Dr Adam Barnard & Linda Kemp What Works for Children with Disabilities: A scoping evaluation of Conductive Education at Footprints Conductive Education Centre Dr Adam Barnard & Linda Kemp

Dr. Adam Barnard Report on Social Science Professional Doctorates IPDC2

Currently Barnard, A. (2013) ‘Resisting the charm of an all-consuming life? The possibility of a challenge from children & young people’. Wild, J. (ed.) (2013) Exploiting Children. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN: 9781849053686. Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council on Safeguarding and new ways of working. ‘Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’ for Nottinghamshire County Council's Substance Misuse Services for Targeted Support and Child and Adolescence Mental Health Teams. Programme Manager for Professional Doctorates in Social Practice. NTU Doctoral School.

Linda Kemp

Aims/objectives To establish a credible and supported evidence base to evidence the achievements of Conductive Education at School for Parents. To review the policies and procedures of School for Parents. To interview staff working with children with physical and intellectual disabilities. To make recommendations for improvements in practice for service design and delivery of School for Parents.

Legislation United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (1989) Children and Social Work Act 2017 The Childcare Act 2016 The Children and Families Act 2014 LSCBs (Local Safeguarding Children Boards) and Serious Case Reviews will be replaced with a national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel looking at cases which are deemed complex or of national importance. Local cases will be dealt with by Local child safeguarding practice reviews and Child Death Review Panels (CDRPs).  Local child safeguarding practice reviews will look at ‘serious child safeguarding cases which raise issues of importance in relation to the area’. Strengthened multiagency working in safeguarding cases by mandating information sharing. Brings 30 hours free childcare for three and four year olds as a legal right into force. Young people with Special Educational Needs have a single plan for meeting their education, health and social care needs (0-25), to replace SEN access statements. EHC needs assessments are carried out by local authorities, decide on the plan, and secure legal duty to arrange relevant health care provision.

Conductive Education Conductive Education (CE) is a holistic integrated pedagogical/educational system, which enables people with damage to the central nervous system to learn to overcome the challenges they face. CE is a process of experiences which leads the person to work with their motor disabilities, moving towards increased independence. It is a system which is primarily suitable for people with neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, acquired head injury and dyspraxia. (Professional Conductors Association, 2009: 3) Conductive Education programmes have several important features: teaching is carried out in groups rather than individually, the group works collectively as a social unit, the concept being that each child’s progress assists the performance of others. A ‘conductor’ who combines the work of teacher and therapist leads the group. Extensive use if made of rhyme and song in young children to initiate and control movements and functional tasks. The repetition and rehearsal of tasks based activities is reinforced amongst the group but crucially is used as the basis to educate parents and carers who continue the interventions and tasks beyond school for parents. With the tasks, verbal instructions are given to older children to assist in this process and emphasis is placed on the achievement of independent skills. The programme is highly structured, and the tasks are always goal-directed and meaningful to the child; and use is made of two particular pieces of equipment – the plinth and ladder back chair (Reddihough et al 1998: 763). This focus on motor activity and cognitive functioning develops the possibility of rerouting neural pathways to improve motor and cognitive skills. Services provided by School for Parents Enable disabled children by: Providing assessments for each child and parent. Providing one or two pre-school learning sessions each week during term-time, depending on the child’s needs. These sessions include carefully structured programmes to help children achieve their full potential. Running projects for children with Down’s syndrome to support their specific communication needs, e.g. speech therapy, based on best practice as advised by Symbol UK and the DSA. Provide weekly speech therapy sessions for children with Down’s syndrome, up to the age of 11 years

Literature Review To provide a theoretical background to the study. Establish the links between the research and the literature in the field. To contribute to the existing body of knowledge. The search was conducted involving information specialists (Chartered Institute of Librarians of the Library and Information Association) with access to a large number of databases (ERIC: Educational Resource Information Centre (EBSCO, ProQuest); ASSIA: Applied Social Science Index and Abstracts; Scopus; Social Care Online; Zetoc). The review examined five data bases: PROQUEST databases (including ASSIA, IBSS, Education database, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO); EBSCO databases (including British Education Index, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, Education Abstracts); ERIC database; Web of Science; and British Library ETHOS database.

Methodology Action Research – Mixed methods Documentary research to examine policies and practices in the provision of this service. An evaluation of the efficacy of School for Parents’ service in improving life chances for participants. Semi-structured interviews with staff working with children with intellectual and physical disabilities in receipt of service from School for Parents.

Ethics and Safeguarding Nottingham Trent University with a full submission to the College Research Ethics Committee. Economic and Social Research Council’s ethical framework. The research team comprises of a qualified child protection social worker who is cognisant with safeguarding issues. Safeguarding concerns will be appropriately addressed by appropriate intervention and timely referral.

Findings - Documentary Analysis Documentary Analysis revealed that School for Parents has a robust system of policies and procedures and quality assurance mechanisms. There were a range of policies, processes, procedures and protocols for safeguarding children, the environment and workers. Running records were reviewed and provided evidence of ongoing developmental outcome gains for the children in receipt of the service.

