Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) – Local Area Review

Picture of child drawing at school with 2 adults

Inspection of support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

In November 2018, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission inspected the way professionals at the county council, in local health services and schools work with families in Staffordshire to support children with special educational needs and disabilities.

This was part of a Local Area Review.

Local Area Review Findings

The inspection report (published on 04 February 2019) highlighted some strengths as well as some areas that needed improvement. The main concern being the different parts of the system (education, health and care) did not work together or with families well enough.

How we plan to improve services for people with SEND

In Staffordshire, the system of support for children with special educational needs and disabilities is under pressure. The number of children with a special educational need or disability has increased by a third in the last five years and national funding has not kept pace with this.

This is a challenge, but we have been working together with local families to take action and improve the way they are supported.

In response to the inspection report, we developed a formal Written Statement of Action to drive the improvements we all wanted to see.

The Written Statement of Action was submitted in April 2019 and was created with our partners in education, health and social care as well as with local parents.

What progress has been made?

Progress on the Written Statement of Action can be found below.  This was sent to Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission in January 2022. 

Written Statement of Action - overview December 2021

Re-visit of Staffordshire’s SEND services - 18-20 January 2022

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out a re-visit of Staffordshire’s SEND services during January 2022.  The revisit looked at how effectively we have addressed the areas in the Written Statement of Action.

Improvements were found in six out of eight areas under review.  More work needs to be done to improve both coproduction with families and the quality of Eduction Health and Care Plans.  

The full report highlighting the inspectors’ findings can be downloaded here.

What we are doing

An Accelerated Progress Plan was agreed with the Department for Education on 8th April 2022.  This looks at the:

  • actions we are taking to improve coproduction and the quality of Education Health and Care Plans
  • timescales
  • how we will measure impact; and
  • how you will be kept informed on actions and progress.

A copy of the Accelerated Progress Plan can be found here.

What is next?

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will be returning to Staffordshire in early 2023 to assess the progress we have made.

Keep in touch

If you are a parent of a child with SEND, you may want to sign up to our ‘Special Educational Needs and Disabilities – Parent Update’ so you can keep up to date with our progress and all the latest news.

Where to get support

Find out more about the support available for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Staffordshire at Staffordshire Connects.

You might also want to get in touch with SENDIASS - Staffordshire Family Partnership.

Staffordshire Parent Carer Forum

Monthly meetings between the Parent Carer Forum and Staffordshire County Council are planned.  Find out more here.  This a living document and may change.  Please check regularly for updates.

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