Action For Inclusion header, includes Action For Inclusion logo and a group of young people.

A network of professionals and organisations who are working together to develop and improve education for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in the FE sector.

Specialist Mediation

Action for Inclusion Ltd's Specialist Mediation Service available for disabled people and their families.  All our mediators have mediation qualifications and significant experience at managerial level in Further Education and the S139a process.

We have also worked collaboratively with Local Education Authorities. Our services are rigorously monitored to ensure that professional standards are maintained.  Please see the Specialist Mediation Service area of the website for further information and how to request mediation from AfI Ltd

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Provision for learners with profound and complex needs

Nine projects developed provision for learners with complex needs. This required investment in staff training and new facilities, such as sensory rooms. Many of these learners would previously have required places at specialist residential providers.

Newbury College, Berkshire, began development work over four years ago. The college now offers full time provision enabling local school leavers with profound and complex needs to learn and progress within their own community. The course has been very successful for learners and their families as well as cost effective for the local authority. The Ofsted inspection confirmed the provision as outstanding in November 2009.

At the outset a project steering group was formed with West Berkshire Council and other agencies to establish the practice of sharing data early enough to be able to plan future Further Education provision. There is now a Berkshire wide capacity building sub group, bringing together the six local authorities and the colleges. The group has worked to standardise the data needed to effectively predict support requirements in order to develop programmes and facilities and to train staff. The local authority in West Berkshire has developed transition systems that have been recognised as excellent practice by the National Transition Support Team. The investment in Berkshire has led to capacity building activity with Thames Valley University, Bracknell & Wokingham College and Berkshire College of Agriculture.

Totton 6th Form College has built on well established multi agency working to develop effective provision for learners with complex needs in Hampshire. The agencies involved identified a need for therapy services which were not available locally. Totton College worked with the specialist provider, Treloar College, who now offers an outreach therapy service to enable the learners to stay in local provision with the right support, in a cost effective way.

These models of good practice are being shared to ensure that there will be local provision for learners with learning difficulties in every sub region in the south east.