Swindon Borough Council

We did/will do: We have implemented a programme of workshops for professionals to improve communication, participation and co-production practices to drive improved outcomes and more effective preparation for adulthood.

A communication plan is in place to keep children, young people and families informed of developments. We now co-produce an annual conference for children and young people with SEND, parent/carers and professionals from across the SEND system to work together on service planning and evaluation.

We did/will do: In September 2019, we launched and co-produced the new SEND Local Offer to improve the quality of information and advice for parents/carers and provide greater transparency of the offer available. A good quality SEND Local Offer will mean greater choice and control for parents.

We did/will do: Identifying need at the earliest point and then making effective provision improves long-term outcomes for the child or young person. The SEN Education Improvement Advisor has developed a programme of support for the SENCo network.

The core-standards were launched in September 2019 to help with early identification of needs. The new Core Standards have been re-launched in 2020

You said: "...For example, not enough training is delivered to secondary school staff for autism and legal training is needed for SENCo’s and the SEN team to make sure people are aware of what is required."

We did/will do: A workforce skills audit is currently being carried out to identify areas of training needs for all provisions.

We did/will do: Through the development of the Core Standards there will be alternatives to the Early Help Record depending on the individual needs of the child and young person once these are launched. The new Core Standards have been re-launched in 2020.

You said: "...Parents fight to get an EHC Plan because of this. There is no help for children without a label."

We did/will do: We are currently undertaking a High Needs Funding Review which includes exploring strategies to support children and young people at SEN level more effectively to reduce the need for High Needs funding or an EHC Plan to improve outcomes.

We did/will do: We are currently reviewing the service specifications and contracts for support services to ensure they include requirements for SEND (practice aligned to SEND reforms) and reporting on impact of the service.

We did/will do: Our vision is for the SEND Local Offer to be the “go to” place for information, advice and services about SEND in Swindon. The SEND Local Offer should be the first way for children, young people and families to access information to support their SEND journey.

In addition to the SEND Local Offer, SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service) is a free independent confidential service.

We did/will do: The new Neuro-development Pathway went live October 2019. The pathway involves a new triage service to make sure all the relevant information required by the Paediatricians is there from the beginning. The waiting list is currently 2 years but is decreasing (April 2019 1,261 to December 2019 – 707).

We did/will do: By January 2020, following a review of the Advisory Services review, there will be a redesign of Advisory Services to support the delivery of best value in terms of cost and outcomes.

You said: "...The appointment process due to the long waiting lists means some children are removed from the list as parents don’t respond to letters asking if a child needs to stay on the waiting list."

We did/will do: Swindon has been successful in becoming a Wave 1 Trailblazer site in mental health. The first 40 schools have been selected. This involves a close look at waiting times and the referral points.

There will be a move towards self-referrals for those children and young people in the trailblazer schools. Swindon has also been successful in securing some additional funding to reduce waiting times. This has been implemented at the beginning of April 2019 and is ongoing. It will impact on CAMHS assessment and waiting times.

We will continue to commission the ELSA Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) programme for schools, Kooth (additional direct online access service to children and young people on the waiting lists) and the Mental Health Liaison post (within GWH for the CAMHS Outreach Service for Children and Adolescents who present at GWH).

You said: "...Please make sure all of my child’s teachers know they are on the SEN register and are aware of my child’s needs and what they should be doing to meet them.
Improving outcomes doesn’t always cost money. It is the small things that make a difference such as letting them play in the school football team.
Children with SEN sometimes take longer to achieve. There is a push on too many GCSE’s and academic achievement and not enough attention on the softer measures of progress.
Improve access to school especially for children who have health needs."

We did/will do: It is important that staff across education, care and health feel confident and have the skills to deliver reforms and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND to the highest standard. It is important that we set out what we expect from providers and services in relation to equality, inclusion and participation.

This is being done through the creation of Core Standards trough the High Needs Funding Review, across the 4 categories of SEND (Cognition and Learning, Communication and interaction, Social Emotional and mental Health and Physical and/or Sensory needs).

There is representation from SSFV and young people in this work. There will also be effective oversight of exclusions and persistent absence of children and young people with SEND by Senior Leaders from across the Area, Members and Swindon’s Safeguarding Board.

We have also committed to undertake a deep dive to gain insight from quantitative and qualitative information on exclusions and persistent absence in co-production with parents/carers, children with SEND and young people and schools to identify the key hotspots for targeted intervention.

