Transforming SEND services update

2019 was a busy year for everyone in the special needs arena, with lots of challenges and exciting successes.

The Transforming SEND programme is reviewing SEND services across the board and we are doing this in partnership with children and young people, parents/carers and staff. Several workshops, meetings, focus groups and surveys have been held over the past year and we will continue working together with you for the duration of the programme and after.

With the festive season well and truly over we now start 2020 looking at our new goals and resolutions for the new year – below are some of the areas we are addressing:

Information, advice and support (IAS)

We now have a working group whith a strong family voice at the heart with HPCI representation developing a more dynamic and up to date communications plan to guide our work in improving access to quality information advice and support for families and professionals, and to ensure it is received at the point and the level it is needed.  A key role of the group is to ensure the IAS arrangements comply with the SEND Code of practice and the relevant national miniumum standards for SEND IASS. Read more here and if you have any suggestions for improving how you hear from us please email the editor dee.debruin@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Local Delivery Networks –what are they?

The vision for Local Delivery Networks in Hertfordshire is a partnership model that will bring together all service providers in a local area to

• create clearer pathways for families to access SEND support
• help more children with SEND be educated within a local school and participate in their local community
• improve support to local mainstream schools for inclusion and flexible provision

We are trialling projects in Stevenage to achieve these aims (see what we're doing by clicking on Stevenage Sandpit diagram on the right).

We have held two workshops so far, bringing together local professionals and parent/carer representatives to explore different ways of working. Supporting professionals in the pilot, we have a family practitioner working at Greenside Special School in Stevenage, to bridge Early Help and specialist SEND services. She will be also be working with partners to produce early help SEND toolkit for partners.

Make sure you read our update blogs on the Local Offer, to keep in touch.

Developing special schools/specialist provision for the future

Hertfordshire County Council has been working on developing its specialist education provision for children and young people with SEND so that more children can be educated closer to their homes. You'll find the report from HPCI (Herts Parents and Carers Involvement) in this issue.

Hertfordshire County Council was one of 39 successful local authority bids for a special free school, planned in Welwyn Garden City. We are now waiting for the Government's decision on applications received to sponsor the Free School.  Further details of that process can be found on the Local Offer website and the DfE website

We are working to have Specialist Resource Provisions attached to our mainstream schools.  The plan is to have 4 secondary and 8 primary across the county.  These bases will be for children and young people with communication need.  We have held a stakeholder event in January where a lot of positive interest has been shown.  

This month also saw the launch of the Link Academy’s new ESC site in Hatfield, previously known as the Park ESC. The provision is now part of the Links multi-academy chain, supporting young people who are at serious risk of permanent exclusion or who have been permanently excluded from their mainstream school. Contact Links Academy for more information.

We are working on a number of other exciting projects such as looking at an online version of the application for an education, health and care plan (EHCP) assessment - we will tell you more about this in the next issue of SEND news.

As always, we value your input and welcome your comments, suggestions or requests for information. Email us at SENDtransformation@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Local Offer launch a great success!

The launch this month of the new and improved Local Offer website for Hertfordshire was a great success, with over 200 parents, carers and professionals attending the event in Watford - thank you to everyone who joined us on the day!

The Local Offer lets parents, carers, young people and professionals know what special education needs and disability (SEND) services are available in Hertfordshire and who can access them. Over the last year we’ve been on an exciting journey working together with families and SEND professionals to rebuild and improve the website.

The event provided an opportunity to bring the Local Offer to life by showcasing some of the SEND organisations featured on the website, that offer support and advice to families and professionals across the county. More than fifteen organisations attended, alongside representatives from our SEND specialist teams, YC Hertfordshire and the Money Advice Unit.

If you didn’t manage to get along to the event, you can find more information about the launch, the organisations that were there and any workshops that took place on the day at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/localofferwebsitelaunch. Please feel free to share this page with any friends and family who may be interested.

Anne Ross, Founder and Director of the Hertfordshire based ADD-vance ADHD and Autism Trust, said of the new Local Offer website;

“Anything which makes it easier for people to access information is worthwhile and the new (Local Offer) site is much better at that. Many people don't even know that Hertfordshire has a Local Offer, so this event and the great publicity which went with it, will undoubtedly help promote its use further.

Finding your way around the site is much easier too which is a great plus point!"

If you are a parent or carer for a young person with additional needs, please take a look at the new Local Offer and tell us what you think, www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/localoffer

Learn more about joining HAND

Are you or your child a member of HAND - Hertfordshire's Additional Needs Database?

Did you know by doing so you remain on top of receiving SEND news through this newsletter and other consultations, and you also receive a digital HAND membership card that allows you benefits such as reduced or free entry into many of Hertfordshire's family leisure and tourist centres?

We have developed a short video telling you more about HAND, which you can share with others. Watch the short animated HAND film here and join now!

Tell us what you think about autism assessments in Hertfordshire for over 18s

Hertfordshire County Council together with East and North Hertfordshire and Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust (HPFT) are undertaking a review into the autism assessment pathway for those over 18 years of age, in Hertfordshire and the support available following diagnosis. 

