Staffordshire Enhanced District Inclusion Support (SEDIS) Model

What is SEDIS? 

The Staffordshire 'Enhanced District Inclusion Support Model' (SEDIS) is designed to empower mainstream schools to address the needs of children and young people facing learning barriers and to support inclusion.

SEDIS teams work to enhance the capacity and confidence of district schools, while also promoting the sharing of the best evidence-based practices.

As part of Staffordshire’s pre-statutory, graduated approach to supporting SEND and inclusion in mainstream settings, SEDIS will be available as an option during the ‘Do’ phase of the Enhanced Assess, Plan, Do, Review (EAPDR) pathway. This support can be considered and agreed upon if the child or young person is on the EAPDR pathway. 

The primary goal of all SEDIS activities is to enhance the learning environment around the child, improving their learning and inclusion experience.

Importantly, a child or young person does not need a diagnosis or label for their school to access SEDIS support. 
 

SEDIS Outreach 

The main focus of SEDIS Teams is Outreach support. These teams will primarily work on developing the educational setting’s capacity to meet the needs of children with SEND and inclusion needs.

The child or young person will remain in their educational setting, with SEDIS staff typically visiting two to three times a week to support staff in implementing agreed strategies, modelling support techniques, and developing resources. 

SEDIS In-reach 

After a period of outreach, an EAPDR Review meeting will be held to assess progress. If, after high-quality outreach support, the child or young person requires specific support away from their educational setting, they may need a short-term placement with the SEDIS provider.  

Although this provision may be away from their current educational setting, the child or young person will remain on the roll of their educational setting.  

Attendance at the SEDIS in-reach provision can be full-time or part-time, depending on individual needs.  

These placements are ‘time-limited’ and typically do not exceed one term. The expectation is that the child or young person will return to their educational setting after receiving enhanced in-reach support. During the placement, close links will be maintained with the home setting. 

What Can SEDIS Providers Support With? 

• Developing strategies to support the child, young person, and staff 
• Promoting the implementation of effective strategies 
• Creating appropriate support packages for children, young people, and the mainstream setting, in collaboration with parents/carers and teachers 
• Modelling different approaches to meet a child/young person’s individual needs 
• Enhancing the skills, knowledge, and understanding of staff in the mainstream setting 
• Providing training to setting staff on promoting inclusion, meeting individual needs, effective strategies, modelling activities, and sharing evidence-based practices 
• Assisting the setting in developing policies and procedures for target setting, monitoring, challenging, and supporting children and young people to achieve their full learning potential 
• Supporting children and young people through transition points 
• Offering advice and support to mainstream settings in creating and reviewing Individual Education Plans (IEPs), Individual Behaviour Plans (IBPs), and Pastoral Support Programmes (PSPs) 
• Facilitating conversations and relationships between setting staff and parents where relationships have broken down 
• Providing tailored and targeted interventions and support programmes 

Who are the SEDIS Providers? 

The following SEDIS providers have begun their outreach and in-reach offer:  

What if my district does not have in-reach provision currently? 

In-reach provision is available as a support during the “Do” phase of EAPDR where appropriate.

If in-reach provision is not available in your district at this point, alternative arrangements can be investigated.

How is SEDIS accessed? 

To provide earlier pre-statutory support, there are now three pathways that SEDIS can be recommended through:

1. The SEND and Inclusion Hub in each district
2. The central EAPDR panel
3. The EAPDR “Do” phase 

How many children/young people can a SEDIS Team support? 

• 15 children and young people with SEDIS outreach at any one time
• 5 children and young people with a SEDIS in-reach placement at any one time

Funding and Transport 

SEDIS will be jointly funded by the local authority and the school where the child/young person is enrolled. 

Provision - School Contribution

Outreach Support - £30 per session (minimum 2 hours; some children may need more than one session per week)

In-reach Placement - £50 per day

School contributions will be capped at £1,500 for each EAPDR cycle.  

During the planning stages, the team around the child will confirm the duration and amount of support required, which will determine the school contribution. This information must be recorded on the EAPDR One Form before sending it to SEND Commissioning. 

Transport to and from SEDIS In-reach provision will be the responsibility of the child or young person’s educational setting/parents. The aim is to place children and young people locally within their communities where possible. School day timings may need to be adjusted to accommodate families who need to transport other siblings. 

Feedback from schools accessing the support

“The benefits extend beyond the individual children who have received direct support; the entire school community, including teachers, teaching assistants, one-on-one aides, the SENCo, and the senior leadership team, has experienced significant advantages”.

“The class teacher has implemented these changes and Pupil A is managing to spend more time in the classroom to work on his targets”.

“We were also suggested to use the BSquared resources to pinpoint a clear age and target for Pupil A. We have now rolled these out for the whole school to replace our learning leaps”.

“Having that specialist knowledge in mainstream schools is vital in the current climate”.

“The popularity of this training…..has initiated a movement towards transformative change within the school, with discussions about implementing a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) training session in the future”.

“I have used SEDIS to support me with children with significant SEMH needs in mainstream and have found it to be extremely useful”.

“We have recently adopted the SEDIS model to support some of our vulnerable pupils, and the impact has been profoundly positive”.

“The guidance, encouragement, and expertise provided by SEDIS have been invaluable”.

“The significant progress observed during this period has been remarkable”.

“The whole school training proved to be highly effective, with valuable feedback from staff and inspiring a positive shift in practice”.

“SEDIS has enabled us to reassess and refine our approaches, introducing innovative strategies that benefit whole-class instruction”.

“The bespoke nature of the support ensures that it can be tailored to meet the unique needs of any school, fostering development and growth”.

“ As a headteacher, I highly recommend the SEDIS service for its comprehensive and adaptable support, which has proven to be a transformative asset for our school”