Communities of schools

Communities of schools are organised in line with NHS primary care networks to create geographic structures which can support meeting needs locally.

Communities of schools list:

In 2019, primary care networks were established to group practices together to strengthen GP services and other primary care providers in your local area. Most PCNs serve a population of around 30,000 to 50,000.

Primary care networks include groups of general practices working together, and in partnership with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local area, to offer more personalised, coordinated health and social care to the people living in their area.

This structure is part of the long-term vision to improve the joint commissioning of community services, SEN therapies services, Physio, OT and SALT.

The first stage of the joint recommissioning of services with NHS will begin in September and October 2025.

The communities of schools will:

Address specific local needs while also aligning with wider Kent, regional or national objectives
Share best practices for SEN inclusion in mainstream settings
Review local SEN, education and other relevant data to identify trends and issues - district dashboard.
Be flexible to adapt approaches accordingly as local populations and needs evolve over time
Discuss provision and agree coordinated approaches
Coordinate allocation of specialist SEN resources and support
Ensure fair and effective distribution of resources across the community
Keep members actively engaged and committed to the LM community meetings
Maintaining a skilled workforce within the community and provide peer to peer opportunities for professional development
Use and review secure, efficient data-sharing systems
Complement, not duplicate, existing services
Commit to strong leadership, with regular evaluation and adjustment of LM community strategies, to ensure long-term sustainability and effectiveness
Monitor progress on local SEN improvement initiatives.

Principles for community working:

Commitment to meeting needs in the area and achieving best possible pupil outcomes
Prioritising the greatest need (versus advocating for own school)
Willingness to support and challenge (and be supported and challenged!)
Recognition of the impact of contextual factors not just levels of pupil need
Active participation even when you don’t have immediate need for support
Effective use of all available budgets (delegated, devolved and communities)
Commitment to reducing reliance on additional resources wherever possible (so that these can be reallocated)
Recognition of the need to respond to contingencies as they arise (and ensuring capacity available for this)
Willingness to share good practice with and learn from other communities
Commitment to equity and positive outcomes across the area and county as a whole.

Every community will have a chair who will be appointed from outside their community. The Community chair will have responsibility for chairing the school ‘Community’ meetings according to the agenda set out by KCC as part of its commitment to developing local area partnership arrangements for children and young people with SEN. The chair will:

Ensure the operations of the school Community is in line with agreed Community Principles (agreed April 2023)
Plan the agenda and chair school Community meetings on the dates agreed across the local area
Ensure items for action are followed up from each meeting by the appropriate person, with reports back to the School Community and, where relevant, to the Area Moderation Board
Disseminate information from the Area Moderation Board back to the school Community
Chair the school Community meetings as per KCC agenda so that the implementation and sharing of best practice can take place
Ensure the school Community has utilised all available resources from the Professional Resource Group with due consideration for expected outcomes
Approve or decline the recommendation of the school Community to allocate additional funding where it has been requested
Ensure the allocation of resources is in line with agreed Community Principles
Report on any expenditure agreed to HNF officers
Ensure balance of available funding is reported back to the school Community.

Chairs will be recruited in December 2024 and an induction period will take place between January 2025 and April 2025.

This page will be updated in January 2025.

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