Pupils with complex additional support needs: research into provision

Annex One: Enquiry Framework

Theme 1: Policy

• Are national policies around support for children and young people with complex additional support needs well understood?
• What would the system look like if national policies were followed?
• Are there any areas where policies are lacking or contradicting each other?
• Do existing policies deliver positive outcomes (including successful transitions) for children and young people with complex additional support needs?
• How is national policy interpreted at a local level?
• What guidance and policies do local authorities offer schools around supporting children and young people with complex additional support needs? How does this vary between different local authority areas?

Theme 2: Practice

• What does current support look like in practice for children and young people with complex additional support needs?
• Does current practice reflect national policy intent? Are there gaps between policy and practice?
• What approaches are working well? What makes the biggest difference?
• Where are the challenges in the system?
• How transferable are the examples of good practice identified?
• What are the conditions that enable or foster good practice?
• What are the barriers to good practice?
• Does having a diagnosis have an impact on support?
• What role does technology play in supporting children and young people with complex additional support needs to achieve their full potential?
• What equipment and tools (e.g. accessible digital devices, Alternative and Augmentative Communication tools) are used in schools, and what impact do these have on educational outcomes?
• How was continuity of learning provided to children and young people with complex additional support needs, both on and off campus, during the COVID-19 pandemic?
• What impact did school building closures have on children and young people with complex additional support needs? Were there any benefits, or innovation in services offered, that can be learnt from?
• In what ways are learning and workforce development used to enable staff to support positive outcomes, including successful transitions, for children and young people with complex additional support needs? Are these approaches effective?

Theme 3: Partnerships

• What roles do different institutions play to support improved outcomes (including successful transitions) for children and young people with complex additional support needs?
• What partnerships or relationships exist between the different institutions that support improved outcomes for children and young people with complex additional support needs?
• How are different institutions and stakeholders working together?
• Is there evidence of effective cooperation between partners?
• Where are there potential challenges, tensions or ineffective deployment of resources?
• In what ways do these partnerships deliver improved outcomes (including successful transitions) for children and young people with complex additional support needs?

Theme 4: Perspectives of parents/carers and pupils

• Do parents/carers consider the approaches taken by schools and other institutional actors to be sufficiently meeting their child’s complex needs?
• What do parents/carers perceive as working well in the current system / at the school their child currently attends?
• Do parents/carers perceive any barriers or challenges to positive outcomes, including successful transitions being met?
• Do parents/carers feel involved and empowered in decision-making regarding their child’s education?
• Do children and young people consider the approaches taken by schools and other institutional actors to be sufficiently meeting their complex needs?
• What do children and young people perceive as working well in the current system / at the school they currently attend?
• Do children and young people perceive any barriers or challenges to positive outcomes, including successful transitions being met?
• Do children with complex additional support needs have friends / feel part of their home communities?
• What are the hopes and aspirations of children with complex additional support needs and does the current system support them towards these?