NCB Now: Improvements to SEN support

The green paper explains the government's proposals to improve the education, health and social care support for disabled children and their families. Its key proposals include introducing a single statutory assessment process across services and replacing statements of SEN with education, health and social care plans. These plans will include stronger commitments from health and social care to provide support. Another major change is that these plans can last until a young person is 25.

Local authorities will be required to set out and publish a local offer. This explains what universal services parents can expect and how the local authority will work with parents, local schools and colleges and other services.

The Council for Disabled Children, based at NCB, is the government's strategic partner on SEN and disability and will be working closely with the Department for Education to ensure this vision becomes a reality. The closing date for the consultation is 30 June and we would encourage anyone with an interest in this area to contact us via www.ncb.org.uk/cdc/home.aspx.

NCB releases book on children and risk

NCB has published a book that challenges society on whether we are over-protective of our children. Too Safe For Their Own Good? by Jennie Lindon, a chartered psychologist and early years consultant, has been fully revised to help practitioners understand how children learn about risk and skills.

The first edition made a huge contribution to the debate around children and risk. More than 10 years later, this edition assesses recent developments and re-examines the issues.

Lindon, said: "My book fully supports the need of practitioners to envisage the middle path of enough challenge to benefit children while avoiding the extremes of over-protection or careless practice."

The book is available now for £11.19 for NCB members and £13.99 for non-members http://bit.ly/i6YMIx