We will provide governor training on the SEN and inclusion agenda to ensure a whole school approach to inclusion is adopted and exclusion hearings are managed effectively. We will ensure that schools and partners consistently comply with the statutory guidance on meeting the needs of children with medical needs with a particular focus on promoting school attendance see the Core Standards.

You said: "...This is important to parents because some Academies have zero tolerance policies using the Tsar approach towards behaviour. Children are being off-rolled and there is too much focus on statistics. Isolation is being used for things such as not carrying the right pen, this is difficult for neuro-typical children so imagine how this is for SEN children.
Multi-Academy Trusts and Free Schools are mini-worlds and can lose nurture.
There is a difference in the learning environment / investment in maintenance between North and South Schools due to some schools being PFI’s."

We did/will do: The Local Authority will work alongside the Regional School Commissioner (who has responsibility for Academies) to ensure there is a high quality, inclusive and equitable offer for Swindon’s children and young people with SEND.

Proportionally, Swindon has a large number of specialist school places and a high percentage of EHCP’s compared to other Local Authorities. Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient good school places for all pupils, including those with SEND. On the 4th March 2017 the Department for Education (DfE) announced capital allocations specifically for capital investment in provision for pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability.

Swindon was allocated £977,620 over three years from April 2018 (£325,873 per year). In May 2018, the DfE announced a further share of £50m for SEND capital investment of which Swindon received £227,353.

We have worked with partner groups including SSFV to decide how this money is spent. Swindon has invested significantly in provision exclusively for SEND by committing £11.6m since 2011 on a number of capital projects. The strategy is published on the SEND Local Offer.

We did/will do: One of the key areas we have now put into our 19/20 Learning and development plan is training on cultural congruence. The aim is to help our staff to develop a greater awareness of the diverse needs, communication styles and cultural considerations for the children and families of Swindon.

We did/will do:

We have started to use a Quality Assurance Framework.
We have undertaken a process mapping exercise for all of the Assessment Teams functions to ensure compliance
We have undertaken a review of all correspondence used by the Assessment team to ensure compliance and accessibility of information.
We are recruiting a Quality Assurance Manager to oversee quality and compliance within the SEND Assessment Team.

We did/will do: We are reviewing and co-producing the funding top up allocation methodology to ensure consistent and fair allocation of resources and will implement and evaluate the impact of this. We will then publish the funding mechanisms on the Swindon Local Offer.

We did/will do: To ensure continuous improvement of the efficiency, consistency and quality of the SEND processes including assessments, issuing of plans and annual reviews we are developing a Portal and have finalised a Quality Assurance framework, which will drive up the quality of advice provided for the statutory needs assessment process and subsequently the EHC Plan.

We did/will do:

The health contributions towards Statutory Needs Assessments have been reviewed and amended in line with guidance from the Council for Disabled Children’s guidance on good quality health advice.
DMO (Designated Medical Officer) and DCO (Designated Clinical Officer) regularly attend multi-agency EHC Plan and relevant meetings and drive the quality of health input into EHCPs, Early Help Assessments, Health Plans in education settings and SEND support plans.

We did/will do: This will be shared with the High Needs Funding Review Manager who will address this as part of the scheme of work being undertaken with the following objectives:

Better outcomes for children and young people
Better fit between needs and services
Higher satisfaction
Better value for money
Better relationships between service users and providers.

We did/will do: We have reviewed the Personal Budget policy, which is now on the Local Offer. We will measure the impact of this through the uptake of personal budgets by families to support choice and control.

We did/will do: We will publish a draft Joint Commissioning Strategy for public consultation. A protocol for tripartite funding of placements will be implemented and monitored.

We did/will do: It is important that the SEND team delivers a fully complaint service in relation to the statutory EHC process. We have reviewed the SEND Team so it is efficient, effective and compliant with the SEND Reforms.

The team is going through a restructure and new team members have been appointed to increase the staffing of the team. The phone line is now open all day Monday to Friday 01793 464641. There is one phone number for the whole team.

You said: "...We want good cross border arrangements for example a Swindon child is registered at a Wiltshire GP practice or a Swindon child is attending a Wiltshire school for Educational Psychology and Paediatric Therapy services as this currently provides barriers to accessing appropriate assessment, provision and funding."

