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February 2024

Hello,

I'm Kellie, Devon County Council's SEND Improvement Director. I joined the Council in August 2023 to lead the continuing drive to improve services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and their families.

The scale of the challenge, locally and nationally, is significant and while I recognise that Devon embarked on our journey of improvement some time ago, I believe that our improvement programme will take three to five years to complete, in partnership with the NHS, schools, and importantly with parents and carers.

Vital steps are being made. We are listening to families to prioritise our improvement work, and have laid important foundations in the last six months to move us forward. More about that in the update below. 👇

Our priority right now is to make sure that pupils who need additional support are identified at the earliest opportunity and receive the right support, at the right time, and in the right place. It's part of our focus on making sure, where possible, children and young people are supported to attend their local schools and be part of their local community, as much as possible.

Warm wishes,

Kellie

Kellie Knott
SEND Improvement Director, Devon County Council

Activity update - what we've been doing over the last six months

• Educational Psychologists (EPs) are back and are starting to work in 100 schools to identify children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and to help schools support pupils as early as possible
  
  
• EPs are also developing support pathways for children experiencing difficulty attending school
  
  
• over the next few months, we will be introducing a new framework and guidance around a standard level of support which should be available from schools across Devon for pupils with SEND
  
  
• our most recent data shows that the number of children waiting for EP advice as part of an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) has reduced significantly in the Autumn term
  
  
• new funding has been secured to support pupils with neurodiverse conditions, such as autism, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, starting in 40 primary schools across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay over the next financial year
  
  
• plans for new special schools are underway in Ivybridge and Cranbrook. Plans are also underway to develop specialist school provision in Tavistock
  
  
• we've submitted bids to the Government for more funding to help pay for new supported further education provision for young people with SEND
  
  
• a thorough review of statutory EHCNAs and review processes has been completed in response to feedback from parents and carers
  
  
• Essex County Council is now working alongside Devon County Council as its Improvement Partner
  
  
• Devon County Council is proposing a 10.4 per cent budget increase this coming financial year in Children and Young People's Futures
  
  
• for the first time ever, the Council has appointed a new Cabinet Member - Councillor Lois Samuel - who is dedicated to overseeing improvements for children and young people with SEND 

New! Introduction to British Sign Language (BSL) online course now available

We've launched our first ever online British Sign Language (BSL) course. It's aimed at families and professionals who support young deaf children. 

By the end of the course you will have learnt 60 everyday signs, short sentences in BSL and conversational skill. There is also a section on fingerspelling, signed nursery rhymes, tips and a story signed in BSL.

Once you have completed the course, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate your skills by taking part in an online video assessment with one of our Advisory Deaf Inclusion Workers. 

👉 Visit the Devon Education Services website for more information.

Autism and Us workshop: Autism and girls

Next week, our second Autism and Us workshop will be taking place. The focus of the session is autism and girls. It's being held online (using Microsoft Teams) on Wednesday 7 February from 9:30am until 12pm.

The workshop seeks to explore:

• the background of the diagnosis of autism in girls
• why historically the female / male ratio has been significantly lower
• key characteristics of girls with autism including areas such as possible masking, communication, social understanding and associated vulnerability
• key approaches and strategies to help support autistic girls within the home and family context

If you are interested in this session or want to know more about the Autism and Us workshops, please visit our website.

Families who use direct payments and personal budgets from our Disabled Children’s Service have said they would like more visibility of the support available to them, and an easy-to-use online system with everything they need in one place. So we're launching the Devon Wallet - a new virtual wallet platform that will support the delivery of direct payments and personal budgets.

The roll out will be gradual, starting this month with a pilot for Targeted Help with families who have agreed to be part of the first group to use this new service. They will be able to search, arrange, and book a range of different services quickly and easily through the online platform, without the need for a detailed assessment, allowing them choice and control over when and how they access support. Their budget will be provided as an annual amount, which can be accessed as and when it's needed in recognition of parents telling us that it matters when support is accessed, and  that this can change over the course of a year. 

As this is a new level of support, we will collect feedback during the pilot in order to develop this offer for other families and will keep you up to date as plans progress via this newsletter and the news page of our Local Offer website.

New interim Deputy Director for Education and Learning

Ceri Morgan has joined us as interim Deputy Director for Education and Learning. He has had a varied career in education so brings a wealth of experience to the role. 

He has worked across all phases of education from Early Years to undergraduate level, as a headteacher, an Ofsted inspector, for the Department for Education and internationally for the British Council. 

Help with childcare costs

The Government offer all families help to meet the cost of childcare. Some of these are universally available, some depend on how much you earn and some are specifically for parents of a child with a disability. Their Childcare Choices website brings together all their childcare support in one place, so that parents can find out more about the help that fits their family. 

From April, they are gradually expanding the scheme so that by September 2025, working parents of all children over the age of nine months old will be entitled to up to 30 hours a week funded childcare. We put together a special edition of our 'Connect Me' newsletter to help everyone understand the changes and we're also running some online information sessions about how to access more early years funded childcare and other financial help.

👉 You can find out all the details online here.

Pathfield Special School Consultation

The Governing Body of Pathfield Special School in Barnstaple is consulting on a proposal to reduce its number of registered places from 186 to 168 from September 2025, as a result of a phased closure of the provision at the Pathways Unit.

Please visit our website to read more about their proposals, and respond with your comments before Tuesday 23 February 2024.

Glendinning Academy age range change approved

Following consultation, the proposal to remove the offer of post-16 places at Glendinning Academy in Newton Abbot and change the age range to seven to 16 year olds has been approved by the Department for Education’s Regions Group. The change will increase the number of places available across Key Stages two, three and four. Overall pupil admission numbers will remain the same.

Please visit our website to read a letter from Wave Multi Academy Trust regarding the decision and some 'Frequently Asked Questions' about post-16 provision.

Meeting update 

The Devon SEND Strategic Partnership Board last met on Thursday 11 January 2024.

In brief:

• a presentation was shared about the progress of the SEND Transformation programme
• an update was provided on the Safety Valve progress
• discussions were held around the Special Schools Outreach work package
• concerns were raised about new schools being designed without consultation with experienced practitioners, resulting in inappropriate environments and delay
• discussions were held around amending the end date on the actions in the Accelerated Progress Plan
• Parent Carer Forum Devon provided background on coproduction, the need for a shared understanding, recognising where we are now, where we aspire to be and the steps to get there

You can read the full minutes of the meeting on our website. 

The Devon SEND Strategic Partnership Board will next meet on Thursday 8 February 2024.

 If you have a question or a story to send us, please email:    childsc.sendimprovementprogramme-mailbox@devon.gov.uk

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