Executive Summary Report on LANE progress at Linwood College

The LANE team with funding from the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust has been making good progress on many fronts during 2008.

SYSTEMIC POLICY CHANGES

A major focus of the LANE project since the beginning has been the issue of achieving systemic policy change in primary health care and the spreading of the word about the LANE research to affect this. We believe there has been significant progress in achieving this.

A number of strategic meetings have been held in this matter.

DHB and PHO representatives came and the net result of a number of meetings was the employment of a Partnership Community worker, funding of the 2009 Headss assessment, funding for a trial eye testing programme in Linwood Intermediate. (using the same assessment used at Linwood College, and probably the same nurses.)  There is still the issue of who and how to pay for glasses for students who are identified and who don't meet the free glasses scheme.

At the October meeting Jane Cartwright, Chief Executive Partnership Health Canterbury, informed us that the B4 schools medical information was now being recorded on the ENROL Education package once children started school. 

Mike James from the Ministry's Child Youth and Maternity Team sent the following information out regarding the roll-out of School Based Health Services (SBHS).
He attended a meeting with other DHB Planning & Funding officials and officials of the Ministry at Counties Manukau DHB to discuss the roll-out of primary health services for youth at various low decile educational facilities.
The aim of SBHS is to improve educational outcomes through overcoming health and social barriers to learning for at-risk youth in secondary education. The schools to be targeted initially are decile 1 schools (including secondary schools, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori, and area schools) and alternative education facilities (AE facilities). It is proposed to employ registered nurses specialising in youth health, based where possible in school, to:

• conduct health disability and development checks for all year nine students;
• provide care to individual students; and
• refer students to other health providers and follow-up these referrals.

Later on the Ministry wishes to progressively roll the service on to decile 2 and decile 3 schools

ALL of this was in our LANE 2006 research recommendations. Perhaps we have started to make a difference.

The Honourable Chris Carter, Minister for Education came to Linwood to hear a presentation about LANE and sent this personal message back

"Alan, thank you for briefing me on the LANE project while I was at College last week.

I was impressed with the considerable data set you have developed about the educational gains from dealing with health deficits.

The impact of health on student learning is being considered as part of our Schools Plus work and I will ask my officials to make contact with you to discuss your work."

John Key, then Leader of the Opposition party, came to Linwood College the next week and received a similar briefing.  He responded that he would be in touch after the election.

A number of meetings were held with the Canterbury Youth Development Programme organizers, informing them of LANE and the processes and results.  The outcome of this has been a double edged sword.

First the positive - they have embraced the LANE concepts wholeheartedly and all candidates will have a full medical screening and literacy testing before being inducted into their programme.  They have also had training by Judy Hutchison on Toe by Toe.   We are having a systemic policy change effect in other organizations.

The downside is that they are being funded by one of Linwood's benefactors who have cut their companies contribution to Linwood by $50,000 in 2009 and stopping all contributions after that.

Several secondary schools have reported that they have read the LANE research and have obtained sponsorship for testing in their schools in 2009.  We do make a difference.

Alan Parris spoke at the Christchurch Association of Gifted Educators (CAGE) at the University on 23^rd October about Mathematics and the LANE project.  There was intense interest from all present including some Ministry advisors and University lecturers.

Janet Digby was referred to us by Sally Mountfort.  She is with the JR McKenzie Trust and coordinator of the Seehear project and she submitted a very good report by her of that meeting and the consequent conference she attended and what she is doing about it since.

Since the election we have met with Brendon Burns, a local MP, who whilst now in opposition has offered to coordinate all the local MPS into action to meet with the DHB and other groups to get the message across about the LANE project and health needs.

All of this points to us making significant progress in our aim to achieve systemic policy change.

For 2009 the goal would be to reconvene the strategic group to ascertain progress and influence, to develop policy for the advancement of the systemic change process and to continue with all the meetings with authorities we can arrange.

A suggestion from WFT that Linwood attend some conferences to spread the word far and wide is to be looked at as well, but is contingent on funding.