Findings - Evaluation of education provision The evaluation of the provisions of School for Parents shows a promising, reassuring and encouraging array of developmental markers and positive outcomes for children in receipt of the service.

Roles and Reponsbilities Findings - Interviews Conductors; Assistant Conductors; Managers Roles and Reponsbilities Transition to Scope; Alternative provision; Change of buildings History Educational; Social Model Self-definition Holistic; Structured; Group based; Rhythmic Interventions Children's Development; Progress Achievements Parental Relationship; Children's Relationships Relationships Cultural specificity; Staffing; Community building; Passion and commitment of staff. Challenges

Discussion Evaluation of School for Parents - Improvements across the board for children in receipt of the services. Analysis of documents - satisfactory and suitable set of safeguards in place. Satisfying the regulatory requirements of working with children. The interviews showed the context of the service, the importance of relationships and the achievements in service delivery. In the current climate of funding cuts and austerity measures the mantra to do more with less continues. The Evaluation of School for Parents showed improvements across the board for children in receipt of the services. The analysis of documents showed a satisfactory and suitable set of safeguards in place to enable effective delivery of service and satisfying the regulatory requirements of working with children. The interviews showed the context of the service, the importance of relationships and the achievements in service delivery. The evaluation of School for Parents is positive and includes opportunities for refinement and expansion. In the current climate of funding cuts and austerity measures the mantra to do more with less continues.

What Works for Children with Disabilities Support for Parents. Positive attitudes and evidence-base practice. Tension between universal provision and a specialised response. Diagnostic and functional, holistic assessment including the whole family group. Benefit of interagency-working and partnership working. Consensual and ethical working. Continued need for robust, long-term outcome studies. Enabling environments. Limitations Small scoping study, small sample size, research methods, quality of running records

Summary The impact and influence of having a child with physical and intellectual disabilities is wide reaching and profound, effecting the child, their care givers and parents, and extended family. The developmental conditions and disabilities of the children engaged with School for Parents, have lifelong, enduring and ongoing challenges. There is a need for ongoing support from immediate family and professional services. Enabling Environments/Marginal Gains/Early Intervention Foundation Enabling Environments to support children’s learning and development, in caring, supportive environment responding to individual needs allowing play and exploration. Marginal Gains are the small, incremental and cumulative change that leads to a greater overall change. Evidence of ‘work works’ and Early Intervention Foundation and the possibility of a register with EIF Clearing Houses. Legislative change of Children and Social Work Act 2017 for local safeguarding practice, PSHE education, and Social Work England established. The Childcare Act 2016 brings 30 hours free child care as a legal right. The Children and Families Act 2014 for SEN and EHC plans. Contribution ‘Orthofunction’ the for a general capacity for adaption, learning and problem solving. Opening ‘communicative space’ as a collaborative social practice of learning, and changing practice. Enabled parents by: Giving talks and running practical sessions to educate parents. Giving help and advice with feeding problems. Helping with the child’s transition to school. Providing information on other support agencies and voluntary organisations. Organising social activities for families. Liaising with other educational or health agencies to share goals and strategies to enhance the child’s learning in all settings. School for Parents provides support to children in terms of their skill development, confidence and independence. The parents of the children love attending. Families are integrally supported by School for Parents. The interviews showed the roles and responsibilities of staff, personal and organisational history, the definition of Conductive Education, the value of service interventions, achievements gained from the service, the importance of relationships and the challenges School of Parents experiences. The overall evaluation of the offer of School for Parents shows the value of marginal gains (small but overall significant gains) from service design and delivery to create an enabling environment for those in receipt of the service. There are limitation identified in the research (small scale, costs, need for further research) and the lack of identified and recorded negative outcomes for children’s progress, nill returns on their progress and stalled progress in meeting objectives in the recorded notes. There are recommendations to enhance the enabling environment and recommendations on communication with a wider audience of potential service users.

The documentary analysis on the policies and procedures held and used in School for Parents shows a consistent, protective, regulated and rigorous approach to working with children with physical and intellectual disabilities. The evaluation of Conductive Education provision at School for Parents found significant beneficial changes from those in receipt of the service. The interviews with staff explored the expressed and recorded opinions of those working with children with intellectual and physical disabilities. A thematic analysis on recorded transcripts showed significant understanding for staff in roles and responsibilities, history of School for Parents, interventions, achievements and challenges.

Thanks for listening Questions?

References Barnard, A. and Goodall, C. (2015) Approaches to Working with Children and Families. Practice: Social Work in Action. Pp. 1-17. DOI: 10.1080/09503153.2015.1032235 ISSN: 0950-3153 Barnard, A. (2013) ‘Resisting the charm of an all-consuming life? The possibility of a challenge from children & young people’. Wild, J. (ed.) (2014) Exploiting Children. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN: 9781849053686 Professional Conductors Association (2009) What is Conductive Education? Birmingham: Conductive Education Professional Education Group. Whitehead, G and Barnard, A (2012) ‘Developing inclusive environments in mental health provision for people with disabilities’, The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, Volume 8, issue 2. ISSN: 1755-6228.