You Said

Post 16 students said they felt their Annual Reviews were negative and overly critical and resulted in them not wanting to attend.

We Did

Helped schools and colleges to focus on person centred planning to highlight the achievements of students as well as their needs.

Held training with providers on how to hold person centred reviews in line with the new EHC plans introduced by the SEND reforms.

Outcome

Students feel better about attending and feel they can see their progress. Some almost leave on a high and are very motivated to continue in their education.

You Said

Parents said they did not know about transition from school to college and felt in the dark about open evenings and progression routes for their child.

We Did

Worked with schools and Connexions colleagues to support parents at their child’s year 11 reviews (with added information provided on open evenings), so they would know  what to expect for children with an EHC Plan and the support that would be in place in further education.

Held a seminar on transitions.

Outcome

Inspired parents with the expectation that their child would have a setting to go to and the ability to either work in the future, or engage in meaningful opportunities in their community.

You Said

There was a greater need for the voice of children and young people with SEND and their parents/ carers to be heard in the planning of school provision.

We Did

Fully involved children, young people and their families in development of the "Shared Expectations" document, providing schools with a guide on what must and should be provided for pupils with SEND and help to achieve a consistent approach across schools.

Outcome

Co-Produced a document adopted by all schools based on the views of children, young people, parents and practitioners.

Production of Southend SEND Review Framework which ensures that parent, carer and pupil voice is integral to this process and any reviews that take place across Southend.

Restructured the SEND Support Advisory Team, to ensure that their Quality Assurance and Professional Development remits have a clear link to promoting parent and carer views.

You Said

There is a lack of information about provision in Essex and Thurrock on the Southend Local Offer website

We Did

We added additional information to the website to address this gap.

Outcome

Information on Special Schools, alternative education and enhanced provision in Essex and Thurrock can now be found directly on the Local Offer Landing Page at this link

Services Further Afield

You Said

The information on the Local Offer website for SEN Support and the EHC Assessment processes is too complex and technical.  It is hard for parents and carers to understand.

We Did

We have re-drafted a lot of pages so that they explain the processes in a more straightforward way.

Outcome

We have new pages for

SEN Support , Funding for SEN Support, EHC Needs Assessments, Southend EHC Needs Assessments Timescales, EHC Multi- Agency Panel, What to do if you disagree with a decision, Appeals, Mediation, and EHC Plans.

You Said

Parents of children Under 5 said they preferred online learning and training.

We Did

The Early Years SEND team have developed an on-line version of the Southend Early Autism Support (SEAS) course. This is a course for parents of under 5’s with recognised social communication needs. This course runs for 7 weeks and includes input from professionals such as speech and language therapy and educational psychology.

The Team have also offered online support sessions and Makaton classes for parents who aren’t able to access support face to face due to COVID 19 measures,

Outcome

Two SEAS  courses are being held annually – one on-line and one face-to-face,

You Said

Parents of Under 5’s said they wanted Play and Development Sessions

We Did

The team have set up a ‘play and development group’. This will be face to face sessions with professionals, focussing on learning and the development of skills from the most common areas of need.

Outcome

Eight sessions have been held since July 2021.

You Said

It is not clear what Co-Production actually means for Southend SEND families

We Did

A joint SEND Co-Production workshop has been held with Southend SEND Independent Forum (SSIF), and SEND Managers and staff from the Council’s SEN Team and Social Care Team and the NHS, to agree what Co-production is for Southend SEND.

A further workshop was held with Parents and other SEND Practitioners to develop a SEND Co-Production Charter.

Outcome

The SEND Co-Production Charter has now been adopted.

You Said

We want information before Annual Reviews – especially if it is bad news!

We Did

The EHC Hub gathers information ahead of the Annual Review from contributors and as soon as this information is added, parents and carers can view it by logging into their EHC Hub account. This means that information is more transparent and everyone involved with a child or young person’s support to have access to the information at the same time.

Outcome

Parents and carers can consider the comments made by those who are working with their child or young person before the Annual Review takes place and plan any questions that they want to ask in the meeting beforehand. This enables a better quality discussion about support, progress and any concerns to take place.

You Said

Some children and young people aren’t able to articulate their views at their Annual Reviews and need alternative ways to communicate their contributions.

We Did

The EHC Hub is designed in a way that allows children and young people can share their views using photos, drawings or videos.

Outcome

There are now Reviews being undertaken using these types of media rather than spoken or written views from children and young people.

Training to show schools how to use these alternative ways of collecting views is being developed and will be implemented in 2022.