by Philippa Stobbs OBE
Philippa Stobbs OBE is the recently retired Assistant Director for the Council for Disabled Children (CDC). At SNJ, we have deep admiration and respect for Philippa, who has dedicated her entire career to improving outcomes for disabled children and those with SEND. Philippa’s work included being instrumental in the development of the Children and Families Act and decades of national advocacy for disabled children’s rights. She is an expert in the application of Equality Act 2010 for disabled children and in 2022 wrote the Equality Act Guide for Schools for the CDC.
You will have heard us mention “Ordinarily Available Provision” and how LAs are busily creating their own policies to tell schools what they should be providing—regardless of the resources schools have available. We are extremely grateful to Philippa for writing this two-part article for us detailing exactly what OAP is, and, just as importantly, what it is not. Please share this with your school. Part two will be on Monday, when we will provide a PDF ebook version of both parts. You can also listen to our recent podcast with Philippa about ten years of the CFA
Ordinarily Available Provision: what is it, how should it be used and is it a friend or foe for children with SEND? By Philippa Stobbs OBE
Ordinarily Available Provision (OBE): friend or foe? The short answer to the question is, ‘It depends,’ and, if that sounds evasive, read on.
I know some parents have been very unhappy about their experiences with ordinarily available provision. The problems have previously been aired on SNJ. Some have experienced it as yet another barrier to having their child’s needs assessed and securing the provision they need to learn, progress and flourish in school, outside school and beyond school. Others have experienced it as a cost-cutting device that has made no difference to the quality of the provision for their child.
When done properly, and as required by the Regulations, ordinarily available provision can make a powerful contribution to a more inclusive future and a more creative, collaborative approach to the discussion of how best to determine what provision should be made for a child or young person.
What is ordinarily available provision?
What is ordinarily available provision? Who’s responsible for it? Why on earth is it called ordinarily available provision? What difference does it make? And what has it got to do with you?
In this first of two blogs, I am focusing more on the requirements and the practicalities; in the next, I look at what good looks like, and some of the more important benefits of really good ordinarily available provision. In both articles, I hope you find encouragement to get involved in developing or reviewing your local OAP. It won’t be the same without you.
Put simply, OAP is a requirement on the local authority to set out what educational and training provision they expect to be made available by schools, early years settings and FE providers for children and young people with special educational needs. The requirements are quite detailed.
‘Isn’t that what the SEND Code of Practice does?’ I hear you say. Well, no. The Code sets out a process based on repeated cycles of ‘assess, plan, do, review,’ a process that underlies all teaching and learning. However, it becomes more targeted and focused, and draws in wider expertise, when a child is not learning and making expected progress. The bit that ordinarily available provision adds to the process is the content of the ‘do’ bit of ‘assess, plan, do, review’ on which the Code is silent.
I am going to simplify my explanation here by focusing on schools, so it’s important to remember that it applies to early years settings and FE providers as well; it also applies to training provision as well as to educational provision.
Who’s responsible for it—and who should be involved?
The local authority is responsible for setting out ordinarily available provision. The requirement has been around for some time, but the Children and Families Act moved the requirement into the local offer section of the SEN and Disability Regulations. Because of where ordinarily available provision sits, since 2014 it has required significant engagement with all stakeholders and all agencies in developing it, keeping it under review; and taking and responding to feedback.
Parents, carers and children and young people themselves are an important part of the process and should be involved from the very start, along with teachers, headteachers, SENCOs, specialist services and other agencies. Parent carers can contribute their views in a number of different ways and should be asked how they would like to be involved. This might be ‘in the room’ alongside others, in parent carer focus groups, or through individual interviews. I have seen all of these approaches work in different local areas, and a mixture of approaches work in some local areas.
It takes time and testing to get it right
Once initial ideas have been gathered, successive drafts may be taken forward by sub-groups working on different sections. Parent carers may be involved in these groups, again, in the ways that have been agreed with them, and alongside the continuing involvement of professionals.
