Good afternoon - today's issue is a SEND Improvements special. As you may know, we are working (in health services and at the council) to improve the experiences of families of children and young people with SEND as quickly as we are able. We have published an improvement 'progress' page, which we will be updating 4 times per year, so you can see an overview of how we are doing against our actions.
As well as that, we will be sharing much more regularly with interesting improvements articles and webinars on particular topics, where we can give you more detail about specific projects. SEND News will be one way to hear about all new updates and work happening. You can follow our SEND Local Offer Facebook page, too.
If you have any questions, or want to share your feedback on any of this, please do email us at SENDstrategy@hertfordshire.gov.uk.
In this issue:
Progress update: SEND Improvements January - March 2024
We have written our first quarterly update on the SEND Priority Action and Improvement plan, where we reflect on our ongoing progress. It covers January - March, and covers topics including support for neurodiversity, special school places and improvements to EHCPs. In July, we will have another update for you.
Our SEND Improvement Plan and progress so far.
Webinar: Improving the way we manage our EHCP duties
Webinar: Improving the way we manage our EHCP duties - 'Making SEND Everybody's Business"
Thursday 23 May, 7pm - 8pm
Online (Teams)
There is a lot of change happening to positively impact the experiences of families of children and young people with an EHCP. You may have heard already about the £7million of ongoing annual investment into our EHCP duties, and our ‘Making SEND Everyone’s Business’ transformation programme.
Our Director of Inclusion and Skills will discuss how the money is being used and what this means for you if your child has, or is in the process of getting, an EHCP.
If there are any questions you would like to have answered during this session, please email them to SENDstrategy@hertfordshire.gov.uk. We will theme up the questions we get and answer as many as we are able during the session.
Save this joining link, which you can use to join the meeting at 7pm on Thursday 23 May: Webinar joining link
You can share your attendance on our webinar Facebook event too, where you can also find the link.
Students tell us what matters to them in SEND
We’re prioritising our focus on listening to the needs of children and young people as we drive forward improvements in SEND.
Our new SEND Participation Lead, Sarah Stevens, has been talking to students about what works well for them and the support they need to thrive.
Sarah has been visiting a range of schools – both special and mainstream – to talk to students about what matters to them, and what ‘good looks like’. Sarah’s role is a new position in our improvement and transformation team, created as part of the additional investment in the SEND service. Sarah explains, “Access and inclusion is a phrase often discussed but in my work with children and young people I hope to get to the bottom of exactly what good practice in this area looks like. Especially for our children and young people with complex needs and those who face the most barriers to education.”
Students tell us what matters to them in SEND
Our journey to more high quality, effective EHCPs: multi agency audits
Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) are improving in quality thanks to the work of our SEND Quality Assurance team, who are working with colleagues in health, education and social care to review some existing Plans and learn where things need to be better. They tell us about the multi-agency quality audit work they are undertaking at the moment.
Our journey to more effective, higher quality Education, Health and Care Plans
Feedback needed from children and young people with ADHD (ages 8 - 25)
As part of our improvement work, we are doing some research to ensure schools and settings across Hertfordshire are as up to date as possible in all areas of SEND.
This will be a short fun activity over teams or via email. The results will help us to make sure the training and resources for schools are more up to date and relevant.
We are looking for children and young people (aged 8 - 25) to let us know what they think teachers should know about children and young people with ADHD.
The research will take place between 17 April and 15 May so if you know someone who would like to be involved, we would love to hear from them. Please email our SEND Participation Lead sarah.stevens2@hertfordshire.gov.uk to find out more.
Young people's health and wellbeing dashboard shares data on young people with SEND/ autism/ ADHD (ages 11 - 19)
The Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Survey is a youth health and wellbeing survey which gathers self-reported information annually from those aged 11-19 in Hertfordshire. The survey includes questions about home life, wellbeing, diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol use, drug use, sexual health, mental health, bullying, and safety.
The young people's health and wellbeing dashboard shows the results of 16300 pupils from schools in Hertfordshire who responded to the survey. This is the 4th year of running this survey.
You can change the data by a number factors such as year of survey and breakdown of interest using the dropdowns in the navigation bar. You can also see data from young people with SEND/ autism/ ADHD.
Data like this is one of the ways we are using the child and young persons' voice to inform improvement and services in SEND.
Events
View all courses and activities
NESSie - When children are struggling to attend school webinar
Thursday 2 May, 9.30am - 11.30am, Online
This webinar will provide information for families about managing, signposting and supporting with appropriate interventions. It will also offer parents and carers a chance to ask open questions in a warm and supportive environment.
DS Achieve - Young Achievers group
Saturday 4 May 2.30 - 3.30pm (for ages 4-11) or 4 - 5.30pm (ages 12-17), Hatfield
This groups aims to give children with Down Syndrome the opportunity to take part in games and activities which will help develop their teamwork and social skills.
Audio Book Club (Royal Society for Blind Children)
Thursday 9 May, 5pm, Online
Join us on Zoom as we listen to different audio books with other blind & partially sighted young people from all over the UK!
Electric Umbrella - music experiences for learning disabled people (ages 16+)
Various days and times throughout the week, Hemel Hempstead, Watford and online
Electric Umbrella create amazing music experiences with learning disabled people. In doing so, we change the way the world thinks about them - and others.