Paces Sheffield

Paces Sheffield Strategic Plan 2007-2012

Copyright Paces Sheffield 24 September 2007 Registered Charity No: 1104356 Registered Company No: 4793176 Paces Sheffield Strategic Plan 2007-2012

Paces Sheffield is both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. In modern terminology, it is a third sector social enterprise. That is to say, our performance is to be measured and evaluated both by the familiar indicators of corporate activity and by the less familiar indicators of activity in delivering services to our beneficiaries.

The preparation of this Strategic Plan seeks to take account of both as shown in this diagram of the structure of the Strategic Plan.

PLAN STRUCTURE

1. Vision

2. Mission

Organisation Beneficiaries

3. Corporate Aim 5. Desired Outcomes & & 4. Corporate Objectives 6. Key Outputs

7. Key Strategies

8. Key Performance Indicators

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 1 Paces Sheffield Strategic Plan 2007-2012

SECTION A: INTRODUCTION

The Paces Project is born in the experience of disability; specifically, the experience of the parenting of children with physical impairments and their related learning difficulties. The Paces Project recognises the needs of the Families and Carers of children with disabilities as well as the children themselves; of the need for independence as well as the need for inclusion in wider community life.

Paces Sheffield is a charitable company, developed originally in 1992 as an association of parents who had seen at first hand the benefits to children with cerebral palsy of conductive education as practised at the Peto Institute in Budapest, Hungary. From the beginning, it has been clearly understood that Paces has a role to challenge orthodoxy, innovate new services and advocate for conductive education. This role will continue.

Paces core activity is the delivery of conductive education programmes to children, young people and adults. These currently include:  an Early Years Parent-and-Child group, for children from birth to 3 years;  Paces School – approved by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, with nursery, primary and secondary departments;  Leaping the Void - a young adult transition-to-independence group  Post-Stroke rehabilitation group, for people who have completed NHS provision. Of these, the largest and most developed to date is the school-age programme. In addition, Paces has three supplementary programmes: providing specific supports to parents; training and research.

This Strategic Plan, Paces’ second, was developed by our Trustees and Management Team during 5 months deliberation and adopted on 24th September 2007. Initial planning undertaken at a workshop in March 2007 was followed by a series of meetings, formal and informal, and innovatively utilised the collaborative value of a wiki. The Strategic Plan serves to guide the organisation in the pursuit of its Mission for the next five years:  serving as a touchstone for management decisions & actions.  providing a framework for more detailed planning.  explaining clearly to others, including all Paces People, what we are doing, in order to inform, motivate & involve.  setting targets against which we can check how well we are doing.  stimulating public policy change, gaining public recognition and improving funding opportunities.

The innovative feature of this Strategic Plan, written in accordance with best practice advice for third sector organisations, is that the core elements of the Plan focus Beneficiaries, the Outcomes we intend to deliver to them, the Key Strategies by which that will be achieved and the essential Outputs that must be in place to have done so. This is a new approach for all at Paces.

This Strategic Plan will be reviewed annually and should be read in conjunction with Paces’ Business Plan and resultant operational plans listed in Key Outputs.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 2 A note on terminology In this Strategic Plan, we have preferred the term ‘cerebral palsy’ to ‘motor disorder’, a term more commonly used in conductive education. We have done so simply because it is the more generally familiar term

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive impairments or disorders that cause physical disability and may cause dysfunction in human development.

The two terms overlap but not precisely. Some people with motor disorder do not have cerebral palsy; those with Parkinson’s Disease for instance. Some people with cerebral palsy are not dysfunctional.

Conductive Education is the only system of education specifically developed for children and adults who have motor disorders of neurological origin such as cerebral plasy. The basic premise of conductive education is that a person who has a motor disorder does not have a medical condition requiring treatment, but very importantly a problem of learning requiring education.

Furthermore, conductive education is a unified educational system that regards all aspects of learning equally, requiring therefore an integrated system of teaching – in popular usage, conductive education is “holistic”.

“After two decades of pioneering work in brain research, the education community has started to realise that ‘understanding the brain’ can help to open new pathways to improve educational research, policies and practice. … This calls for holistic approaches which recognise the close interdependence of physical and intellectual well- being and the close interplay of the emotional and cognitive.” (Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a Learning Science. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. July 2007.)

The Legislature finds that the services provided to [disabled] individuals and their families … is of such a special and unique nature that it cannot be satisfactorily provided by state agencies. Therefore, private non-profit community agencies shall be utilized by the state for the purpose of operating regional centers." The Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act. Section 4620b

The Lanterman Act was passed by the State of California as long ago, remarkably, as 1969. An entitlement act, it set out the specific rights of people with developmental disabilities and their families to the services and supports they need to live like people who do not have such disabilities.

Section 4620 recognises the limits of the State and also the key role of ‘private nonprofit community agencies” (like Paces) in delivering these services.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 3 SECTION B: OUR VISION AND MISSION

1. OUR VISION

A world-class institution for the practice of, training in and research into conductive education serving children and adults with cerebral palsy and their families.

