DUDLEY MBC AND TRILBY MULTIMEDIA OFFSITEMAG.NET

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DUDLEY MBC AND TRILBY MULTIMEDIAOFFSITEMAG.NET

• AN INTERNET BASED RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

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RISK MANAGEMENT OF

• EDUCATIONAL TRIPS AND VISITS
• SEN AND MAINSTREAM HOME-TO-SCHOOL TRANSPORT
• CHILDRENS SOCIAL CARE TRANSPORT (LOOKED AFTER
  AND AT RISK CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE)

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THE RISK ASSESSMENT COVERS

• A PUPIL PROFILE OR PEN PICTURE
• ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE REQUEST.
• NAME AND CONTACT NUMBER OF THE PARENT OR CARER
• THE AGE AND HEIGHT OF THE CHILD
• THE MODE OF TRANSPORT BEING REQUESTED.

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THE RISK ASSESSMENT COVERS

• AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PICK UP POINT
• AN ASSESSMENT OF THE DROP OFF POINT.
• AN ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF SUPERVISION REQUIRED

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AND FURTHER ASSESSMENTS OF

• HEALTH
• VISUAL IMPAIRMENT
• HEARING IMPAIRMENT
• SPEECH AND LANGUAGE
• MEDICAL CONDITIONS
• MEDICAL CARE PLAN IF HELD BY THE SCHOOL

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AND FURTHER ASSESMENTS OF

• PHYSICAL DISABILITY
• CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR - BEHAVIOUR CARE PLAN IF
  HELD BY THE SCHOOL
• ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT SUCH AS BOOSTER SEATS
• WHEELCHAIR ACCESS INCLUDING MAKE AND MODEL

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• Receipt of Request
• Request received into a shared e-mail box,
  accessed via authorised staff
• Requests then processed by authorised officer,
  assessed if an individual in-depth risk
  assessment is required
• Option 1 Low risk , allocation of transport
  made
• Option 2 High risk, undertake in-depth
  assessment

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• Mandatory Elements for all drivers escort,
  prior to being authorised receiving a badge
• Enhanced CRB
• Passenger Assistant Training course
• Disability Awareness Training
• 1st Aid Training 1 day course
• Foundation Child Protection Course

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• Additional training
• In certain cases bespoke training is arranged for
  the more complex medical or behavioural issues
  where identified on the risk assessment
• Sign language
• Behaviour management Team-teach
• Wheel chair training

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• Prior to allocation of transport , safeguards are
  put in place to ensure the child / young person
  can be transported safely
• Rigorous selection process taken to ensure high
  quality of contracts / drivers escort
• Additional training / advice given to the
  contractor /driver escort prior to transport
  starting

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Historical Overview(Milestones)

• How we changed policy practice
• 2003 Dudley MBC approached Trilby Multimedia
  to develop an on-line system for carrying out
  risk assessment for school offsite trips etc
• OffsiteMag developed and rolled out to Dudley
  school Youth Services

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• 2004 The Directorate for Education authorised
  an full audit to be carried out by the Internal
  Audit Office on all Education Transport provision
• Conclusion The provision of Home-to-School
  transport exposed both the children/young people
  the council to unacceptable levels of risk.

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• The level of risk exposure was due to the poor
  quality of information available
• Medical behaviour information provided on
  transport request was often incomplete or
  inaccurate
• Risk not identified , allocated to unsuitable
  transport / route
• Not meeting the recommendation from Every Child
  Matters

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Questions s raised from the recommendations

• How can information be validated
• Requests made by SEN case officers, who had
  little personal knowledge of the child
• What risk had not been considered or made aware
  of?
• Could a risk assessment support the evaluation of
  the need for transport?

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• Additional financial pressure?
• The need to create new posts?
• Additional training required , i.e. for drivers
  escorts
• Consistence of availability of emergency action
  plan to relevant parties
• Would it be championed by everybody
• Bringing contractors , drivers escorts onboard

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Resistant to Change

• Is online request the right option?
• Im not trained to carry out risk assessments?
• Its not my responsibility?
• Workload too great?
• Why should I do a risk assessment?