All of this takes time. My experience is that, if you are starting from scratch, it takes several drafts and between nine and 15 months from the start of the process to the point where all parties are comfortable, even if not confident, that the latest draft is good enough to trial for a year.
Reviewing it is not as intensive, or as prolonged, but needs to recognise staff turnover and different parent carers becoming involved over time. So the review and feedback requirements of the local offer are just as important to ordinarily available provision as they are to the rest of the local offer.
In summary, how it’s done is just as important as what it is.
Why on earth is it called ordinarily available provision?
The name, ordinarily available provision, does not correspond precisely to the wording in the local offer Regulations; it is the provision that the local authority expects to be available. However, the requirement pre-dates the Children and Families Act and was certainly included in the SEN and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) though it was the requirement, rather than the name that was included. So the answer is probably lost in the mists of time.
There is variation in what it is called locally, by which I mean the title on the front page, but there is a growing body of work from local authorities labelled ordinarily available provision, even if it is used as a sub-title.
What does it look like?
OAP looks different in different local authority areas. And, if everyone has been involved in shaping it, it should do. That said, as well as variation, there are some similarities. Many have key elements in common:
- There is usually an early part of the document setting out principles and the features of quality first teaching, along with approaches that might be used for all pupils. This part often refers to the principles set out in the Code of Practice and sometimes the procedures as well. This section forms the context for the next section.
- A section with more detail about the sorts of approaches that might be used for children with different needs. Needs are usually grouped into the 4 broad areas of need set out in the Code, but the ‘needs’ themselves are usually described simply, as something a teacher might observe, for example, a child who has difficulty saying what he wants to say and making himself understood. This is followed by a range of strategies that might support children’s learning.
- Then there is usually additional information about a range of resources that offer more detail on particular approaches, information about training as well as information about specialist support services.
There is variation in the detail and therefore the length of documents. You could fill telephone directories with masses of different approaches but, if you did, it would probably be unusable. In some local areas, longer versions have subsequently been reduced in length, as part of the review and feedback process. Sometimes detail is moved to a supporting ‘toolkit’ of additional resources.
And what has it got to do with you?
I would encourage you, as a parent or practitioner, to get involved in developing or reviewing your local ordinarily available provision. (SNJ tip: search “Ordinarily Available Provision” and your LA name, and ask your local parent carer forum for information on getting involved)
The more you have been involved in its development and review, the more you will have helped to shape it, the more you will feel it is yours and the more you will use it in discussion with your child’s school. It should feel like a useful toolbox to your child’s school and to you. In short, it should feel like a friend, not a foe.
In this blog and the next
In this article, I have looked at the requirements and some of the practicalities; in the next, I look at some of the benefits of good ordinarily available provision and there is further encouragement to you to get involved in helping to shape your local ordinarily available provision.
Philippa Stobbs OBE, Autumn 2024
Also read
- SNJ in Conversation: 10 years of the Children and Families Act: Philippa Stobbs OBE on the wins and losses
- Creative reasonable adjustments for SEND learners that don’t have to cost a thing
- Commons committee lets the Department for Education off the hook—so we’ll do the scrutiny instead
- What’s happening with the SEND & AP Change Programme— November 2024 update
- “Every learner matters and matters equally”. But in England’s education system, do they really?
- SNJ in Conversation with Brian Lamb OBE: Building good parental relationships is the key to fixing SEND
- The Children and Families Act, 10 years on: Stephen Kingdom “The DfE didn’t do enough on implementation”
- The nine top asks from SEND organisations for the next government
- SEND is an existential threat to LAs’ financial sustainability; junking the SEND Tribunal is part of the answer, claims new report
- A record rise in SEND appeals, and challenges for teachers accessing school support. Things are not getting better…
- SNJ’s 7-point open letter to Bridget Phillipson, new Secretary of State for Education
- The SEND “Emergency” debate: scrap safety valve, write-off high needs debt and stop piling trauma on to families
- No targets for SEND cuts? Tell us your experiences
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