Platforms
6. Support and provision of information and advice
The Local Offer team have established routes and have increased formats of communication so that information and advice to local families and professionals is achieved in a range of ways:
- via the SEND Local Offer channel on the Livewell website (see section 8).
- through engagement and attendance at other stakeholder or partnership community events (see section 13).
- through monthly SEND Surgeries (see section 16).
- through Your Local Offer Your Way sessions. (see section 15).
- via the monthly SEND e-newsletter `Peer into Southend SEND`. Subscribe here.
- Via the SEND Local Offer Team Facebook and Instagram accounts (see section 9).
- through a Southend SEND - Have Your Say page on Your Say Southend.
- by phone and email.
7. Communications and marketing
The team have developed a communications plan which outlines how we will:
- raise awareness of the SEND Local Offer with SEND families and young people with SEND.
- inform parent carers and young people with SEND about changes and developments in policy.
- gather feedback to inform and enhance future communications.
- ensure that parent carers, young people with SEND and professionals know how to give us feedback.
- ensure that partners and key stakeholders are informed and engaged and understand the content and benefits of the Local Offer and other websites and can proactively promote them to parent carers.
The plan will be further refined when the action plan that underpins the Southend SEND Partnership Strategy is developed and will be based on feedback from the strategy consultation about how people have told us they want to receive information.
The SEND Local Offer Team are regularly in contact with stakeholders and proactively attend events throughout the year to make people aware of the SEND Local Offer, how they can stay up to date with news and events and how they can get involved and have their say.
Flyers and posters have been created and shared to publicise:
- the draft SEND Strategy consultation *
- the SEND Local Offer channel on the Livewell site
- the monthly SEND e-newsletter
- our social media accounts
- parent carer surveys on the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment and Annual Review process *
- SEND Surgeries
- Your Local Offer, Your Way sessions *
- Opportunities for young people to input on the draft annual review survey for young people *
Further to requests for information in a range of formats, video's have been created to publicise, promote and encourage engagement with the items marked with an *
In the May 2022 Local Offer Review Group meeting it was agreed that a 3-pronged approach for engagement was needed to enable families and young people to get involved and have their say. The 3 methods of engagement are online, face to face and surveys. As a result, the SEND strategy consultation enabled people to have their say via these 3 methods and Your Local Offer, Your Way sessions are delivered both online and face to face. People can also give us feedback on the Local Offer via a survey on Your Say Southend, at in-person events and at face-to-face events.