Welcome to the final edition of the SEND Newsletter for the academic year, which comes with a huge thank you to you all for your commitment and hard work in supporting children and young people with SEND in West Sussex.

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the SENCO Conference which was well-received by those attending.

Reading the evaluation forms, we can see that Kit Messenger's keynote speech was particularly inspirational and these are just a few of the comments received:

'The Keynote speaker gave an excellent presentation with powerful take-aways.  Some useful and thought provoking material '

'Kit was fantastic - so many strategies to take back to school.  She would be a great speaker for locality INSET days so all staff could hear the messages first hand.'

'Amazing ideas/provision/strategies from Kit - we will look to how we can implement this into our school training ethos for September 24 - thank you!'

We are already starting to plan for next year's conference and have provisionally booked Butlins on 18 June 2025.  Please let us know if this seems like a sensible date from a school perspective.  If you would like to join our planning group, please contact Kathryn Kellagher.  

There are some important changes taking place from 1 September 2024, to improve the Statutory SEND Support in West Sussex.  Please take time to read the article below. 

I wish you all a relaxing and restorative summer break!

Organisational Changes to the SEN Assessment Team (SENAT)

We have agreed a business case for additional capacity and investment in the SEN Assessment Team (SENAT).  This is in recognition of the increase in Education, Health and Care needs assessments (EHCNAs) and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and the complexity of work and additional duties being carried out by SENAT.

Following discussions with partners and colleagues as part of a comprehensive programme of work, we have decided to reconfigure SENAT.  

Statutory SEND Service

The reconfigured service, which will now be known as the ‘Statutory SEND Service’, is an important part of the SEND transformation agenda in West Sussex County Council (WSCC).  The changes aim both to support the EHCP Response Plan and to meet WSCC statutory responsibilities around EHC needs assessments, reviewing, monitoring and placement functions of the service.  The reconfiguration of the service will also support colleagues in rationalising the complexity of day-to-day working arrangements and reducing caseloads. 

Most importantly, these changes will significantly improve experiences for children, young people and their families when being supported by the service.

The following changes to the service will take effect from 1^st September 2024 to coincide with the new academic year.  The Statutory SEND Service will be reconfigured into focus teams, to ensure that all elements of the statutory process for children and young people with EHCPs are delivered.

The changes made to the service will be supported with training for both new and existing colleagues.

Information will be provided to families, schools and partners advising them of their point of contact in the team will be changing and who will this be. 

These changes will support the service in meeting its statutory requirements, achieving parity with the current national standard in the delivery of SEND services, enhancing outcomes for children and young people and overall improve satisfaction with those using the service.

Should you require further information, or have any questions, then please contact Kim Clayton, Aaron Swain or Karen Spencer.

EHC Needs Assessment Team 

This team will be responsible for:

• the requests and referrals process for all ages until the assessment is allocated to the appropriate team; EHCNA, Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) or Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) and Elective Home Education (EHE). Further information on these teams can be found below.
• coordinating the EHC needs assessment process up to and including finalising an EHCP for children and young people up to the end of Year 9.

Review and Monitoring Team

This team will be responsible for reviewing and monitoring functions for children and young people with an EHCP up to the end of Year 9, including the age-phased transfer process and moves into West Sussex.  The team will be split into three areas, instead of four currently:

• South 1 and South 2 will merge and become South-East.
• West will become South-West (and will include Littlehampton).
• Mid and North will merge and become North.

Key Stage 4 and Post-16

Preparation for Adulthood Team

This team will be responsible for the EHCNA and reviewing and monitoring functions for young people in Years 10 and 11 attending mainstream schools and independent non-maintained special schools (INMSS), and post-16 attending 6^th form and specialist Colleges (not Further Education colleges). 

College Team

This team will be responsible for EHCNAs and reviewing and monitoring functions, including arranging and chairing the annual review for young people post-16 attending Further Education Colleges.

Service Wide Teams

Operational Team

There will be no changes to the current team with responsibilities remaining the same as they do today. Special Needs Officers (SNOs) will also continue to support the requests and referrals process in relation to the EHCNA panel.  They will also hold Inclusion Planning meetings with parents, carers and schools following a refusal to assess.

Dispute Resolution Team

This team will be responsible for oversight and work relating to complaints, including Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) and Judicial Review (JR) mediation requests and appeals to the First Tier SEND Tribunal Service, in liaison with Operational Lead and Team Managers.

Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) and Elective Home Education (EHE) Team

This team will be responsible for EHCNAs and reviewing and monitoring functions (including age phase transfers) for children and young people in receipt of EOTAS and EHE and those not on a school roll who are accessing alternative provision (AP) whilst awaiting school provision.

Are you a professional member?

Sign up here We can then keep you updated both for your professional development and so you can see what we are offering the families you work with.

Are children’s SEND needs being met locally?

Parent carers have told us that waiting times & other barriers are pushing families into having to fund assessments, therapies and support themselves. So, we put together a survey to find out more. 218 Parent Carers shared their experiences, and you can read the full results here  

SEND Home / School Transport

Our newest survey is looking into SEND home/school transport – We would like to hear parent carers views on what is working well, and what could be improved on. You may wish to share this with your families to complete. SEND Home / School Transport Survey We will of course be sharing our results in due course once collated.

