As the first anniversary of the Finding Common Ground project approaches I am finding myself being asked by various people and agencies how it works. What is it that makes it so effective for the 60 or so families that have participated so far? So I thought that I would attempt to put it into writing.... Here goes....
What is the aim of a Finding Common Ground (FCG) conversation with parents/carers?
Simply to equip the family with the confidence and next steps to go to the school with a plan for moving forward, We are aiming for intelligent collaboration between family and school. We want to build trust and communication through a sensible understanding that we are all on the same side. No-one goes into education wanting to harm children and young people; it is just that sometimes the systems and procedures are sometimes not in the best interests of individual children. Sometimes the needs of individuals have not been carefully considered. Sometimes the family don't understand what the school is doing for their child. The adults, school staff and family, along with the young person, need to make the systems work so that the young person thrives. In most cases a half-hour conversation is sufficient to establish the next actions for the family. A further discussion might then be needed as the next step is taken, but half an hour is generally sufficient for a focused FCG conversation.
What are the outcomes?
The outcome of the FCG conversation is one or more next steps for the family to take calmly, confidently and rationally. Generally this will be a plan or approach that can be constructively taken to the next meeting with the school. Sometimes it will be a complaint about a very specific issue using the complaints procedure. Sometimes it will be a plan that the family feels will work to reintegrate the child into school. Sometimes it will be a request for a single point of contact to discuss ongoing issues, combined with a clear understanding of what should be possible in terms of provision. Many families are applying for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) out of frustration, seeing it as the only way to get the support their child needs; building trust and collaboration with the school around reasonable adjustments to mainstream provision is an alternative, and much more effective, way forward.
Are there situations where a Finding Common Ground conversation won't work?
It is important to recognise that this approach is not always appropriate. If the breakdown has gone too far between the school and the family then this low-level intervention may not be appropriate. For example, I was talking to a parent who had removed her child from a school and was now in discussions with the local authority about the most appropriate provision for her child with a contested understanding of the child's SEND needs. The Finding Common Ground approach is not relevant in this case - specialist legal support may be. Likewise, matters of SEND law or specialist support for the detailed provision for a particular type of SEND - these require very specialist advice and our role is to signpost the possible sources of that advice. Our expertise is in how schools work and the approaches and strategies that are possible in that context.
How does a Finding Common Ground conversation start?
The "how can I help you?" question gets the conversation underway. Usually the conversation has been prefaced by an email with some information about the issues and the first part of the conversation is to exact nature of the educational issue. Sometimes that is obvious - the child is not in school and the parent is receiving threatening attendance letters, for example. Sometimes it requires more careful follow-up questions, particularly where matters of behaviour are concerned or where, for example, a child is finding that in a particular lesson or lessons reasonable adjustments are not being made. The important thing about this phase in the conversation is to recognise that, whilst we will have considerable empathy and compassion for the wider circumstances of the family, this conversation is about specific issues between the family, child and school and we need to understand them so that we can see where the school is coming from and what the possible ways forward might be. This requires us to see the issue from the school's point of view, based on experience, as well as from the family's viewpoint. It is this skill, borne of experience, of seeing the matter from both sides that makes our advice impartial and valuable.
Effective, careful listening is the key skill at this stage in the conversation - picking out the key educational issues and reflecting them back to the family for confirmation so that you have a focus for the next step. Carefully cutting to the main issue and envisaging it from the school's perspective - that gives the basis for the way forward.
So what knowledge is used to identify next steps for the family?
Now, having established the issue, you need to draw on a good understanding of three aspects of educational practice:
the guidance given to schools by the DfE and local authorities (for example around attendance, SEND, suspensions and exclusions)
examples of best national practice
how schools are structured and managed.
In some cases it is also important to have an understanding of the legal framework - particularly where issues of disability discrimination may be relevant. This may sound like an impossible task, but actually, if you have worked in schools and education for a while, you will find that you know a lot of these things anyway as part of your professional practice. Some educational leadership experience probably helps - I find having been a headteacher gives me a wide general understanding of most issues. Also, the major issues raised by families are similar so advice given to one family is often transferable to another - that is where the first phase of the conversation is so important in identifying the educational issue accurately. We are trying to see the issue from the school's perspective - if you were faced with the issue that the family is raising, what would you do and what would best practice look like?
