1 About the SEND improvement plan
We've worked together as an Area SEND partnership to refresh our SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) improvement plan. We will follow the plan to help us ensure that children and young people enjoy positive experiences and outcomes and achieve the ambitions set out in our SEND and inclusion strategy 2019-2024.
There are six areas we will focus on for continued improvement. These are:
- Mainstream and universal provision
- Statutory or specialist support
- Leadership
- Experiences and outcomes
- Support to prepare for adulthood
- Communication.
The following pages contain information about the aim we want to achieve in each area, how we will focus on improvement and how we will measure our success.
Additional information
- SEND Partnership Improvement Plan (PDF, 284KB)
- SEND Detailed activity worksheet (Excel, 21KB)
- SEND and Alternative Provision Partnership Board - Terms of reference and membership (PDF, 223KB)
- SEND inspection report - Recommendations and areas for development (PDF, 126KB)
- SEND Partnership improvement meeting - Terms of reference (PDF, 135KB)
2 Mainstream and universal provision
Aim
Mainstream and universal provision is inclusive so that children and young people receive the right support at the right time.
Improvement focus
We want to:
- continue to improve the quality of the assess, plan, do and review (APDR) process within the 'graduated approach' for children and young people (CYP) receiving special education needs (SEN) support in Early Years Settings (EYS) and school settings, including:
- timely and accurate identification of need
- appropriate involvement of external agencies
- continue to improve access to health assessments for CYP aged 0-25
- improve access to timely and appropriate support within a graduated approach for CYP with social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH) receiving SEN support
- evaluate and further develop the short breaks offer
- further develop the whole school approaches towards inclusion so that CYP are able to attend their local school and be part of their community.
- embed the use of the Inclusion Framework, the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP) and the Wellbeing Audit.
How we will know we are succeeding
We will:
- have evidence to show that children in the early years have their needs clearly identified and get the right help
- see the SEND Under 5’s process working effectively and efficiently
- see schools and settings using the Inclusion Framework consistently to continually improve their inclusive provision
- have examples of the Individual Support Plan being used well to provide children and young people with high quality SEN Support
- see a reduction in waiting lists for therapies and within the neurodevelopmental pathway with children getting helpful support while they wait
- see a reduction in the number of inappropriate requests for education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNA)
- have parents and carers tell us that they understand how their child is being supported.
3 Statutory or specialist support
Aim
Children and young people (CYP) who require statutory or specialist support receive timely, effective and consistent support.
Improvement focus
We want to:
- improve the education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNA) process, including robust decision-making considering strengths, needs and aspirations of CYP
- provide effective and timely communication and information to parents and carers during the process
- ensure CYP receive consistent and timely support while waiting for an EHCNA to be completed
- improve the timeliness of EHCNAs
- review and revise the Local Offer with CYP, parents and carers.
How we will know we are succeeding
We will see:
- most EHCNAs completed within statutory timeframes
- a reduction in complaints from parents and carers
- professionals supporting children and their families well during an EHCNA process
- annual reviews managed effectively and responses within statutory timeframes
- quality assurance continuing to inform ongoing practice improvement.
4 Leadership
Aim
Leaders have an accurate, shared understanding of the needs of children and young people (CYP) and make the necessary improvements.
Improvement focus
We will:
- ensure that Area SEND Governance Board strategic leadership and governance arrangements are effective and promote our ambition for CYP with SEN
- continue to update the SEND and inclusion data dashboard, linked to our Outcomes Framework
- review and evaluate joint commissioning arrangements of health providers to inform improvements for CYP receiving SEN support as well as those with education, health and care plans (EHCPs)
- review and evaluate commissioning arrangements for specialist school placements to ensure that effective plans are in place to meet future need
- work in partnership to implement the Department for Education’s initiatives for
- Delivering Better Value (DBV)
- SEND and AP Regional Change Programme.
How we will know we are succeeding
We will see the:
- area SEND Partnership Dashboard reliably reflecting agreed key data for education, health and social care
- information system to support the statutory processes of education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNA)/EHCPs and annual reviews efficiently supporting the management of the process
- pressure on the high-needs budget reducing
- number of specialist school places increasing
- parent and carer survey confirming improved outcomes and better service experience.
