Agenda item

To receive and consider the Draft SEND Strategy.

The Draft SEND Strategy report was presented by Ming Zhang, Jonathan Wilding and SEND Voices.

 

Jonathan Wilding drew attention to the following points:

 

·           The current SEND Strategy had been drawn up largely in response to an Ofsted SEND inspection, and was due to be updated;

·           Many changes were being made, mostly as a result of the Safety Valve programme;

·           The document was being developed in collaboration with SEND Voices and Me Too, it aimed to include young people’s voices;

·           The priorities identified in the strategy were in line with the feedback received by young people and included the following points:

Ø  Communication, transition and planning for the future were areas for development;

Ø  32% of young people said they did not feel that they attended a local school or college that met their needs fully - it was recognised that a more mixed local provision was needed;

Ø  Young people asked for more transition days and earlier transition days for SEND pupils, as they found it difficult to navigate mainstream schools;

Ø  Young people asked that more information and a timetable to be provided before the start of term;

Ø  More flexibility for SEND pupils in mainstream schools, more reasonable adjustments were required;

Ø  A better range of mental health support for all learners was needed;

Ø  More support for pupils suffering from anxiety which was preventing them from attending school, this problem had increased post pandemic;

Ø  Access to a wider range of opportunities outside of school, such as leisure and community activities.

 

Sarah Clarke and Terry Walsh provided feedback from the SEND Voices survey and some of the points raised are listed below:

·           408 responses were received and the details could be found in the link which had been circulated to Members;

·           44% of families said that their needs were being met, this corresponded with the previous statement that around 32% of pupils were not having their needs met;

·           Only 28% of families felt that their needs were being met in relation to community activities;

·           In relation to mental health support, Terry Walsh did not believe that the needs were necessarily linked to covid; she stated that ordinarily available and graduated responses were not being made in mainstream schools.  This was driving a raise in request for assessments as parents believed that this was the only way to get the help that was needed;

·           There results were significantly different for special schools and mainstream schools.  Families felt that their needs were being met in special schools, but not so much in mainstream schools.  For example, 85% of families said that their special school was well resourced, this compared to 48% in mainstream schools;

·           Communication continued to be an area for improvement;

·           Transition for adulthood was an area for improvement;

·           The service provided by the CTU was an area for improvement.  SEND Voices continued to be willing to help with letters or any other communication for parents, but had not yet heard from CTU.

 

Jonathan Wilding stated that there were many measures being put in place to improve the services being provided, it was hoped that improvements would start to be noticed in the next year.  The strategy was being produced in partnership with schools, parents and carers and taking into account young people’s ambitions.  The aim was to present a draft strategy for consultation to the next meeting of CSO&S prior to its approval, and in time for the next financial year.

 

During the discussion of the item the following comments were made:

 

·           In response to a question Johanthan Wilding explained that 32% of young people who responded to the survey felt that the school they attended did not fully meet their needs.  However, it was believed that schools could easily make adjustments which would make that figure go down;

·           Councillor Chadwick asked what was the percentage of SEND children who were not attending school;

·           Jonathan Wilding stated that this number was very small.  There was a small number of children in Education Other Than in School (EOTAS).  This number was monitored, and it was hoped that with the development of improvements this number would reduce;

·           Terry Walsh stated that there was also a number of pupils in mainstream schools who should be in specialist places;

·           Councillor Ainslie asked if transition for adulthood was a priority in the strategy?

·           Jonathan Wilding confirmed that this was a priority and work was ongoing to widen the range of options for young people;

·           Sarah Clarke informed that a transition to adulthood working group had been in place since 2018.  However, she pointed out that there were a lot elements to this transition.  She mentioned that there was a difficulty for those that were not in receipt of SEND support and those in mainstream schools without access to adult social care;

·           Terry Walsh expressed concern that the transition to adulthood team only dealt with children transitioning from Children’s Social Care to Adult Social Care, there was a gap for other cohorts of children who would never be eligible to Adult Social Care;

