On Friday 14 October, the University of Warwick in collaboration with the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) and Isos Partnership launched the What Works in SEND website. The What Works in SEND programme is delivered by an expert partnership experienced in academic research and evidence; systems change and service improvement; practice development, learning facilitation and sector-wide collaboration. What Works in SEND is an ambitious programme of learning and innovation, designed to generate high quality evidence of what works at system-level in SEND to improve outcomes for children, young people and families.
The What Works in SEND programme’s independent learning system will:
- Identify emerging practice to improve on common issues experienced in the SEND sector
- Quality assure to establish effective evidence-based practice
- Conduct robust research and evaluation
- Develop targeted support interventions/approaches at system-level based on What Works in SEND research and evidence
- Provide information, resources and evidence-based practice models that can be adopted for collaboration and learning.
The What Works in SEND website is designed to share the learning from the programme and consists of 4 key areas:
- Effective practice – explore examples of emerging system level practice in SEND that is being developed in local areas;
- Research and evaluation – explore new research and evaluation being conducted by the programme as well as existing academic research, literature and models of system-level practice in SEND;
- Evidence store – explore the most up-to-date evidence of what works at a system-level to deliver excellent services for children and young people with SEND and their families;
- Implementation toolkit – find tools, resources and information to support local areas in implementing the most effective system-level approaches to deliver excellent services for children and young people with SEND and their families.
We are really excited to have reached a point where we can begin to share early thinking for the What Works in Send programme. The website provides the perfect vehicle for keeping stakeholders up to date and providing them with opportunities to feed into the development of the programme. We look forward to it becoming the go to site for those looking for the most up-to-date evidence of what works at a system-level to deliver excellent services for disabled children and young people, those with special educational needs and their families.
Amanda Allard, Deputy Director of the Council for Disabled Children
We are delighted to be partnering on this programme, which aims to achieve the best outcomes for children with SEND and their families.
For Warwick Business School, our research and impact for SEND delivery, exemplifies our ongoing ambition to be a change-maker around some of the most pressing social problems in the UK, and our determination to support public services delivered to the most vulnerable children and young people.
This new programme of research aligns with the school’s existing large-scale research programmes focused upon care leavers (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council) and youth mental health (funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research)
Graeme Currie, Professor of Public Management at Warwick Business School
Warwick Business School will work with University of Warwick colleagues at The Warwick Evidence Team at Warwick Medical School and at the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR).
The funding is part of a three-year £4.8 million package to support SEND improvement in local areas involving the Research & Improvement for SEND Excellence partnership, which is led by the Council for Disabled Children and includes the National Development Team for Inclusion, the University of Warwick and the Isos Partnership.