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The Chosen Option

• New radical approach
• Online request to enable quick response
• Form to cover all the information required to
  undertake transport risk assessment
• User friendly
• Transport Team to have ownership of the budget
  for SEN (Transport) Transport policy

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• Transport to have the ability to challenge
  where necessary refuse transport
• The development of emergency action plans
• Additional training to be made available
• Online request to be made available for all
  multi- agencies /professional , both in borough
  other authorities
• The requirement for the completion of the form to
  be a prerequisite of transport provision

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• Provide advice, guidance training
• Removing SEN Home to School Transport from the
  statement process
• Changing transport demand into a request for
  transport
• Host professional / school makes the referral,
  not the receiving establishment
• Assess request in line with policy, taking into
  account individual circumstances

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• SEN Team validates request, where the pupils
  nearest special school for their age ability is
  not named

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Implementation

• Pilot scheme - September 2005
• Limited opposition from some sectors
• Limited additional training required to submit
  request often just over the phone
• Success of the pilot reassured other schools
  professionals
• Improved safety minimised risk for children
  young people on transport

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• Evaluation of the pilot scheme concluded that it
  had been very successful
• Reduced risk to an acceptable level
• Due diligence could now be proven should accident
  occur
• Use of risk assessment transport request was
  agreed as the standard approach

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Transport request form being completed
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05/06 Academic Year Full Role Out

• Scheme rolled out to all schools in a managed
  approach
• 2007 Extended to all Childrens Services
  Transport
• Single method of transport requests
• Updated to included bus passes amended form to
  cover minor adjustments

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• Every School/Youth Centre Childrens Social
  Care department is given a unique pin to access
  OffsiteMag
• Dudley MBC Audit carried out Data Protection
  audit of the system given a clean bill of
  health
• Dudley maintained its place in the top
  percentile of local authorities per pupil spend
  on SEN transport

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• Since its introduction, there has not been a
  single incident resultant from a lack of
  information about a child unsuitable transport
  being provided

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Testimonial from SEN Manager Sharon Hearn

• From the perspective of an SEN Team Manager I
  worked for several years to separate matters of
  transport from the statutory processes assessment
  processes.
•  
• .

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• Having now achieved this we somehow take for
  granted the benefits but it was extremely
  problematical as a manager to be expert in two
  quite different areas of work and give the
  transport issues the care and attention they
  required in order to provide a well regulated and
  'safe' service

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• The main benefits of the separation are as
  follows.
• Firstly, we now have a  service dedicated to
  transport issues with a manager with 'transport'
  expertise and more team members. This has allowed
  the Local Authority  to offer a proactive service
  rather than a reactive one and has enabled
  problems to be pre-empted.  
•  
• .

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• We have a  well defined, transparent transport
  policy which is based on criteria  which are
  widely understood, regularly reviewed  and
  applied fairly across the board to both
  statemented and non statemented pupils. This
  provides for a more coherent approach to
  transport across all areas of Children's Services

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• The dedicated transport manager and the
  associated team have time to monitor service
  delivery through focussed working with schools
  and parents/ carers which has made  the Local
  Authority far less vulnerable to litigation.
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• The new team has developed rigorous training for
  both drivers and Passenger Assistants. This was
  previously impossible within the SEN Team, which
   whilst acknowledging the safeguarding issues,
  had insufficient staffing and expertise to
  organise and develop such training

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• There is now a separate transport appeals process
  co-ordinated by the Transport Manager. 
  Previously the SEN Team was both judge and jury.

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• This separation allows SEN Officers to distance
  themselves from the sometimes contentious issues
  relating to transport and to focus on the
  relationship that they have with parents and
  schools solely around the matters relating to SEN
  assessment and provision. 

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• The new arrangements put the onus for organising
  transport on the schools or setting who are now
  very largely responsible for completing transport
  request forms. This previously was function the
  SEN Team but is better done by those who know the
  pupil on a day to day basis

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Any Questions