Recommendation 2 update
Recommendation 2:
The local area partnership should evaluate the quality and impact of services and joint working more effectively, to inform improvements that lead to better outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND.
What we wanted:
An outcomes framework that will evaluate and demonstrate impact on children and young people's outcomes and experiences.
What we did:
- created an Area Partnership outcomes framework
- created new Southend-on-Sea City Council teams to improve the quality of support services to schools This included an Integrated Early Years Service, a Specialist Teaching Service and SEND Therapies Team
- additionality was provided to the Educational Psychology Team to increase their wider offer
- rolled out speech and language resources and support for all EYFS settings and schools through the delivery of:
- Verbo training and support
- Link Speech and Language Therapy Assistants for every setting
- Communication and Language training
- developed a transition matrix to improve transition planning for early years pupils with the greatest level of need and for those pupils who required additional support arrangements
- created an Early Years roadmap to better outline the pathway for families
- delivered therapy workshops and training in partnership with Southend City Council and EPUT therapy teams
- ensured pupil and parent voice shaped parent carer training sessions delivered by the Specialist Teaching Service over 2024-25
- strengthened targeted support to schools from the Access and Inclusion Team to reduce exclusions and raise attendance
- commenced Wave 2 Mental Health Support Teams in schools to widen the offer of early support
- developed impact measurement tools for health services to capture experiences of children and young people
- launched a Virtual Views webpage to enable a mechanism for feedback for and on behalf of children and young people
The difference it made:
- strengthened support available to professionals, parent/carers, children and young people in schools and settings
- schools are better able to meet the needs of all children within mainstream settings with the improved targeted, specialist and universal support offer and a wider range resources, strategies and interventions
- Speech, Language, Social Communication and Interaction needs (SLCN) identified and supported in schools
- improved identification and intervention in Early Years settings
- children and young people are supported to manage change positively as they move from one stage of education to the next
- better identification of need and seamless transitions across the Early Years sector
- a reduction in pupils with SEND receiving a suspension or permanent exclusion
- children achieving a good level of development (GLD) increased 3% from the previous year and is 0.1% above national average
- decisions about commissioned services will now be informed by feedback from children and their families
Priorities for 2025-26:
- jointly evaluate the quality and impact of therapy models and provision
- full review of Alternative Provision pilot pathways to inform the future Alternative Provision landscape