'I have absolutely loved meeting lots of people over the past 4 weeks. If you have met me and had to put up with me asking you loads of questions, thank you - I am very grateful!  

Listening to your feedback about how we can make things better for children with SEND and their families has given me energy to get started on the critical improvement activities needed in relation to EHC Needs Assessments and Plans.  

I have spoken to SENCOs who have helped me to understand their desire to feel more trust and confidence across the system, their request to review processes such as consultations to reduce administrative burdens and their offer of support in delivering these changes. I have spoken to Parent Carers who have told me how critical improving the experience of the EHCP Pathway is for them and the families they meet, the need to improve communications and keeping close to families when working through difficult and tricky situations.  

I have spent time with our health and social care colleagues who are committed to working in partnership with us to make these much-needed improvements and I have also spent time with enthusiastic and skilled colleagues in the SEND Operations team who have welcomed new and different thinking whilst working hard to respond to demand.  

Over the coming months we will:  

• Co-produce a Communication Standard with the SEND Operations Team, making clear to families what they can expect from the team during their EHCP Pathway. 

• Improve our response to statutory timescales by reducing the number of children waiting for an EHC Plan and improving the pace at which new assessments are completed. 

• Take part in multi-agency audits to help us make sure that EHC Plans are of a good standard. We will also seek to understand the impact that these plans are having on the outcomes for children through newly refined quality assurance processes.  

I have been thrilled to see the enthusiasm out there to support this essential work and am excited to work with you all to support the changes we collectively need to make.'

Claire Merchant-Jones

Having released the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Education Framework in July 2024, Devon County Council are keen to review the impact of this so far within schools and settings. We would be grateful if you could take the time to complete the survey below in as much detail as possible to help us understand how the framework is being used to support and improve inclusive practice in schools and settings, and the impact this is having on outcomes for children and young people.  

Your response will enable us to evaluate the use of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Education Framework so far and identify what is working well and where further support is needed.  

Thank you for your support with this.  

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the programme of summer holiday support from the HAF Programme, which will provide lots of activities & food for our Benefit Related Free School Meal children across Devon. 

We are no longer using the unique HAF codes, but we have partnered with EEQU and have a centralised booking system which is a much smoother process for parents to use to book their places. 

We would like to thank school staff for all their work promoting HAF; getting the information to the right parents has been integral to the success of the programme. 

We'll start with the good news: if you are a nasen member, you have full access to our training and resources provided through the Universal SEND Services programme. The better news? Thanks to funding from the Department for Education, it's all completely FREE! 

The cornerstone of the programme is a suite of Online SEND CPD Units exploring 20 of the most common barriers to learning, and providing clear, specialist-led guidance on effective adaptations to teaching across the age range. Each one of the units: 

• Has been developed with leading specialists in SEND. 

• Takes less than an hour to complete. 

• Is flexible & accessible, so you can learn at your own pace. 

99% of people who use our units report increased confidence in identifying and meeting the needs of their learners. And because we know the impact of high-quality, inclusive teaching, why not log in today and begin your first short hop learning journey?

Celebrate Deafblind awareness week with us: Monday 23 to Sunday 29 June 2025 

Deafblindness is where a child or young person has a combined vision and hearing impairment. It can create difficulty in accessing the curriculum and engaging in daily life experiences. It is also referred to as Deafblind or a Dual-Sensory loss. Any type or degree of combined sight and hearing impairment can create this. 

Celebrate with us by trying some of our suggested activities:  

Explore your senses: Go for a sensory walk – what can you hear, see, touch, smell or even taste? 

Challenge yourself to learn the Deafblind Manual alphabet – it only takes 30 minutes to learn. It allows you to spell words onto a child or young person’s hand. Can you sign your name on a friends hand? Learning this skill  will help to support developing communication for a Deafblind learner.

We will be adding more activities to our website in the next few weeks!