大秀视频

Latest news

Latest news

Find the latest updates about services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

If you want to sign up to receive updates about SEND services and invites to future events please get in touch.

Contact us

What we鈥檙e doing to improve SEND services following the 2024 Ofsted and CQC inspection

November update

Here you will find some key updates on what the local area partnership has been working on during October. Read more about these updates here: What we鈥檙e doing to improve SEND services following the 2024 Ofsted and CQC inspection

Improving information while you wait:

  • we have been developing a suite of information and resources to support families while they wait for health appointments or interventions
  • an online information booklet for parent carers has been developed to provide support whilst families are waiting for children to have an Autism or ADHD diagnostic assessment 鈥 due to be published in November

Mental health and emotional wellbeing:

  • Herefordshire and 大秀视频 Health and Care NHS Trust is developing a list of support and services for children and young people鈥檚 emotional wellbeing and mental health
  • work is underway to establish the new the Children and Young People鈥檚 Early Intervention and Preventative Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing service for 0-25 year olds. It is too early to share what the service might look like yet, but we are hopeful that new services will be in place by 1 April 2025 as planned
  • we have seen the launch of Lumi Nova; a digital therapy platform for children and young people aged 7-12 years old

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs):

  • the SEND team is making sure new EHCP requests within the same family are assigned to the same Case Work Officer 鈥 allowing families to have a single point of contact for updates.

Feedback and coproduction:

  • September marked the launch of 大秀视频 Parent Carer Forum鈥檚 (WPCF) new SEND 鈥榁iews & Voices鈥 events. This is a programme of 50+ events now rolling out across 大秀视频 offering peer support, friendly advice and SEND system empowerment. Keep up to date with future events on the WPCF Facebook page
  • we met with the Youth Cabinet to ask for their thoughts about how the Local Area Partnership could improve how SEND services connect with children and young people with SEND. They talked about connecting to other youth groups, suggesting how to improve the reach to children and young people with SEND via social media and exploring the use of digital technology

October update

大秀视频鈥檚 services for children and young people with SEND were inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2024. The whole local area partnership was part of the inspection which includes NHS Herefordshire and 大秀视频 Integrated Care Board and 大秀视频 County Council.

The local area partnership is working through the Priority Action Plan and SEND Improvement Plan following the outcome of the inspection. 

Key progress includes:

  • recruitment of new SEND Casework Officers to increase capacity in the teams who support the coordination and management of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
  • recruitment of an Epilepsy Nurse and a procurement process underway to reduce Community Paediatrics waiting times
  • starting the transfer of up to 250 young people aged 16+ to an independent accredited autism assessment provider with the aim of improving their waiting time
  • co-production sessions with parent carers around a new care pathway for autism and ADHD diagnostic assessments for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years, which will eventually replace the Umbrella Pathway
  • commissioning Dingley鈥檚 Promise to provide two Early Years Enhanced Provisions in Droitwich and Worcester which will be accompanied by extensive outreach support services, including support to local nursery settings and family support.
  • co-production with parent carers to discuss areas of improvement, particularly on the topics of data/attendance, specialist placements, EHCP timeliness and quality, and CAMHS waiting times

The full information can be found here: What we鈥檙e doing to improve SEND services following the 2024 Ofsted and CQC inspection.

Published October 2024

Local Area SEND Inspection published

An inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) into 大秀视频鈥檚 approach to special education needs and disability (SEND) has been published.

Ofsted and CQC inspectors felt that there were systemic failings in the 大秀视频 local area, with the following 2 priority actions required of the local area partnership.

  1. The local area partnership should urgently address the long waiting times for community paediatrics, the neuro development assessment pathway, occupational therapy and physiotherapy
  2. The local area partnership should urgently develop genuine co-production with children and young people with SEND at a strategic level. Children and young people should feel they have fully participated in the process of developing services, improvement strategies and plans that meet their needs

The local area partnership, which comprises of NHS Herefordshire and 大秀视频 Integrated Care Board, 大秀视频 Children First and 大秀视频 County Council, fully accept their findings and recommendations on what needs to improve. Whilst the report recognises that progress has been made in some areas, the Partnership would like to apologise to those children and young people with SEND who have not received the timely support they need.

As a Partnership, we are committed to reducing waiting times and providing better support for those children and young people who are currently waiting. We want children and young people with SEND to feel truly seen and respected as individuals and this will be a key priority for us in further developing our co-production of services.

A monitoring inspection will be carried out within approximately 18 months and the next full reinspection will be within approximately three years. As a result of this inspection, His Majesty s Chief Inspector requires the local area partnership to prepare and submit a priority action plan (area SEND) to address the identified areas for priority action.

Published July 2024

Update: SEND provision in the Early Years

Our vision is that most early years aged children in 大秀视频 should be able to attend their local early years provider and have their SEND needs identified and met within that setting.  To enable this to happen 大秀视频 has a strong Early Help offer provided by a range of partners, and specialist support in education provided through the Early Years Inclusion Process.  However, we recognise that for a small number of children their needs require an enhanced provision offer, and therefore overtime, starting in the South of the county, we are developing Early Years Enhanced Provisions.  Whilst we transition to this model of working, additional offers via outreach and one Nursery Assessment Unit will be in place.