Summer Closure

Just a quick reminder that WSPCF are open term time only so we will be closing for our summer break at the end of the term. It may be useful to tell any families you signpost to us that we aren’t available over the summer holidays. We will still be sharing a variety of helpful posts throughout our social media pages over the summer, and our out of office messages signpost families to urgent support should they need it.

To stay updated on our work you can follow us on:

LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram or check out our website

Contact us on 07341 183 449 or email office@wspcf.org.uk

Hello, my name is Nadia McGarry.  I am new to West Sussex, and am here for the next year as a ‘SEND Improvement Lead.’

I am supporting with and leading on initiatives funded by the DfE which are; the ‘Delivering Better Value (DBV) Programme’ as well as the ‘SEND and AP Change Programme (CPP)’.

In addition to this, I am also supporting the Business as Usual functions following the Ofsted Inspection and the improvement works that are well underway, with the 6 Partner Working Groups  (you can read about these in the SEND Improvement Plan website).

Much of the work across DBV and CPP have cross cutting themes with the Local Area’s general SEND improvement and transformation work.  My job is to ensure that this is captured and managed in a streamlined and focused way, in order to deliver on the pace of change that is required, with the intended impact.

I’m thrilled to be working in West Sussex at this time of great change and innovation, and I am truly impressed with the professional dedication (across both strategic and operational functions) and the unwavering commitment to improve outcomes for children with SEND and the experience that they and their families have in West Sussex.

We are delighted to announce that Reaching Families Benefits Advice Service has restarted and is now available for parent-carers of a child or young person with SEND to access.

Thanks to major new investment we have been able to appoint a new benefits advisor and support worker to advise parent-carers on applications for Carers Allowance, DLA and PIP and undertake claim checks in advance of submitting.  The team have also been joined by a new benefits service administrator.

A package of training to build and enhance the professional skills of SENCOs and Inclusion Leaders.

A reflective space to think, create and innovate

The Educational Psychology Service introduced SENDCO Practice Circles as part of our offer to schools in October 2023.  These have been really popular with schools and EPs.

Adults who work with children and young people with SEND will be aware of the additional needs that children may have which could mean they are more vulnerable to abuse and/or less able to speak out if something isn’t right.  This may be because they:

• have additional communication needs
• they do not understand that what is happening to them is abuse
• need intimate care or are isolated from others
• are dependent on adults for care.

Introducing our new SEND Hub!

All of our resources, information and guidance in once place! This will support you to protect children and young people who have additional needs and disabilities and help prevent abuse and neglect.

SEND Speak Out Stay Safe programme

Our SEND Speak Out Stay Safe is a free of charge programme to support schools safeguarding duties and link directly to the curriculum, as well as help reinforce key messages about abuse and neglect as part of teaching on relationships.  The focus is for children to understand what abuse is and to feel supported and able to talk to safe adults about any worries.  It uses the concept of a safe circle to help pupils understand which safe adults they can turn to.

We provide free access to resources including six session plans and printable props all of which use our friendly speech bubble mascot called Buddy.

The materials are aimed at primary school children aged between 9 and 11 with moderate learning disabilities, autism spectrum conditions and other additional learning needs, however they may be suitable for a wider group of ages and needs, however, may be appropriate for younger or older pupils at teacher discretion.

We understand that pupils will have varying needs and abilities and will respond to different methods, materials and strategies, so the programme can be adapted to suit your pupils and maximise their learning.

Speak out Stay safefits with the curriculum in many special schools and covers a variety of themes within the PSHE Planning Framework for pupils with SEND:  Self-awareness, Self-care, Support and safety​, Managing feelings​, Changing and growing​ and Healthy lifestyles.​

You can find out more on our website (click on the SEND/ASN/ALN tab on the left).

You can use this form to register for the free SOSS SEND programme.

Your local NSPCC Schools Service Schools Coordinator can support your school to deliver the programme by briefing school staff at the start and gathering feedback and learning at the end. 

Speak out Stay safe assemblies

We also have a Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 mainstream version of the programme available.  A BSL version is also available for d/Deaf children.  You could use parts of this resource alongside the SEND Programme.  This programme is available online and more information can be found here nspcc.org.uk/speakout.

Introducing Talk Relationships SEND  

Talk Relationships is our new service that supports secondary schools to confidently deliver inclusive relationships and sexuality education (RSE).  There are six lesson plans designed for young people who have special educational needs. Topics include friendships, communicating online, personal space and consent.  The lessons are designed for use with young people aged 11 to 16 with Moderate Learning Disabilities, additional learning needs and may benefit some young people on the autistic spectrum. 

If you would like to discuss any of our resources or you would like to deliver the SEND Speak out Stay safe programme in your school, then please do get in touch 😊

Kalee Knight – kalee.knight@nspcc.org.uk Direct line: 01634 564685               

My working days are Monday-Thursday