Management Information Sheet

MI sheet 132/19 published on 20 September 2019, detailed proposed changes to the Travel Independence Training (TITAN) service. This notice provides an update on the review and restructure of the service and the current position.

Following the service restructure in Autumn 2019, a new team has been appointed to deliver a service that has young people and their families at its heart and delivers good preparation for adult life. The team, now locality based, will work closely with other teams across Norfolk County Council and will seek to maximum opportunities for collaboration with agencies and colleagues supporting vulnerable students.

Services are targeted at young people with EHCP/SEND needs supporting them to travel independently as part of their transition to adulthood.

Structure

Contact details for the team are as follows:

• Lead Locality Coordinator - Karl Chapman karl.chapman@norfolk.gov.uk
• Locality Coordinator City and South - Grace Gurbutt grace.gurbutt2@norfolk.gov.uk
• Locality Coordinator Great Yarmouth and North - Rebecca Baker rebecca.baker@norfolk.gov.uk
• Locality Coordinator West and Breckland - John Carr john.carr@norfolk.gov.uk

Each Locality Coordinator is contacting schools/colleges in their area to meet with the SENCO/colleagues involved in TITAN delivery. The aim is to build good working relationships and to offer relevant and timely travel independence services that provide appropriate and timely support to the young person. If you are yet to hear from your Locality Coordinator, please do get in touch.

Key updates

The team are working on the development of/updating the existing RAG programme resources (KS3 and 4 activities in school) to align with the requirements of the new guidance, ensuring that it is accessible for schools and will add value to their core curriculum. Supporting and encouraging best practice will be a key feature of the new service and plans are being developed which will help schools to deliver to and assess their students across a range of core travel independence competencies which support the core curriculum. There will be a future focus on quality assurance and moderation to help achieve the highest possible impact and outcomes for young people. Whilst this work is ongoing schools may continue to use any existing TITAN materials they may have. Please continue to advise the team of the outcomes of these assessments titan@norfolk.gov.uk

Where schools have staff, who are already TITAN trained and therefore able to support students undertaking the RAG programme, then student bus passes will be provided (subject to terms and conditions being met), to enable this work to continue. Final assessment materials can be provided, but schools will need to make their own arrangements to conduct and report on final assessments. Applications for bus passes, in relation to this work, need to be made to titan@norfolk.gov.uk, any passes provided will be subject to terms and conditions.

Schools who do not currently have TITAN trained staff will not be able to request bus passes for students to undertake travel independence.

Representatives from both mainstream and SEND schools/colleges and from across all localities, have joined the working group and are actively supporting the team, helping to shape future services and travel independence activities which suit the needs of schools and those of individual young people.

Report on progress

Work to identify students who may be suitable for the TITAN (Travel Independence Training) Summer Buddy Service 2020 is well underway. The new style of approach for referrals has seen the team providing initial, relevant information to schools about their Year 11 SEND cohort and asking for further comment and input from school colleagues around students travel independence. To date the response from schools has been positive and encouraging. Schools who have not yet returned this information are encouraged to do so as early as possible to titan@norfolk.gov.uk. Early identification of students will enable the team to quickly move onto the next stage of the process, with a view to commencing TITAN travel independence activities as soon as possible in readiness for the students transition to post 16...

For the first two terms of this academic year this approach is running alongside the current online referral system, helping to ensure that information about the travel independence of all year 11 SEND students is captured. The online line referral will continue to be available for the summer term however this will only need to be used by parents/educational professionals in respect of students who have recently moved into Norfolk.

Together with a closer working relationship with our colleagues in Travel & Transport, we will be able to ensure that we can provide a more integrated service.