Welcome to the November issue of Heads Up

Three years into the SEND Reform programme there is much to celebrate in Warwickshire. Foremost being the good progress being made by learners at SEND Support or with EHC plans in both mainstream and special schools.

Headteachers are playing a key role on the SEND Programme Board and in the workstreams that continue to design and improve the SEND system in Warwickshire. This has included developing new special schools, specialist provision in mainstream and approaches and programmes in mainstream that are building the capacity of schools to meet a wide range of needs. All of the workstreams have colleagues from education, health, social care and the Parent Carer Forum. 

The aim is to establish a SEND system in Warwickshire that all stakeholders have confidence in. With good identification, assessment, provision and outcomes as the norm. Having good headteacher engagement on our decision making panels is building that confidence that the system is transparent and fair and focuses on the needs and outcomes for the child. Anyone interested in contributing to the SEND reform programme work please contact me at pattate@warwickshire.gov.uk and for joining our rolling membership of panels contact sen@warwickshire.gov.uk.

A recent workshop that brought together this work celebrated, among other things, the launch of the WinCKs Scheme in our early years settings, the work of SENDIAS and the Primary SEMH Steering Group.

As well as setting priorities for the next year delegates examined the Local Offer and how it can be improved. The Local Offer can be found at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send and is a great source of information, links and clips on SEND for young people, parents and professionals. Please encourage your staff and parents to use it and ideally have a link on your school website. Feedback is welcome and this helps it work for everyone.

Best wishes,

Pat Tate

Strategic Lead SEND and Inclusion