5 Experiences and outcomes
Aim
Strengthen the experiences and outcomes of children and young people (CYP) receiving alternative provision (AP).
Improvement focus
We want to:
- continue to review commissioning arrangements for regulated and unregulated AP, including for those with education health and care plans (EHCPs) who are unable to access a full-time educational placement
- continue to implement a robust system for the effective oversight and quality assurance of AP, ensuring that the local authority (LA) knows when AP is commissioned
- continue to work with the independent AP forum to ensure there are established communication channels with the LA and providers are aware of their responsibilities
- review and develop the AP offer to primary aged children, linked to strengthening inclusive practice in mainstream schools, ensuring the incorporation of parents and carers views
- ensure clear processes are in place with schools and other agencies for CYP leaving tier 4 provision to support them back into education
- continue to review the arrangements for CYP with an EHCP who receive Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) and establish a policy with accompanying criteria for when this is used
How we will know we are succeeding
We will have:
- a reduced number of permanent exclusions for CYP receiving SEN support
- evidence of improved outcomes and experiences for CYP accessing AP
- evidence of better health outcomes health for CYP accessing AP
- a well understood EOTAS policy and guidance document, co-produced with parents and carers, and approved by the SEND AP Board.
6 Support to prepare for adulthood
Aim
Children and young people (CYP) with SEND receive timely and helpful support to prepare for adulthood from the earliest opportunity.
Improvement focus
We want to:
- review and develop the information available on the Local Offer and Tools for Schools website, in partnership with the West Sussex Parent Carer Forum, to ensure that parents and carers, CYP and professionals understand what pathways and services of support are available to them as they prepare for adulthood
- work with schools and further education providers to support young people to develop the independence skills so that they can make a positive contribution to their community and access housing options so they can live safely and successfully on their own or with others
- strengthen our work with education providers and employers to create more opportunities for young people with SEND to take part in training and employment
- increase the number of young people with SEND securing employment
- ensure that young people with SEND receive the health support they need to enjoy the best possible health and emotional well-being.
How we will know we are succeeding
We will:
- provide an updated Local Offer and Tools for Schools document
- see an increase in the number of young people with SEND aged 18-25 in employment
- see a reduction in requests for specialist provision at key transition points because families will be confident their child will be well supported in their next mainstream setting
- see a reduction in the number of young people receiving SEN Support who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
7 Communication
Aim
Children, young people, and parent carers are well-informed and participate in decision-making about strategic developments, as well as in their own individual plans of support.
Improvement focus
We want to:
- further develop the participation and co-production of children, young people and their families in SEN support plans and education, health and care needs assessments (EHCNAs), including use of person-centred planning in EHCNAs
- identify strengths and areas for development in access to impartial information, advice and support for SEN support and education health and care plans (EHCPs)
- work with West Sussex Parent Carer Forum and Youth Participation Team to evaluate how effectively children and young people (CYP) with SEND feel included in their local community and link findings with multi-agency training
- ensure that communication with parents and carers from services across education, health and social care is clear and helpful, to ensure parents are well informed and enabled to participate in co-production meaningfully
- embed a co-production policy and definition with West Sussex Parent Carer Forum and Youth Participation Team
- create a co-production participation charter to link with the already established co-production partnership agreement
- co-develop a co-production forum as a mechanism for service leads within education, health & social care and the SEND Governance Board to understand parent carer and CYP views and provide feedback
- continue to ensure that all services across education, health and social care have secure arrangements to evaluate the impact of their work and use this information effectively to work together to improve experiences and outcomes for CYP with SEND.
How we will know we are succeeding?
We will have:
- parents and carers telling us that our letters and information are consistently clear and accessible
- a reduction in the number of complaints from families about communication with professionals
- a co-production participation charter in place for parent carers
- a staff co-production training offer in place and staff will be trained and confident working in partnership with parent carers
- the ability to demonstrate how children and young people and parent carers are helping to shape and inform our improvements
- the West Sussex Parent Carer Forum survey demonstrating an improvement in the lived experience of our parents and carers and their CYP.