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This newsletter is from the SEND Partnership, made up of organisations and services who provide support in Southend for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.
For information on local services and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 0 to 25 and their families, please visit the Southend SEND Local Offer
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What was the inspection outcome?
The report has found that the SEND Partnership's arrangements has lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people and their families.
However the report also recognises that some improvements that have been made. It says: “There is better multi-agency working in Southend with a stronger focus on supporting children and young people and families at the right time as a result of improved oversight and review of individual need.”
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How did they reach this outcome?
The joint inspection was carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), who are responsible for overseeing health services and OFSTED, who regulate education services.
The inspection started almost as soon as the partnership received the call on 20 February, but inspectors were physically in Southend-on-Sea between 6 to 10 March 2023. They spoke with professionals from across all aspects of the SEND services, including health services, social services, education providers, parents, carers, the voluntary sector and children and young people receiving support from SEND services.
Evidence was fed into the report, which was published on Friday 9 June 2023.
You can read the report in full here.
The rest of this newsletter will give you a brief summary of what the report contains.
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What is the new inspection process?
Southend-on-Sea is the fourth area that has been inspected under the new framework, introduced in January 2023.
There are three gradings and Southend has received the middle outcome, or outcome two, which is in line with other areas inspected so far.
The next inspection of Southend-on-Sea will be in three years.
Find out more
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What is Southend doing well?
- Consultation with families and making sure the voice of the child and young people is always included in assessments, plans and reports
- There is better oversight between all teams which has improved multi-agency working, to make sure children, young people and their families get the right support at the right time
- This includes working well with the independently appointed parent carer forum, Southend SEND Independent Forum (SSIF)
- Access to help early on is making sure families can meet the needs of their children, with support from services such as the Special Education Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS)
- There has been better partnership working between education, social care and health services, giving all students in all provisions better access to opportunities
- Health reviews and referrals are timely and improving, providing a more individualised approach to meeting a child or young person’ needs
- Strong partnership working between education, social care and police means safeguarding risks and young people missing education is reduced
- There are more families taking advantage of short breaks
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What needs improving?
- The pace of improvements is too slow and trust with parents and carers has been undermined by weaknesses in service delivery
- Experiences are variable, with some families experiencing long wait periods for appointments with specialist services or for support or equipment
- While EHC assessments are timely, reviews are not and the plans are not ambitious enough and don’t reflect the multi-agency work that takes place to support a child or young person
- The transition from children’s services to adults needs to start sooner, and improvements to the post 16 service need to be made, to provide better support for young people
- Quality assurance information is not being used to evaluate the effectiveness of leader’s actions and improve practice
- Speech and language therapists have limited capacity in mainstream schools
- There are a lack of clubs and activities during the holidays for children and young people with SEND
- Despite improvements to communication, parents, carers and professionals can get confused about accessing services, leading to frustration and delays
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What are the next steps for the partnership?
The first priority of the Southend SEND Partnership is to create a strategic action plan to address the findings of the CQC and OFSTED report.
OFSTED and the CQC require an approved action plan be submitted within 30 working days of the publication of the report.
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What does the council say about the outcome?
Cllr Tony Cox, leader of the council with a responsibility for SEND, said; “The report didn’t contain any surprises, it outlines areas where the service is doing well and other areas where improvements still need to be made. It is one of the reasons as the new cabinet we felt SEND needed a dedicated portfolio holder, as the issue is important to many in our community.
“It is clear from the report that the experiences of children and their families is variable and this needs to improve. All organisations and professionals agree that long wait times are unacceptable, as families have the additional stress of coping without support while their needs are assessed.
“However, I am glad to see that the report highlighted the excellent collaborative work that has happened, and that the voice of the child is firmly at the centre of all the work taking place within SEND services. It seems we are on the right path, but with some work still to do.”
Find out more
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What does ICS say about the outcome?
Frances Bolger, Chief Nurse, Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board, said: “We welcome the findings from the recent inspection. Our ambition is to build on the progress already made to further improve services for children, young people and their families to ensure a more consistent, positive experience of the SEND system.
"This report demonstrates we are on the journey to achieving this ambition. We recognise that a collaborative approach is essential for getting it right and the report recognises the excellent work that has occurred around this area.”
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What does SSIF say about the outcome?
Ofsted and CQC carried out an inspection of Southend SEND services in March 2023 under the new inspection framework.
Your voices were shared directly with Inspectors through the survey that was completed prior to the inspection. We are really pleased that so many SEND families responded to ensure their views and experiences were heard and considered.
The report has now been published, and the result is an inconsistent outcome.
The inspectors found that the experiences of children and young people with SEND in Southend-on-Sea can be very varied. The report reflects the experiences and feedback we have received from our families. We acknowledge that the Local Authority and health services have implemented changes and improvements to the SEND systems, for example the recent redevelopments at the Lighthouse Child Development Centre, however too often our children’s and young people’s needs are not met in a timely manner.
We will continue to represent SEND families voices in Southend, to ensure that the necessary changes are implemented to best meet the needs of our children and young people.
To find out more about how you can get involved and ensure your families voice is heard, please complete our membership form: https://www.southendsendindependentforum.co.uk/join-us
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