2. OUR MISSION

Supporting families supporting children with disabilities into independent adulthood as active citizens, especially those with cerebral palsy and particularly through conductive education.

SECTION C: OUR CORPORATE AIM AND OBJECTIVES 2007-12

3. OUR CORPORATE AIM The radical corporate aim of this strategic plan is, within 5 years, to transform Paces from a local charity into an authoritative national conductive education charity.

4. OUR CORPORATE OBJECTIVES In order for the achievement of this Aim to be credible, within 5 years Paces as an organisation must have:

 Established Paces Sheffield as an institution for the practice of, training in and research into conductive education recognised among Sheffield’s public service, academic and business communities.  Forged effective collaborations and links both within the broader public service, academic and business communities in South Yorkshire and also across the international conductive education community, in particular the Peto Institute.  Redesigned Paces Campus as an environment commensurate with our Aim  Evolved a business model capable of delivering our Aim  Enhanced Paces as an organisation “fit for purpose” in every respect

These are broad, ‘headline’ or summary objectives, the detail for which is contained elsewhere, both within this document and within operational plans listed in Key Outputs, below.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 4 SECTION D: SERVING OUR BENEFICIARIES

Paces is an organisation committed to service. Therefore, in addition to familiar statements of corporate Aims and Objectives, this Strategic Plan focuses on our Beneficiaries and the commitments we make to bring about specific differences for our beneficiaries that we intend as a result of our strategic actions, if we are to achieve our Vision and fulfil our Mission. In making statements about ‘Desired Outcomes’ and associated ‘Key Outputs’, Paces conforms to best practice guidelines proposed by the Charities Evaluation Service and by the Governance Hub.

5. DESIRED OUTCOMES

Beneficiaries Desired Outcomes Within 5 years:

B1 Parents & Families of DO1 All parents regionally regard Paces as a first point of contact and Children and Young People information resource. with cerebral palsy. DO2 All parents regionally have a better understanding of the benefits of Paces' conductive education programmes as an option of first choice in the education of their children with cerebral palsy. DO3 Parents feel more supported, less isolated, in their role as parents. DO4 Parents feel more confident as active participants in Paces and other strategic forums, at all levels. A Adults with CP DO5 Adults with cerebral palsy have more options for training or to own micro-enterprises or homes in their own communities or to participate in volunteer or social activities. DO6 Adults with cerebral palsy are better able to access life-long fitness for maintaining function and quality of life. B3 Paces Staff & Volunteers DO7 All Paces' People feel more valued, better informed and more involved; empowered to make decisions and contribute to the charity's direction. B4 Paces' Trustees & Patrons DO8 Trustees and Patrons feel better prepared and more confident in carrying out their statutory duties; that their individual experience as a Trustee is enhanced; and that the time that they give contributes positively to the fulfilment of Paces’ Vision and Mission. B5 Other stakeholders DO9 External organisations are more aware of all Paces' conductive education programmes and specifically of Paces as a leading resource in developing pedagogy, curriculum and research for education and training aimed at independent living. DO10 All stakeholders in Sheffield and regionally value their participation in Paces’ comprehensive network of organisations working for children, young people and adults with cerebral palsy and their families.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 5 6. KEY OUTPUTS

Key Outputs are seen as the minimum necessary requirements to provide a firm platform essential to the delivery of the whole Strategic Plan. The Performance Hub defines Outputs as “services or products you put in place in order to achieve the desired change”. Such Outputs should be ‘SMART’: that is to say: Specific They say exactly what we mean. Measurable We can prove that we've reached them. Achievable We can reach them in a reasonable time-frame. Realistic They are about actions we can take. Time-Related They have deadlines. At this early stage in the Strategic Plan cycle, it is not possible to be so SMART. Our initial Key Outputs will mainly, though not all, be the generation of operational plans, all to be completed within 12 months of the approval of the Strategic Plan. SMART outputs will be set out within these operational plans.

Key Outputs to be generated during the next year: KO1 Non-Maintained Special School status secured for Paces School KO2 Lease signed with HGDT KO3 A costed development plan produced for those areas of Paces Campus occupied or used by Paces, in line with the overall development plan for the Campus to be produced by High Green Development Trust, and matched by a fundraising plan to carry out that development. (See also KO12). KO4 A 5-year development plan produced for Paces' core and supplementary activities, comprising:  Early Years' Parent-and-Child Programme  The School Development Plan  Leaping the Void Programme  Other adult conductive education services  Parents' support programme  Training programmes for: (a) Parents (b) those working with children with CP; (c) conductor assistants. KO5 A Communication Plan produced to engage and to maintain the engagement of (a) parents and (b) external organisations, as well as communicating with Paces’ People. KO6 A Review of potential research into aspects of conductive education capable of being implemented and/or commissioned by the staff of Paces Sheffield. KO7 Financial Policies and Procedures approved, implemented and embedded. KO8 EFQM Excellence Model steering group meeting regularly from January 2008 KO9 A systematic Social Accounting methodology instituted for the 2007-2008 accounting year, such accounts to be audited in 2008. KO10 A Trustees' Governance Framework action plan approved. KO11 A Business Plan K012 A Fundraising Plan K013 A Succession Plan for all senior management posts.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 6

SECTION E: DELIVERING THE STRATEGIC PLAN

7. KEY STRATEGIES

For the past 10 years, Paces has developed and delivered a range of educational and training services and supports to children and adults with cerebral palsy and their families.