This may be best illustrated by an example: if a family is talking to you about their child who is currently struggling with emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) then you need to know the most recent guidance given to schools about attendance so that you can assure the parent that legal action and fines are the last resort, and are highly unlikely to be implemented if the family is working positively with the school. Also, you need to be aware of the guidance given by local authorities to schools around EBSA so that you can advise that a frequently reviewed plan between home and school accepting that there will be forward and backward steps with attendance is identified best practice. In addition, you need to have an awareness that some schools make exceptional individual provision for children with EBSA in order to keep them up to date with their learning. Finally, you need to understand that the attendance officer may not be empowered to make decisions about temporary timetables and the parent may need to speak to the deputy head. So you can help the family by identifying the next step of speaking to the deputy headteacher, proposing a partial timetable with a timescale that the family is happy with, identifying a potential single point of contact and suggesting a weekly review.
So the outcome of the conversation is a next step, giving the family the language and approach to calmly and confidently approach or respond to the school constructively. You are giving them some control, and that leads to positive discussions and improved trust. Yes, there may be practical matters raised by the school, but if the next steps suggested by the family are rooted in established policies, guidance and best practice then the tone of the discussion becomes one of informed collaboration rather than tension and conflict.
What happens after the meeting?
After the meeting, we send an email with any links to guidance that might be useful, or signposts to organisations who may be able to provide specialist assistance.
So what are the pieces of advice that come up most often?
These are just a small sample:
It is the parent's responsibility to ensure that a child attends school. It is the school's responsibility to educate the child. In situations where attendance is low, for whatever reason, ask the school "how is my child being educated?". There is a lot of discussion about whether providing teaching and resources for children who are absent from school discourages attendance, but, actually school and family want the child to learn so an intelligent plan between home and school on a temporary basis, regularly reviewed, is in the interests of everyone.
"Who are you talking to?" I always ask this. School decision-making is very hierarchical so often a family may be speaking to an individual teacher or member of the support team who, with the best will in the world, cannot make the changes that might be needed. "Who is your single point of contact?" is also valuable; in many situations it is valuable for the school and the family for communication to come via one route. This means that a trust relationship is built up, issues can be dealt with at the lowest possible level before they escalate and any major issues can be passed on as appropriate.
"Use the complaints procedure." There has been a lot of talk about vexatious complaints and I am not encouraging these in any way. As headteacher I used to quite like complaints - they are far better than loads of emails that arrive across the school often angry and often at antisocial hours. The complaints procedure is calm, rational and measured. From a parent's perspective, whilst emails can be ignored, the complaints procedure cannot. The parent has to be very precise in their complaint, though, and the complaint has to be clearly true. So very long, rambling complaints along the lines of "such and such was said by so and so to my child" are no use - it becomes one person's word against another. If, on the other hand, an aspect of provision has been agreed in a meeting, or is part of an EHCP or individual learning plan and, despite polite reminders it is still not in place, then a focused complaint about not meeting an aspect of need is appropriate and incontrovertible.
"Be realistic about EHCP processes". EHCP's are entirely appropriate for students with high levels of SEND. At the moment many families are seeking EHCPs for their child, with lower levels of SEND, because they see it as the only way of getting their needs met. This leads to all kinds of issues. It is far better, for students who do not require specialist individual funded support that an EHCP at a high band would give, to work with the school on the basis of best practice and reasonable adjustments for the relevant educational need. During the first year of the FCG project I have spoken to several parents who are now not seeking EHCP's for their children as a result of better provision within the school.
"Avoid being pushed into elective home education (EHE)". Once a child is no longer on-roll the school has no responsibility for them and the family is on their own. This is not a good place to be - unless you have decided that home education is a sensible route for your family.
"Understand who does what in a school". For example, when an aspect of a child's SEND pupil passport is not being implemented in one subject the parent wants to speak to the teacher directly. In a large secondary that is often not possible. So they complain to the SENCO and then don't understand if the issue isn't sorted. It is important to realise that the SENCO is not going to have line management responsibility for the relevant teacher and so they can advise, not insist. It will require contact with the Head of Department or a member of the senior leadership team to ensure that practice is changed.
"Use suspensions as a chance to reset". Suspension often seems like the end of the world, but they are often an indicator of un-met need so use the re-integration meeting as an opportunity to look at areas of need. Permanent exclusions are much more serious and, if that is being threatened, make sure that the family gets appropriate specialist advice and support. If the child is looked-after, or has SEND or other vulnerabilities then permanent exclusion should be contested.
"Focus on the main thing - how is your child being educated". Some families get very upset about the perceived unfair treatment of their child by school staff. Anything that happens in a classroom is very difficult to establish the exact truth of - teachers will have their perception and the child another. Schools are not going to reinvestigate minor disciplinary matters so complaining about a detention is pointless and will go nowhere. Focus on the provision and try not to be distracted by each individual event, regardless of how much upset it may cause at the time!
It isn't rocket science - it really isn't! It is low-level intervention to assist in establishing trust and collaboration and thereby establishing good working relationships which will support the young person in thriving at school.
It works.... it really does!
James Harris
Comments