Sheffield Council action to deal with “widespread failings” in SEND children’s services
Sheffield City Council is taking action in response to an Ofsted report that found “widespread and/or systemic failings” in services for children and young people with special educational needs.
City services to support children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) are provided jointly by the city council and the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board in a local area partnership.
A report from Ofsted which was published in June said: “There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), which the local area partnership must address urgently.”
The inspectors added: “The needs of children and young people are not reflected effectively in education, health and care (EHC) plans. The quality of EHC plans in Sheffield is systemically weak and some of the information provided in EHC plans does not meet statutory guidance.
“For example, the views of parents, carers, and children and young people are not routinely included. Furthermore, when a child or young person’s needs change, health and social care professionals do not have the opportunity to contribute to revised plans.
“Although communications are improving between professionals across the partnership, it is evident that communications regarding individual children remain poor. As a result, the partnership cannot assure that they are meeting the current needs of children and young people.”
Transition
The report said that some services have reduced their waiting times but many children and young people wait too long to receive assessment and treatment from community child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), speech and language therapy and diagnostic services such as video fluoroscopy and neurodevelopmental diagnosis.
This means their needs are not being assessed and met at the right time.
The report said that the need for families to get a GP referral for specialist services adds to delays.
Children and young people are not supported well enough when they transition from primary to secondary school and then to post-16 education, the Ofsted inspectors found.
“The impact of this is that too many children and young people with SEND are suspended and/or excluded from secondary school in comparison to their peers,” they reported.
“Some families choose elective home education when they feel that their child’s needs are not being met or to avoid the permanent exclusion of their child from school.” A meeting of the council’s education, children and families policy committee will next Tuesday (September 2) discuss actions being taken by the local area partnership to respond to the report’s findings.
Improvement
They include establishing a SEND Improvement Board, which will have its first meeting next Friday, September 5.
The independent chair, Edwina Grant, has already contributed to an improvement plan which was submitted to the Department for Education on the August 11 alongside a SEND Manifesto.
The council committee report said the manifesto sets out “both our aspirations for the SEND system over the next five years and also our key improvements over the next 18 months”.
The Ofsted inspectors said in their report, made following a week’s visit in March: “Although leaders highlight their aspirations in the SEND Manifesto, they have not developed the strategy to ensure delivery of their goals. Therefore, the ambition does not yet impact on children and young people.”
Ofsted are due to carry out a monitoring inspection after 18 months and a reinspection will take place in around three years,