·           Councillor Bray stated that the Children and Young People Partnership recognised that improvements needed to be made in relation to preparing all young people for adulthood, not just SEND young people.  This was had been identified as a priority as it needed strengthening;

·           Councillor Howe asked about mainstream schools’ representation in the SEND partnership arrangements (page 63 of the agenda);

·           Ming Zhang stated that schools’ representatives and SEND Voices were taking part in the Strategic SEND Partnership Board;

·           In relation to governance, Sarah Clarke suggested that it would be helpful to the Committee to be informed how often the boards met, their membership and how they fed into each other;

·           Councillor Howe was interested to know the roles and responsibilities of each group;

·           Councillor Pittock referred to the report where it said that Wokingham had an EHCP rate of 3.6%, compared to an average of 4.3% in all English unitary authorities, he was not sure if this was good or bad?

·           Councillor Bray explained that the number of EHCPs in Wokingham had been historically supressed due to a number of factors.  The increase now was as a result of the service catching up with demand and operating in a reasonable way;

·           Jonathan Wilding added that higher numbers of EHCPs was linked to levels of deprivation, as Wokingham is an affluent area, it was not expected to have the same numbers as the national average;

·           Sarah Clarke added that the demand had always been there, the numbers were now increasing because the need was being acknowledged;

·           Councillor Gray wondered if there was a conflict of ideas, in that demand was increasing and service was trying to catch up with the demand, and on the other hand the Safety Valve programme was trying to contain the increase;

·           Councillor Bray explained that early intervention was a very important part of the plan; by meeting the needs of a child earlier, it was possible to prevent escalation to an EHCP, which was a better outcome for everybody, not just financially;

·           The Chairman confirmed that the aim was to deliver the right support in the right places at the right time;

·           The Chairman suggested that housing should be added to the list of principles listed on page 39 of the agenda;

·           The Chairman wondered if more detail about what was meant by improving the quality of EHCPs (page 40 of the agenda) should be included;

·           Terry Walsh was of the opinion that it was important to also review plans and hold schools into account to make sure plans were being properly implemented; there should to be an assessment of plans;

·           The Chairman wondered if there should be a mention of youth voices within the proposed strategic priorities;

·           Jonathan Wilding confirmed that the aim was to include young people’s voices and increase their participation, this was part of the strategy;

·           The Chairman suggested including partnership within the smart commissioning priority;

·           In response to a comment, Jonathan Wilding explained there was a Transition into Adulthood Task and Finish Group in place already;

·           The Chairman asked if SEND Voices were included in the governance arrangements;

·           Ming Zhang stated that they were involved in the SEND Strategic Partnership Board.  The Chairman suggested that the membership for this Board should be shared with the Committee;

·           Helen Watson stated that the Board was co-chaired with Health colleagues;

·           Layla Johansson, Lead for All Age Mental Health, LD, Autism and SEND confirmed that Health colleagues were working closely with WBC on the implementation of improvement plans.

 

It was recognised that there was a lack of funding to support schools to provide SEND specialist services to children and young people.  Councillor Bray added that WBC was part of a lobbying group called F40, which aimed to raise awareness and persuade the government to address the funding gap that some areas were experiencing.

 

She added that there was also a chronic problem with a shortage of specialists willing to work in SEND, solutions such training and pay award were needed to be considered in order to solve this problem.

 

Councillor Howe stated that this was a national and local problem, he suggested that gathering data from other local councils may be a useful way to strengthen the argument.

 

Sarah Clarke informed that there were several programmes of training and retention in place, as this was a national issue.

 

After a robust discussion, the Committee decided to make a few recommendations.

 

RESOLVED That:

 

1)     Officers and all those involved in the co-production of this iteration of the draft policy be thanked for their work;

 

2)     Transition into adulthood will be included in the Forward Programme;

 

3)     The Leader of the Council be requested to:

 

          I.   speak formally with neighbouring local authorities to gather data in relation to the lack of funding for schools to deliver SEND services; and

 

        II.     speak to the Berkshire Prosperity Group about the lack of funding for schools to deliver SEND services.