Last chance to share views on proposed core and traded SEND offer for education settings
If you haven't responded yet, there is still time to share your views on Warwickshire County Council's proposals in relation to the SEND and Inclusion Service Offer for education settings before the consultation closes this Sunday 12 March.
The SEND & Inclusion Service Offer consultation sets out proposals for the core and traded offer currently provided for education settings across the county.
The proposals focus on a range of early intervention activities. These include introducing an annual planning conversation with all schools regarding SEND, carrying out an audit of SEND in every school every three years, and providing an amount of Educational Psychologist time for children and young people who are having their needs met at SEN Support.
These activities are in addition to the statutory offer that WCC delivers and will be paid for by the Council. No current services are to be withdrawn.
Feedback is also welcomed on proposals for the SEND Home to School Transport Service. This consultation also closes at midnight Sunday 12 March 2023.
More information on each consultation is below. This includes an executive summary, video presentations and Easy Read documents.
Consultation 1: SEND and Inclusion Service Offer
Consultation 2: SEND Home to School Transport Service
To find out more about the consultations please visit: ask.warwickshire.gov.uk/.
Transforming support for children and young people in Warwickshire
Do you work with children or young people with special educational needs and disabilities or those with safeguarding needs?
If so, did you know that Warwickshire County Council have co-designed a webpage where all staff from education settings can access resources and training on SEND and safeguarding needs. There are a variety of resources in each area to provide advice, guidance and support as well as courses to promote awareness and knowledge.
The courses are designed to help enhance skills to effectively teach pupils in both mainstream and specialist settings and are relevant for professionals from different disciplines working with children with disabilities or special needs and their families.
The council are also offering select free specialist training to all Warwickshire schools as part of a countywide programme to support children and young people including those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities.
There are a range of courses available including Autism Spectrum Awareness, Youth Mental Health First Aid, An Introduction to Restorative and Relational Practice and Adverse Childhood Experiences. A set number of spaces will be available for each education setting.
For more information on the training available, please visit here.
Find out more about Coventry and Warwickshire RISE services
If you missed Warwickshire County Council's recent webinar with Coventry and Warwickshire RISE, you can now watch it back below.
The session gives an insight into the different services provided by RISE to support children and young people's mental and emotional wellbeing and covers helpful information for both professionals working with children and young people, as well as families.
The webinar was organised in partnership with Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice.
Schools invited to share their experience of involvement in local authority processes for resolving disagreements around support for children and young people with SEND
we are committed to improving services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), with a strong focus on early intervention to give them the best start in life.
We understand there may be occasions when families won’t agree with the decisions that we make about education health and care (EHC) plans or EHC needs assessments and recognise the importance of being able to have open and honest discussions with families to resolve any issues.
As part of a wider programme of work focused on improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, we are reviewing the process for resolving disagreements following a decision about an EHC plan or EHC needs assessment.
To help improve the process, we would like to encourage professionals working in schools who have been involved with local authority processes for resolving disagreements within the past two years to share their experiences by responding to a new survey. This involvement may have been through mediation and/or through the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) appeals process.
All feedback is welcome and anyone who has recently been through the process is being encouraged to respond. Parents, carers and young people aged 16-24, and other professionals working with families, are also being invited to share their views as part of this review.