Early Years Enhanced Provision for the South of the county (including Worcester)

Two sites have been identified for the new Early Years Enhanced Provision and we are working with the identified provider to confirm final timings, with the hope that the provision will be open to children and families from January 2025.  大秀视频 Children First is working with the provider and stakeholders to finalise plans for these provisions.  In the meantime, Vale of Evesham continues to provide outreach support for children identified with significant and complex SEND needs.

Provision for the North of the county

Batchley Nursery Plus will continue to operate in 24/25 as a Nursery Assessment Unit, with a maximum of 16 part-time places for the year which will provide enhanced provision for the Redditch and Bromsgrove areas.  In the Wyre Forest Area, in preparation for the transition to an Early Years Enhanced Provision model, Wyre Forest Nursery Assessment Unit will no longer operate in its current model from September 2024. Instead, Wyre Forest School will provide outreach support for children identified with significant and complex SEND needs in the area, bringing this area into line with the South of the county and enabling a greater amount of children to receive support. 

Published July 2024

Early Years Specialist Provision Review and Plan update

In November 2022 大秀视频 Children First (WCF) invited stakeholders including settings, parents and carers and health providers to participate in a review and the development of early years specialist provision. An update and more information about the review and the development of the Enhanced Early Years provision can be found by visiting WCF鈥檚 Education review and consultation pages here: Nursery Assessment Unit Review.

Published April 2024

Update regarding some personal budget payments

As an update we first want to note that some parents have experienced delays in payments being received. Please can we extend our apologies again to those parents. We are pleased to update that the services which manage and process payment, has been reviewed to try and improve our timeliness. This has involved developing the systems as well as re-configuration of workloads and developing a system to support management tracking and oversight. 

We have reconfigured workloads to address some outstanding payments and we are in the final stages of developing a more effective electronic payment system. This will speed the payments process up, allowing much less room for error and ultimately provide a better experience for parents and providers receiving money from 大秀视频 Children First.  

Published April 2024

SEND Area Inspection - Have your say

We have received notice that Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will be visiting 大秀视频 from 22 April 2024 to 26 April 2024 to inspect our arrangements for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND). The inspectors want to hear from children and young people, parents and carers, and practitioners about the help and support that children and young people with SEND get.

The surveys are accessible via the following link and will close at 9am on Tuesday 16 April 2024.

Download further information about the surveys for children and young people, parents and carers, and practitioners.

Published April 2024

Survey asking for your views on the way services work together for young people moving into adulthood

大秀视频 County Council Adult Social Care Commissioning team are trying to improve their understanding of current services for 14 to 25-year-olds who may be moving from children鈥檚 social care to adult social care. This is to identify future commissioning needs across education, health and social care and improve pathways through services for young people and their families as they journey into adulthood and improve experience and outcomes.

The survey, which is open to all stakeholders, closes on April 22 2024, and can be found by following this link: .

Published April 2024

Groups, activities and short breaks

The 大秀视频 Groups, Activities and Short Breaks have been commissioned up to June 2024; and this year we have joined this up with our Holidays, Activities, and Food (HAF) programme. Through this work we have ensured that we have commissioned a diverse range of provisions that are able to meet children and young people鈥檚 needs both in terms of complexity and geographical locations. 

We are committed to continuing to develop this offer to 大秀视频 children and we will be seeking feedback shortly from parent/carers and children and young people who have accessed these services over the Easter holidays to inform the summer holiday provision.

We are aware that some providers costs have increased significantly this year, this has resulted in them having to review the number of places they can offer. Both HAF, Groups, Activities and Short breaks are open to SEND children and young people; we ask that parents/carers always check with providers that they are suitable for their child鈥檚 needs before booking a place.

For more information about groups and activities for children and young people with SEND see: SEND Local Offer - Short break groups and activities.

Published March 2024

Trust announced to run new Autism School

The Department for Education have announced that MacIntyre Academies has been chosen to run the new autism school in Malvern. The Secretary of State for Education has written to confirm that the application from MacIntyre Academies to establish Enterprise Academy should proceed to the next stage of the free school鈥檚 process 鈥 the 鈥減re-opening phase鈥. 

Working closely with 大秀视频 Children First and 大秀视频 County Council, Enterprise Academy will offer specialist education for 120 pupils aged 5 to 19 with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). 

The final decision to open any free school depends on the Secretary of State entering into a funding agreement (a legally binding contract which contains the terms and conditions upon which a free school is funded) with the academy trust proposing to set up the school.

