Introduction

Welcome back!

We hope that you had a wonderful break and managed to spend time with your loved ones and find some time for rest and relaxation. We’re looking forward to seeing you all face to face at the regional conferences in a few weeks’ time. For those of you that haven’t registered, please see the link below.

It’s an exciting year ahead and we look forward to sharing with you more about Inclusion 2024 at the regional conferences and how through this three-year investment we can build on the impact and success of Inclusion 2020 for young people with SEND. Below is a short summary of the innovation projects which will be open for you to apply for on the 20 of September.

Happy reading.

ACTIONS

Connecting Change Makers conferences

We look forward to seeing you all at the regional networking events later in September and October. I know many of you have, but if you haven’t, please register using these links:

• 28 September – Harlequins, Twickenham Stoop Stadium, London 
• 05 October - Emerald Headingley Stadium, Leeds
• 07 October – Sixways Stadium, Worcester

Timings:

9am to 2pm. Click here for the full agenda

Move Like Me

Thanks to all of you who have been promoting the Move Like Me videos and hopefully they have helped many young people with SEND across the country stay active over the summer. Please continue to promote these through your networks, as we want to make them accessible to as many young people and their families as possible.

Videos can be accessed here, where you will also find some blogs written by the young people. Please promote to your networks and let's try and get as many young people active as possible.

UPDATES

DfE Inclusion 2024 update

Before we broke up for the summer, we shared with you the great news that YST, in partnership with the Inclusion 2020 Consortium, have been awarded the grant for ‘Inclusion 2024’ for the Department for Education PE SEND Programme. This three-year agreement is a wonderful opportunity to continue to build upon the amazing work you collectively lead and have achieved through Inclusion 2020 for thousands of children and young people with SEND.

As with Inclusion 2020, Inclusion 2024 includes funding for training, advice and guidance which has been built into this year's Lead Inclusion School core offer. There are also four innovation projects which all Lead Inclusion Schools will be able to apply for. The school recruitment window for both the core offer and innovation projects will be open from the 20 September until the 08 October, and communication will be coming out to you in the next few weeks about this. We will also provide you with more information about this at the regional conferences later in September and October, but in the meantime please find below a summary of the innovation projects...

• Engagement in PE

With the Engagement Profile now statutory for schools in England, the project will explore what this profile looks like in the context of PE. It will aid schools to use the assessment tool which has been designed to meet their duties in supporting pupils who are working below the level of the national curriculum and who are not engaged in subject-specific study.

• My PB for Alternative Provision (PRU)

The My Personal Best PRU Innovation project will seek to build on the 2020-21 pilot and support Pupil Referral Units in developing life skills in their young people. The project will give staff the required skills and resources to use PE both to develop learners' character and apply life skills that will support them to flourish in PE, school and life. We are hosting a drop-in session with tutor Carol Hawman on 20 September at 3.30pm, so join us if you’d like to learn more about this project. The Zoom link for the meeting is here.

• Commonwealth Games Summer of Inclusive Sport programmes

Building upon the Learning & Discovery festivals, we are seeking 20 schools to host a programme of inclusive sport (made up of festivals/events and other activities as designed by schools and pupils) to celebrate the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games of 2021-22.

• School Swimming and Water Safety

This project focuses on a review to directly enhance swimming provision for pupils with SEND. As part of this, in partnership with Swim England, schools will be asked to develop, test and evaluate innovative approaches to address the current challenges of engagement for young people with SEND to access and/or participate in swimming opportunities.

Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

The Paralympics have been brilliant and again a huge success for Team GB. The achievements and the backstories of these inspirational athletes have firmly put disability sport in the spotlight. Raising awareness and changing attitudes is so important when you consider that disabled people in the UK are only half as likely to play sport regularly. Our Learning and Discovery and new Commonwealth Games Summer of Inclusive Sport programmes use the inspiration of Paralympics to both create meaningful opportunities and help change attitudes around how young people with SEND can participate and be successful in sport. Our Inclusion 2024 partner, British Paralympic Association, has useful tools we can signpost schools and young people to. Parasport (parasport.org.uk) is an online tool that can help young people and their families find local inclusive activities. Get Set (getset.co.uk) is a youth engagement programme and on this website there is a wealth of resources for schools to give all young people the chance to learn about and live the Olympic Values of friendship, excellence and respect and the Paralympic Values of inspiration, determination, courage and equality.