This Strategic Plan provides a ‘road-map’ for the next 5 years, during which time we intend to move significantly towards achieving our Vision and delivering our Aims and Objectives as well as our Desired Outcomes and Key Outputs.

To do so, we have therefore identified 6 Key Strategies. In the next 5 years, we will be:

KS1 Expanding existing & growing new programmes and, consequently, our direct impact as a service provider

KS2 Taking a lead in developing Paces Campus as a high quality, sustainable, families- centred environment.

KS3 Raising the profile of Paces as an organisation, of our core conductive education programmes as well as our supplementary activities: and especially engaging the wider business community in our work.

KS4 Growing our influence locally, regionally and nationally, in the practice and advocacy of conductive education

KS5 Building Paces as a robust and sustainable enterprise; financially sound and more 'mature' in the management of its processes.

KS6 Establishing a comprehensive governance framework, which meets effective governance standards as far as the Charity Commission is concerned and which is open to inspection by them from time to time.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 7 SECTION F: EVIDENCING HOW PACES PERFORMS AGAINST ITS MISSION

8. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

"Less easy to measure, and more difficult to discuss publicly, are the results of a foundation’s work. What progress have we made toward our ambitious social change goals? How do we know? How can we talk about what didn’t work? ..... As a nonprofit organization, of course, our ultimate goal is not financial gain but progress toward the social change goals expressed in our mission." (The Wallace Foundation. Report June 2007. The President's Essay "Public Accountability for Private Action").

Paces' mission is "Supporting Families Supporting Children with Disabilities into Independent Adulthood as Active Citizens, especially those with cerebral palsy and particularly by means of conductive education."

How do we know that Paces is succeeding? How do we do so over time? How do we even manage to talk in an informed and evidenced way about our performance – our failures as well as our successes? Our success in delivering our Mission will be measured and evidenced under four main headings, which will allow us to talk about our progress towards our 'ambitious social change' plan, including what didn't work:

Indicator A. Direct Impact A1 Simple numbers - pupils, staff, progression, inclusion, parents, families A2 Percentage of turnover expended on direct services. A3 Impact Study - (research on parents - USA-type study). A4 Case Study - each account to feature one core or supplementary programme. A5 Partnership Review - an annual assessment of our work with key funders, stakeholders and/or external organisations. A6 Number of local authorities funding placements on Paces’ programmes. A7 Number of places on Paces’ programmes funded by the public sector – eg Local authorities; health services; social care. A8 Parents supported – simple numbers: financially, legally, mentored, active in PoP

B. Influence on others The Indicators in this section are attempting to measure the influence that we are having on external ‘others’ eg the public, business and policymakers. B1 Media - simple numbers: column inches; number of reports; different media B2 Engagement with other non-Conductive Education providers eg mainstream schools, Children's Centres B3 Brand Recognition - testing parents' awareness of Paces and what we do. B4 Paces' Speakers - opportunities for making presentations: face-to-face; workshops; conferences + general participation. B5 Paces' contribution to the local community - incl. Paces 'Ears customer satisfaction survey B6 Paces' Policy Impact - input to local, regional and national policy, including policy papers and see Indicator 14 B7 Paces' positioning in the world-wide Conductive Education movement – eg numbers of

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 8 other CE organisations supported or contacted B8 Paces' positioning beyond Conductive Education - eg membership of non-CE organisations in NAISS B9 Paces' internet presence - value and effect: simple numbers

C. Being Sustainable in what we do. C1 Supporters - simple numbers: how many; where from; who? (Database - of all contacts needs to be built.) C2 Income; Profitability - simple numbers C3 Reserves - size; % of Reserves Policy C4 Donations - Simple numbers: No of Active donors; average donation; total donations; Donations as % of income. C5 Fundraising general - Simple numbers: No of funders; average grant; fundraising as percentage of income. C6 Fundraising specific - Amount of money raised to optimise Paces' facilities – simple numbers C7 Diversity of income sources

D. Being an excellent employer D1 Simple numbers: staff movement; reasons for; numbers of staff, F/T & P/T; gender balance, incl senior posts; disabled staff; BME staff; Grievance Procedure D2 Training provided & undertaken - hours, courses, numbers D3 Staff benefits: pay (max-min); non-pay benefits eg numbers on Westfield Health; pension scheme etc. D4 Dissatisfaction – simple numbers: eg complaints procedures initiated.

Paces Sheffield: Strategic Plan 2007-12 Page 9