Helen Ellis
Firstly, Helen Ellis, who has successfully led our SEND Improvement Programme for several years, is moving to Birmingham City Council at the end of November. Helen will be taking up the mantle of Director of SEND and Inclusion, building on her wealth of experience from her 11 years here with us at Dudley.
During her time at Dudley Council, Helen has led the creation of the Dudley Early Help offer and strategy and brought key partners together, she has overseen an intensive improvement programme for SEND and also launched a new SEND strategy for the council late last year. Helen has also been key in bringing schools together to ensure Dudley has a co-ordinated approach on how results and outcomes can be improved for our children.
During the pandemic, Helen worked intensively with schools and created unity during incredibly difficult times. Helen has also worked tirelessly to develop long-lasting relationships with local organisations, such as with partners in health, the Parent Carer Forum and other voluntary organisations in an effort to ensure that children and their needs are at the heart of everything we do. Helen has always put the needs of Dudley's children and families first, and her passion and commitment have been unwavering in her many years of service here in Dudley.
I know that Helen will bring her experience, tenacity and drive to improving outcomes for children in her new role and I wish her the very best in Birmingham.
Toni Dawodu
It is with great sadness that I also need to inform you that Toni Dawodu has passed away. Toni was an absolute inspiration and truly dedicated to her work right to the end. Toni was intensely passionate about working with children and young people and worked tirelessly to ensure our families received the support they needed.
Toni was a great driving force in our SEND improvement journey and our success to date is down to Toni’s dedication, commitment and leadership in this area.
Toni will be greatly missed and I am sure for those of you who were impacted directly by Toni’s immense efforts, will join me in sending our heartfelt condolences to her husband Sylvester during this extremely sad and difficult time.
I appreciate that these pieces of news may be both upsetting and concerning, and I want to reassure you that we will continue to deliver our services to the standards set by both Toni and Helen. We are also already in the midst of recruitment for a new Service Director of Education, SEND and Family Solutions. As soon as we have made an appointment later this Autumn, we will be in touch.
At the end of this bulletin, you will find an updated list of key contacts and stakeholders for our SEND Improvement Programme. If you have any questions or are unsure who to contact, please get in touch with our Head of SEND, Julia Dean.
Thank you for your continued support,
Catherine.
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