Southend is finalising its SEND Reform Plan across 6 workstreams to improve local mainstream inclusion, boost early support, and enhance school capacity.
Following the government's announcements and the schools White Paper in March, and from the information and engagement event we held at the Civic Offices in April you may be aware that Southend is currently in the process of putting together our SEND reform ready for submission to the Department for Education (DfE).
The Southend SEND reform plan is currently being developed by partners across Southend City Council, health colleagues, education providers, the Parent Carer Forum and is further influenced by survey responses and views submitted from parents and carers in the city around the priorities and areas of concern.
The SEND Reform Plan is intended to start delivering on the Government proposals to increase inclusivity in mainstream schools, reduce demands for more specialist provision by meeting needs earlier and make it easier for pupils with SEND to access support within their local areas ideally through improved mainstream schools.
Our reform plan is being set out across 6 workstreams:
- Experts at Hand (EAH) - Local SEND partnerships are being asked to provide a range of expert specialist support into local mainstream schools providing additional support through Speech and Language, Occupational therapy, Educational Psychology and Specialist Teachers. This will build on and expand our current specialist support offer providing additional capacity and resources to deliver this in year 1.
- Health Pathways and Early support whilst waiting - This workstream relates to improving the health pathways for those awaiting support and diagnostic assessment, providing additional guidance and support whilst waiting with aims to reduce waiting times. Taken alongside the EAH offer the intention is to reduce referrals for specialist health services by meeting needs earlier and more effectively.
- Sufficiency, Capital and Local Provision - this relates to how we assess and plan capacity within schools to ensure there is sufficient suitable provision locally reducing the need for pupils to be educated outside of their local environments. This includes ensuring we have sufficient capacity across mainstream and special schools to meet the needs of Southend Pupils. Within this workstream we will be looking at the creation of additional specialist resource bases across the city whilst also exploring how we improve accessibility within mainstream schools.
- Universal offer and early intervention - As part of the SEND reform proposals we are expecting the announcement of new national standards and expectations on mainstream schools under a new inclusion charter. This workstream will build on the positive work done by our specialist services to continue supporting mainstream schools around their core universal offer, providing training, resources and guidance and working in combination with our school leaders to ensure there is a strong universal offer across all schools in Southend.
- Partnerships, Quality Assurance and Co-Production - under this area we will continue to develop our strategic engagement and planning with all key stakeholders ensuring a collaborative approach across the SEND area. Throughout delivery of the SEND reform plan we will seek to engage regularly with partners from health, education, care and our families to review the progress and support future delivery improving the experiences of those using the services.
- Stabilising the current SEND system - We appreciate that the SEND reform announcements may cause additional anxiety as we move towards potential new legislation in 2029. We have included this workstream as a commitment to continue developing the current statutory services, sustaining the continued improvement in EHC plan timeliness and improving responses around annual reviews and EHC plan quality so that families can feel more confident and supported ahead of any future changes.
A draft of the SEND reform plan has been shared with colleagues in the DfE and national NHS advisers and we are currently reviewing feedback and making final adjustments before submitting the plan.
The plan is due to be submitted this month and we will be providing additional information across summer and into the new academic year including a more detailed overview of the Expert at Hand offer which will be hosted on the SEND Local Offer website.