Local Offer annual report 2021/2022

Service user feedback

Feedback about the SEND Local Offer for the period of this report has been captured through:

  • the Local Offer website feedback survey hosted on Your Say Southend (16 responses)
  • the Southend SEND Partnership Strategy consultation held between 17 June and 29 July 2022 (137 respondents)
  • Local Offer Review Group meetings
  • conversations with parent carers at events and activities
  • direct contact from parents, carers and professionals
  • Your Local Offer Your Way sessions
  • SEND Surgeries

14.1 The Local Offer Team reviewed the SEND Strategy consultation feedback key themes relating to the Local Offer:

What is needed in the local area to ensure equal access to services for children and young people with SEND:

  • promote services
  • have more help available
  • provision of childcare/clubs
  • Increase in funded provision
  • training - including for all early years staff and teachers on how the Local Offer can support the children and young people they care for and sign post parents and carers
  • have services and information in as many languages and communication formats as possible, and consider cultural aspects to remove barriers to families getting support or information
  • make services inclusive

Services or provision that people felt was missing in the local area:

  • social groups
  • mental health services
  • therapeutic services
  • support for parents and carers
  • post school age support; provision for 16 to 18 year olds up to age 25
  • additional school support

Things people told us needed to be done on the SEND Local Offer Website to improve communications and information to the SEND community:

  • improve website navigation so it is easier to find things
  • social media
  • newsletters
  • sharing communication through schools
  • better promotion of the SEND Local Offer with parents and carers
  • community groups and events - have people/team out in the community making sure that all services are recognised and shared
  • regular contact between families and caseworkers
  • provide easy contact details, such as text message or email

The team will ensure that feedback provided through the consultation about the Local Offer will inform the final version of the SEND Strategy and specific actions will be included in the action plan that underpins it.

14.2 Responses from the Local Offer website survey:

Question - how easy is it to find the Local Offer website using a search engine?

  • Fairly easy - 7 people
  • Very easy - 5 people
  • Hard - 2 people

Of those that found it hard to find, one person said they didn't know it was there and another said they didn't have any idea what to search for.

Question - do you like how the website looks?

  • 11 people liked the colours used; 4 people disliked them
  • 10 people liked the language used; 5 people disliked it
  • 9 people liked the type and size of font used; 6 people disliked it
  • 8 people liked the photos and graphics used; 7 people disliked them
  • 9 people liked the choice of categories used; 6 people disliked them

Comments:

  • `Needs to be formatted better as it seems to be long and thin which makes it hard to navigate where you want to go`
  • `Needs more detailed content`
  • `Would like everything on one page with linked directional headers rather than having to go back and forth`
  • `Sections seem like a good idea but that it takes ages to load and is slow to respond`

Question - how easy is it to find what you are looking for on the website?

  • Very easy - 3 people
  • Fairly easy - 3 people
  • Quite hard - 6 people
  • Impossible - 3 people

Comments:

  • `It gives you information straight away`
  • `Takes about 5 clicks before you get to the right area. Hard to know where to go, often you want to see all the info and each page takes ages to load. Document downloads are awful in Word on a phone, boxes covering text, misaligned etc`
  • `Too many different sections. The info is there but too much faffing about especially if want to use a search on page`

Question - how we can make it easier to find information in the future?

  • `More straightforward search`
  • `Making sure links to other pages work and shorter redirection to other pages`
  • `Clearer categories`
  • `More graphics and less text`
  • `Up to date information`
  • `Information in BSL format`
  • `One page multi directional headers rather than different pages and information needs to be more mobile friendly`
  • `Text too large on a mobile phone and not easy to see how to change it`

Question -how did you look for information on the website?

  • Used the main search function - 8 people.
  • Through the `I am a parent/carer section - 5 people
  • The category buttons - 2 people

Question - how accurate was the information that you found?

  • The information was limited - 6 people
  • It was correct - 4 people
  • It was out of date - 2 people
  • Links were broken - 1 person

Question - what else would you like to see on the Local Offer website?

  • Local events for families - 10 votes
  • SEND Newsletter - 5 votes
  • A section specifically for young people with SEND and stories from local families about their SEND journey

Actions already taken in response to these points can be found in section 5 and section 8.1. Further actions are listed in section 21

14.3 Feedback from service users through community engagement activities:

This feedback tends to be about the local systems and processes around SEND rather than the SEND Local Offer website. Common themes of feedback from within the community relate to:

  • waiting times for diagnosis, especially through the Lighthouse
  • parent carers feeling that their child or young persons education setting is not providing adequate support for their SEND needs
  • parent carers feeling that they are not listened to, and have to battle or fight for services
  • dissatisfaction with decisions around Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment and issue of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
  • difficulty or confusion in using the EHC Hub

We have also had positive feedback about the service provided by the SEN early years team; early years settings being supportive and helping parents with early identification of needs. A number of parents also feedback their school SENCO's being supportive and proactive. People also comment on the positive support from community organisations, in particular how helpful these can be in enabling them to meet other parent carers and feel like they are not alone.

