OPAL - Ordinarily Available Provisions for All Learners

We need an OPAL resource to define a consistent expectation for what provision should ordinarily be available for children and young people in education settings, such as early years, schools, and colleges, to increase capacity for supporting those with with additional learning needs.

Because:

• Education setting would value guidance on how they can expect to held to account, and how they can deliver based on best practice
• All children and young people can thrive more in an inclusive culture
• Parents and carers can understand a consistent approach easier

Our OPAL resource is an interactive web-based resource, with supporting development network, which defines what provision education settings should ordinarily make available for children and young people.

In practice, our OPAL will:

• Promote a vision for a more inclusive system, firmly based on high standards and quality first teaching (QFT) for all
• Index and link to existing best practice documentation
• Define core standards and provide tools for learning to meet a consistent minimum effort
• Provide positive, celebratory examples of best practice in the Wiltshire context
• Contain supportive resources to promote practitioner development
• Provide a forum for collaborative learning and improvement, including a space for practitioners to share best practice
• Support provision of tools and skills to help children and young people to integrate in communities
• Support our communities to be as inclusive as possible

The resource will feature easily distinguished areas for:

• Service providers - Early Years Settings, Primary and Secondary Schools, Colleges
• Service users - Parents, Carers, Children and Young People

An interactive menu will be developed, and will be used to access content in a virtual library containing:

• Videos and transcripts
• Photographs
• Practical tools
• Documents
• Facility for questions and answers

Which will be:

• Accessible
• Minimalist and simplistic
• Easily translated into other languages
• In plain English
• Intended for education specialists, and parents and carers in education communities

Our aim is for this to be a resource developed by education settings, for education settings, in keeping with the vision, aims and objectives of the Wiltshire Learning Alliance.

To support development of the resource, we aim to create links with:

• Lead practitioners
• New to SENCO network meetings
• SENCO network
• Examples of good practice

The OPAL will develop in response to feedback from education settings and other relevant stakeholders.  Information for inclusion in the virtual library will be collated, and the library will grow accordingly, including Wiltshire information and examples of best practice.

Feedback, ideas and interest in being part of the forum for best practice can be sent to andrew.morrison@wiltshire.gov.uk.