Published March 2024

Update on new Autism Special Free School

A report will be presented to 大秀视频 County Council Cabinet on 28 March 2024, seeking approval for the site and a 125-year lease for the new school. Positive progress has been made to find new locations for the current Poolbrook tenants, with relocations starting from Easter 2024. The Department for Education (DfE) are responsible for the delivery of the new school. Initial site surveys are completed, and more will follow once the site is vacant. The Academy Trust appointment is planned for Summer 2024. This would allow the DfE to hire a contractor in early 2025 to design the project and obtain planning permissions. With this timeline, the proposal is for construction would commence in 2026 and finish by Summer 2027. As a result, the DfE anticipate opening the new school in September 2027, rather than the original target of September 2026.

Read the Cabinet report in full: .

Published March 2024

Special School reception places 2024

大秀视频 Children First are currently working towards National Offer Day (NOD) for primary school places, Tuesday 16 April. This is the date which families with a child starting school in September 2024 will find out which school they are being offered a place in.

If you have a child who is going through the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment process, it is our intention to make a decision about their named placement by this date. We are currently working on a number of assessments and aim to confirm special school reception places for September 2024 by 16 April 2024. 

As parents, if your preference is for a reception place at special school, we will name your child鈥檚 current early years setting for now, and your request for a special school place will be considered. You should know by mid-April (in line with National Offer Day) what school place is being offered.

Requests that have been received since the beginning of January 2024 may not meet the April deadline, as decisions about placement follow EHCNA timelines. National Offer Day is less than 16 weeks after the beginning of the year and information for the assessment may not have been gathered in time for a decision to be made. However, this does not mean your child won鈥檛 be considered for a special school place if they need one, you will be notified after the April deadline.

Published February 2024

Survey seeking experiences of transition from nursery to school

大秀视频 Children First is undergoing a review of the resources, advice, and best practice around transition for our nursery age children into schools. We are keen to hear from, and learn from, the experiences of parents/carers and settings around this important transition time. Please find below the link for the survey to gather your views.

After the review we would like to consolidate transition advice, celebrate good practice, and seek to improve the transition experience from nursery to schools for all children in 大秀视频.

The survey will close on 16 February 2024.

Thank you for your time.

Parent/carer survey link:

EY setting survey link:

School setting survey link:

Published February 2024

Successful Mediation outcome

Families in Partnership, 大秀视频鈥檚 parent carer forum, recently entered into mediation with two parent carers. The participants of the Mediation meetings on the 18 and 25 January 2024 are pleased to confirm the following:

鈥淲e had a really constructive, transparent and successful coming together. Following a full and honest discussion, there was agreement that we will be working together to harness the lived experience, skills and expertise of parent carers for the best outcomes for children and young people with SEND in 大秀视频. In particular, Berni Louise and Hazel Shaw join with immediate effect as full members of the Steering Group, and we will work together to deliver the AGM and a review of the constitution. We will update FiP members on our plans soon.鈥

Berni Louise, Hazel Shaw, Iona Walton

Published January 2024

Letter from Mel Barnett to Parent carer Stakeholder Group members

Dear Parent Carer Stakeholder Group,

It is important to the development and improvement of SEND Services for children and young people in 大秀视频 that parent carers have a voice, and our families鈥 experiences are actively heard and understood. 

Just under two years ago a SEND Parent Carer Stakeholder Group was formed to widen stakeholder involvement in the four workstreams of our SEND Accelerated Progress Plan (APP). There has been some success in this forum, but we haven鈥檛 been able to consistently reach as many representatives or build the relationships we had hoped. Therefore, the SEND 0 to 25 Partnership Board, which oversees the work of the APP, has made the decision to replace the stakeholder group with a new process, which will strengthen the direct links we have as a partnership with the widest range of registered forums across 大秀视频. 

Each board representative will be assigned to a parent carer forum and, subject to the forum agreement, they will attend that forum on a quarterly basis in order to hear the experiences, positive and negative, of its group members and also hear any ideas about how things could change and what their role and function in that might be to support that change. Key themes will then be fed back and discussed at the SEND 0 to 25 Partnership Board.

Board members, who represent organisations across Education, Health, Social Care, Voluntary Sector and 大秀视频 Children First, will be assigned to their support group at the next Board meeting on 19 January. Each member will contact and visit their group before the Partnership Board meeting in April. The visits are expected to be face-to-face, except for those groups who have an online presence only or would rather hold it virtually. This new way of engagement will be reviewed in September 2024.

I want to end by thanking all of the representatives from the different groups that have previously attended, and currently attend for your time and commitment to the meetings. On behalf of all Board Members, we very much look forward to continuing to develop those relationships as well as developing new ones. 

Regards

Mel Barnett
Director for All-Age Disability (0-25)

Published January 2024

All-Age Disability Directorate staffing structure

To keep our SEND families informed we regularly update the SEND team information in the document below to reflect any changes.

Useful link

September 2024 鈥 August 2025 payment schedule for Personal Education Budgets (PEB) via Direct Payment

The payment schedule for Personal Education Budgets for this school year has been published on the SEN Personal Budgets page of the SEND Local Offer.

大秀视频 Archive

Was this page useful?