the process. Abi Caliandro has seen first hand how beneficial the programmes
03:36at Bore Place can be for SEN children, but she's also aware of the challenges they face
03:40when they leave the grounds. We very much see that outdoor element provides an opportunity
03:46for them to exert some of the energies and the frustrations they might find in the classroom.
03:51Having worked with a number of these children, a lot of them can be picked up at half past
03:55six in the morning and that because the taxi will pick up four or five other children on
03:59the way to school and then by the time that young person gets into an educational establishment
04:05they've been sat in a taxi for two hours and obviously already have some barriers and some
04:11frustrations that they feel they need to get rid of. There's an element where curriculum
04:17can be met in an outside setting. There's a lot of students that enjoy that kinesthetic,
04:23hands-on, that practical learning. I remember two weeks ago we made pizza. Pizza? And did
04:29you put the veg that you've picked on? Yeah, it was like one big baguette. And last week
04:35we made bubble and squeak. Oh it was the best! It was definitely a fun meal to try. And for
04:43some children, the experiences they have at Bore Place may stay with them for the rest
04:47of their lives. Dairy farmer? I'd love to be a dairy farmer in my life. Of course! I've
04:51got to tell you Christopher, it definitely does. But the need for suitable provision
04:57doesn't end when these young people turn 18. Ben Morris visited Rivermead Outreach
05:01Community Challenge, or ROC, to learn what opportunities are available to young adults.
05:07Rivermead Outreach Community Challenge, or ROC Ready, is a scheme that teaches young
05:12adults aged 18 to 25 skills that can be used in their daily lives, such as cooking and
05:19managing household environments. The programme is an opportunity to make the transition
05:24from childhood to adulthood as through the process, and allows individuals to learn in
05:29an encouraging space. It also provides opportunities to learn about employability skills and offers
05:36a work experience programme. I spoke to Holly and Max, the organisers of the scheme, about
05:42why ROC Ready is vital for these young people. We identified that there was a gap in what
05:50was available for people 18 to 25 with SEND, and that is the opportunity to develop their
05:56employability skills and their life skills, so we just wanted to start a provision that
06:00gave that to them. The biggest issue with staffing is just the numbers, and it's not
06:03that we say we don't have enough staff, we have loads of staff and we've got amazing
06:07staff and I couldn't sing their praises enough. However, there's never enough staff to cater
06:12for all the young people and children in Medway with special educational needs. This
06:17is Poppy and Nicholas, who have been coming to ROC Ready since it started in September.
06:23Yeah, I really want to work with animals. My dream job is to be an animal scientist.
06:29I want to work with all types of animals, so I want to go to their habitats and learn
06:37about them, really. My favourite part about coming into ROC is having plenty of fun, making
06:45friends with new people, doing good activities and watching plenty of good films. At the
06:51end of the course, the young people are awarded an Asden Award, which is specifically designed
06:57for people with special needs. Now, this is a nationally recognised accreditation and
07:03can be an equivalent to a GCSE. Today's challenge, baking cookies. This programme
07:09proves to show that with the right care and support, individuals with additional needs
07:15can live independent and fulfilling lives within the community and beyond. Ben Morris, KMTB.
07:24Well done, Isabel. Well done, Sai.
07:28I'm now joined by local councillor Tracey Coombs. Tracey, thank you for being here with
07:33us. We've heard from staff at ROC that demand for their services is increasing and their
07:38ability to meet this demand relies heavily on the availability of trained teaching staff.
07:43What plans are in place to increase the number of trained staff to support SEN children and
07:47young people in Medway?
07:49Hello. The ROC programme is a fantastic programme and I know that parents and young people really
07:57appreciate it. The number of trained teaching staff is something for schools and for providers
08:05to organise. As Medway Council, we are not involved in actually training the staff for
08:12these provisions. I'm happy to say, though, that the new Education Secretary, Bridget
08:17Philipson, has announced that we will be training an additional 6,500 new teachers coming up,
08:23so that should help to improve the number of trained people that are available.
08:28With more children and young people being diagnosed with special educational needs each
08:32year, how can you reassure charities like Boar Place that they'll continue to receive
08:36the funding necessary to sustain their vital programmes over the years?
08:40It's really difficult because for many years, the funding received in local councils from
08:45the Department for Education for ASCEND has really not been sufficient to meet demand.
08:51We work closely with the voluntary sector, we work very closely to help people source
08:57grants and other funding, but as a council, we could do so much more if we had more money
09:02from the Department for Education. So what we can do is to signpost, to help people to
09:08identify other sources of funding, but certainly the level of funding for children and young
09:14people with ASCEND, we could do so much more if we had more of that from central government.
09:19Can I ask, Tracey, are you personally trying to put pressure on the government to give
09:24you more funding to ensure that these activities can be expanded?
09:29We now have three Labour MPs in Medway, so we have a much better opportunity to lobby
09:35our ministers in government. I know that our MP for Gillingham and Raynham will be putting
09:41pressure on the government, and we have written as a council to Bridget Philipson to ask for
09:48a variety of different measures. There are actually quite a few things that we feel that
09:52she could be doing more of, and more funding is just one of them, but certainly we are
09:57writing to ministers and we feel that our MPs are backing up those requests.
10:03On the topic of funding and accessibility, the south-east of England has the smallest
10:07employment gap between disabled and able-bodied people, which is fantastic, but local community
10:13groups tell us that this means that pockets of deprived areas in the region may miss out
10:17on funding as a result. So how are you ensuring that SEN children from low-income families
10:22in Kent have the same access to inclusive activities as those from more affluent backgrounds?
10:27We have a brilliant programme of activities over the summer which are free to children
10:32with special educational needs and disabilities. We are working really closely with our Parent
10:37and Carers Forum, who have got great contacts in these communities and who make sure that
10:42these opportunities are publicised and that people are aware of how they can apply for
10:46them and how they can secure places. Our child-friendly Medway team also run lots of events, including
10:53cinema screenings, pantomimes and so on, and they include ones that are specifically for
10:58children with disabilities, so we are trying to get ourselves out into the communities as well.
11:04That's all we have time for. Tracey Coombs, thank you so much for your time.
11:07If you want to know anything more about SEN provisions in the county, head to the Kent
11:11County Council or Medway Council websites, and if you have been affected by anything
11:15in this Kent Tonight Special, please get in touch. Don't forget, you can always keep
11:19up to date with the latest news across your county by logging on to kmtv.co.uk. You can
11:25keep us on your social timelines by liking us on Facebook and following us on X. We also
11:30have a series of special programmes like Invicta Sport and Made in Kent. But from me, for now,
11:35thank you for watching this Kent Tonight Special, have a very good evening and see you soon.
11:39Goodbye.
11:45www.kent.gov.uk