Hertfordshire is committed to supporting people on the autism spectrum and ensuring they receive support to enable them to live happy, healthy and independent lives within their communities.  This review will focus on adult diagnosis (those aged over 18) and will inform the future delivery of services for people on the autism spectrum.

We will collect information from adults on the waiting list for an autism assessment, adults already diagnosed, families, carers and professionals.

How can you help?

We want to hear from as many people as possible to complete the survey that is relevant to them before 6 February 2020. 

For people on the waiting list for an autism assessment: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/forpeopleonthewaitinglistforanautismassessment/

For carers and those supporting people with ASD: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/forCarersofthosediagnosedwithASD/

For those diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition:  https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/forpeoplediagnosedwithanautismspectrumcondition/

Alternatively please telephone 01438 844686 or email IHCCT.Admin@hertfordshire.gov.uk where you can also request paper copies of the questionnaire. 

If you would like more information on the review please get in touch with tara.mullaney@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

Having 'Choice and Control'

Over the past few years, 0-25 Together and SEND Brokerage teams have been introducing a strengths-based approach to our social care work with disabled children, young people and their families. In 2018 we began our ‘Choice and Control Project’ which was based on the same values as the Connected Lives approach in Adult Care Services.

What it means for you

Based on the Adult Service ‘Connected Lives’ programme, Choice and Control means just that - having control over choices in different support and activity.

It involves a different conversation between families and the social care worker in which creating the right support for the young person, includes exploring the role of the extended family, informal support networks and resources in the community, as well as specialist services.

The approach recognises the need for specialist services and aims to create a better balance of person-centred experiences and maximise opportunities for inclusion and independence for the disabled young person.

52 families whose child attended one of the overnight short break services were offered a Choice and Control review from the summer of 2018 through to the autumn of 2019. The parents/carers were asked for feedback following the reviews and the outcomes for the young person were monitored to help the service learn and improve its approach. During that time, 43 other families were also offered support in utilising more community services and support. Now the approach is expected to form part of all the planning and review conversations with families who are receiving support through the 0-25 Together service.

Some of the activities preferred are horse riding, a special needs sports club, climbing, trampolining and Pokémon social group via social media. A full list is available in the report.

This report explains more about the approach in Hertfordshire and the impact it has had but if you wish to find out more and how much of this work will be explored through the Transforming SEND programme, please email SENDtransformation@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Out of county and Independent special schools

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) has been working on developing its specialist education provision for children and young people with SEND (special educational needs and/or disabilities) for the last two years. 

In the spring of 2019, a project led by HPCI (Herts Parent Carer Involvement) invited parents whose children were in Out of Area schools to anonymously discuss their experiences.  The intention being that HCC could learn from them so that in the future more children could be educated closer to their homes.  By Out of Area schools we mean either independent special schools or special schools, units or bases run by other local authorities.  Eight parents whose children had gone to an Out of Area school in the previous two years volunteered to take part in a telephone interview with a parent representative from HPCI. 

What was learnt by listening to parents whose children are in specialist ‘Out of Area’ schools

Families wanted the right education provision closer to home and they wanted to contribute to the project so that other families could benefit from future changes.

All were clear that their child being in the right school for their special needs has a positive impact on the life of the whole family.

What did the parents say led to their child going to an Out of Area school?

All parents talked about issues with their child being able to get the right therapies not just the usual speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy but also access to other therapies that make a difference and how these were on offer routinely at Out of Area schools.

What has happened as a result?

The professionals and HPCI parent reps working in the specialist education provision workstream have looked at and discussed the findings and how they can be built into what they are doing.

Senior leaders in Children’s Services have also seen them and are going to be making changes to the HCC SEND strategy and the SEND Transformation project as a result.

A big thank you to those parents who came forward to take part and generously gave their time and experiences.

Making sure educators develop young people's knowledge, skills and behaviour

As most of you will be aware, the government introduced a new Education Inspection Framework on 1 September last year.

This new framework is a refocusing of inspection and means inspectors will be spending less time looking at performance data, and more time considering how educators are making sure their learners are developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to allow them to successfully progress and achieve. The Government wants to see providers developing the knowledge, skills and behaviours that learners need to progress and achieve. This approach is especially welcomed where schooling for children and young people with special educational needs is concerned.

The DfE published its first set of schools management information since the start of the education inspection framework (EIF) in the September.

Sean Harford HMI, National Director for Education, talks about the first inspections under the EIF and the trends they are seeing so far in this report

Have you completed the annual health check questionnnaire yet?

There is less than a week before the Healthwatch Annual Health Checks Questionnaire closes!

Anyone with a learning disability aged 14 and over is eligible for an annual health check. Healthwatch would like to know if you've had one, how you found the experience.

So far nearly 300 people within the learning disability community have completed the survey. Although this a good response rate, we still need to hear of more experiences. Click on the image to the right for an information flyer.

If you havent already completed the questionnaire, please go to our website here.

The questionnaire closes soon on Friday 31^st January 2020