In response to comments that users find the EHC Hub hard to access and navigate, 3 face to face EHC Hub feedback sessions for parent carers and practitioners were held in November 2022. The sessions were hosted by the Southend Council SEND Team and IDOX (the Hub provider). 9 parent carers and 22 professionals attended. Parent carers and practitioners were also able to give their views via a survey. We do not know how many Southend parent carers completed the survey as it was hosted by IDOX and open to parent carers living in all Local Authority areas that use the Hub. 58 practitioners completed the survey. An evaluation report, including survey responses will be produced about the feedback received for the SEND Partnership to review.

SEND surgeries have been introduced so that people can come along, be listened to, get accurate information and advice and help in using the EHC Hub if needed.

To ensure there is continued feedback about SEND Processes and systems, 2 co-produced surveys for parent carers were launched. One is about the annual review process and the other about the EHCNA process. Invitations to complete the survey have been sent to all parent carers who have been through the annual review or Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) process since September 2021. To date 23 people have completed the annual review survey and 11 people have completed the EHCNA survey. The survey can be completed online through Your Say Southend or as a hard copy, either in easy read or standard format. A supply of hard copies and pre-paid envelopes have been given to a selection of community venues to increase visibility and encourage responses. A double-sided postcard has also been developed with links to each of the surveys. These will be printed and distributed to community venues and schools.

An animated, captioned video was produced to explain the purpose of each of the surveys, shared via social media and in the SEND Newsletter and featured on the SEND Local Offer and the Your Say Southend site:

EHCNA survey information on Your Say Southend.

Annual Review survey information on Your Say Southend.

A summary of the results will be shared with Southend schools and social care and health care staff so that improvements can be made to the way things are done. A report will be produced showing the results of the survey and published on Your Say Southend.

Additionally, the EHCNA and annual review surveys have been put in place to gather evidence of how these key processes are working for families.

In terms of parents feeling that education settings are not providing adequate support for SEN needs, the SEND Local Offer team has supported the development of the What Happens Next Graduated Approach guide and share information about the guide with parent carers so that they can have well informed conversations with settings about the support that should be provided for their child or young person. Feedback about the Lighthouse is passed up through SEND governance groups and we share details of Lighthouse parent carer network meetings so that people have a chance to have their say and influence change with the Lighthouse directly.

15. Your Local Offer Your Way sessions

The first Your Local Offer, Your Way branded sessions were held in September 2022, but a similar unbranded working group meeting was held in May 2022. Meetings are held half termly.

The meeting in May reviewed the content of the `I am a parent carer` page. 2 parent carers and 5 practitioners attended. Additionally, another parent carer gave feedback via email. A number of developments were made to the page as a result of the feedback.

September meetings were attended by 3 parent carers and 5 practitioners. The focus of these sessions was reviewing the `I am a young person`. A number of suggestions were given for developing the information. The Local Offer volunteer has drafted new text for sections of the page. Further work is needed to finalise this.

November meetings were attended by 3 parent carers and 1 practitioner. The focus of the meetings was on developing information relating to specific SEND conditions. Parent carers have requested `route maps` to guide them through their journey and help them navigate the range of services and support.

Work has now started on developing a `route map' relating to neurodivergent conditions. This should provide us with a structure from which we can develop `route maps' for other conditions. A parent carer has provided us with some information about dyslexia which will be used to develop a resource about that.

16. SEND Surgeries

As a result of feedback from parent carers that it can be difficult to navigate the system and get clear information and answers to questions; and that the SEND team can feel somewhat remote; monthly SEND Surgeries were introduced in November 2022.

The surgeries provide parent carers with an opportunity to drop-in, ask questions and speak with members of the SEND Team who are able to offer operational information, advice and guidance. The specialist school nurse for SEN will also attend some surgeries.

The surgeries also provide an opportunity for the SEND Team to hear about the issues that are affecting families and take action where needed.

At the time of writing, 2 surgeries have been held. 8 people attended the first surgery, including 5 parent carers who were seeking guidance. 4 parent carers attended the 2nd surgery. Attendees have found the surgeries to be useful and we hope to build on this initial success. Some quotes from parent carers:

  • "The EHCP Co-Ordinator listened to my concerns and gave me advice on how to handle the situation at my kids school. I left feeling validated and empowered"
  • "The surgery was really great, thank you. Please go along, they are very friendly and so helpful"
  • "I was very happy - I met a very nice person who helped with lots of information. Very nice and professional staff"