Transition: problems, policies and good practice
A joint BILD/RSM conference held in April 2004
Barriers to effective transition working
Many agencies but no clear leadership: – ‘smooth and seamless transitions are in everyone’s interest, but appear to be no one’s primary responsibility. Many Transition Planning Meetings are poorly attended – representatives from key organisations simply fail to turn up.
There are no performance indicators on transition. Therefore it is never at the top of anybody’s agenda.
Problems of complex systems rather than straightforward systems to address complex needs: there is too much emphasis on the complexity of special educational need – and not enough effort to reduce the complexity of the systems facing young people at transition.
Connexions services are not providing personal assistants with the right skills, and they have insufficient time for working with young people with SEN. Without this help young people and their families struggle in practical, psychological and financial terms.
We need clearer guidance on how Connexions and LSC’s can work together
Will Children’s Trusts turn out to be just another complication? We are not clear how they will help in practice and how their benefits will be “underwritten”.Too few local authorities use Health Act Flexibilities to deliver effective transitions.
The transition process is too complicated for many families – it is something that happens to them, not something they have any control over.
Schools need to start preparing pupils for the world of work at a much
earlier age.
It would appear that much of the planning and organisation of the Transition Process is in the hands of schools as directed by the SEN Code of Practise. Thus schools tend to do what their own individual LEA tells them to, so there is no national strategy, and the risk of too much local emphasis on financial and other constraints rather than individual need.
Many parents and carers report getting frustrated and angry as they are "planned to death" and frequently claim never to have received the services they are entitled to.
Text of letter to:
Ms Margaret Hodge MP
Higher Education Minister
Ms Marie Eagle MP
Minister for Disabled People
Dr Stephen Ladyman MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
20th April 2004
We are writing at the request of 220 participants who attended a joint BILD/RSM conference on transitions to adulthood on February 12. The conference included presentations by young people who have recently left school, parents of pupils currently ‘at transition’, as well as reports from researchers, and professional commentaries covering the experiences of young people from ethnic minority and other socially marginalised communities, transition for people with profound and multiple disabilities, planning for healthcare at transition, the role of the Connexions service and other topics.
Unusually, nearly all the participants stayed for the discussion at the end of the conference. As conference organisers we had worked hard to include examples of good practice and we were, therefore, surprised and dismayed by a groundswell of opinion suggesting that while many people now know what good transition planning should look like, it very rarely happens in practice. Many participants were extremely frustrated by the absence of effective partnership working and particularly the failure to exploit new forms of joint funding now available to local authorities. When pressed for a response by our audience, we thought the most helpful thing we could do would be to relay their concerns to the relevant ministers.
We welcome ”Removing Barriers to Achievement”: The Government’s Strategy for SEN and particularly the commitment it makes to improving the way in which transition works for young people with SEN. However, we remain concerned about several issues raised at the conference and we have included a brief summary of these as a separate enclosure. We would welcome an opportunity to discuss areas of difficulty and possible ways forward.
Yours sincerely
John Harris
Jeremy Turk
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