We did/will do:

An advice writer for EHC Plans workshop has been held and another planned to support professionals in having the skills and knowledge to provide the right advice at the right time.
The service specification and support services review is underway. These specifications will include cross border arrangements.

We did/will do: The School and LA consider all advice and information available to them regarding children and young people’s needs and how best to meet them.

We did/will do: We will remind all settings of the Transitions Protocol through our communication channels such as the SEND Newsletter, SENCo Champions and Network.

We did/will do: Planning Live rolled out to all Special Resource Provisions to support preparation for adulthood

A workshop was held at the SENCo Network in May 2019 regarding person centred planning including transition.
A transition protocol is published on the Local Offer and reviewed annually.
A transition strategy that links with the SEND Commissioning Strategy will be developed.

We did/will do: The role of the Youth Engagement Worker (YEW) was developed in Swindon in April 2011. This work force is a team of highly skilled practitioners with a range of backgrounds from youth work to careers advice, counselling and education.

The main focus of their work is to support young people into education, employment and training by identifying the barriers to progression. Acknowledging that employment and education is one of the major protective and resilience factors for a young person, YEWs work with the identified NEET population, those young people who are identified as being at risk of being NEET in year 11, and young people who are engaged in high risk taking behaviours.

Youth Engagement Workers have extensive experience of working successfully with hard to reach and vulnerable young people. The basis of all their work is to develop productive, effective and professional relationships with young people to create opportunities for successful outcomes. Their work with young people is needs led, undertaking on-going assessment and employing a solutions focused approach to their intervention.

Transitional arrangements between children and Adult Care Services (including Health Services) will be reviewed to provide a more seamless process for assessment and support in preparation for adulthood.

We did/will do: Young people with SEND who are seeking employment should register with Building Bridges. Contact details for the programme are: Telephone Number: 01793 464770 Email: supportedemployment@swindon.gov.uk.

This programme works with young people to identify their work preferences and actively seeks employers that best match the young persons’ need. Trained Employment Coaches work with the employers to ensure relevant work teams are trained and supported in order to facilitate a successful entry into the workplace.

Many employers want to take on people with SEND if they are given appropriate training and support. Building Bridges attend the Transitions Roadshows and usually have with them a young person who has been successful in gaining employment. The young person is able to tell parents and young people about his or her journey into work.

We did/will do: A group of Swindon Borough Council (SBC) managers is currently drawing on existing good practice in SBC to develop resources that can be used by managers who are new to offering work experience.

An internal campaign will be run in May / June 2019 to encourage managers new to offering work experience placements to engage and consider what would be possible in their work area. This development work will include the offer of awareness and training sessions for staff.

We did/will do: Swindon Virtual School has implemented the new requirements for previously Looked After Children since February 2018. Information and Guidance was made available on the web site for Parents, Guardians and Carers.

Training Programme delivered termly to support improving educational outcomes for previously Looked after Children and Children Looked After to all education settings, Governing Boards and parents, carers.

Fostering Team supported Virtual School through contacting and inviting where known, all carers, parents and guardians. VS Educational Handbook devised and available on website.

Additionally Fostering Team sent individually to all known parents, carers and guardians. All education settings/children services received updated guidance documentation and sources of further advice.

We did/will do:

For more information and feedback about blue badge applications (PDF)
To apply for Blue Badge please see the travel pages

We did/will do: We have created a dedicated project group and improvement plan to address the stability of our workforce, this includes a targeted recruitment and retention plan and creating a Social Work Academy.

You said, we did

2019

Help us to improve this website

You said, we did

2019

You said: "Listen to parents, they know their child best in most cases. Please see us as an equal partner."

You said: "Please improve communication with parents. Professionals need to have open dialogue and work together not against each other and families. When this is done right it can go very right."

You said: "Some parents do not like to work with professionals."

You said: "Quiet children with SEND can fall under the radar until secondary school."

You said: "What training is being given to staff across education, health and social care?..."

You said: "Having to have Child in Need and Early Help reviews is taking valuable resources away from professionals delivering interventions and means the graduated response is taking too long."

You said: "The only way to get support is with an EHCP – there aren’t enough services beforehand. What about early intervention so an EHC Plan isn’t for life?..."

You said: "Schools do not buy enough traded services especially from Educational Psychology and instead ask for an EHC Plan to get this paid for by the Local Authority as part of the statutory assessment."

You said: "Parents to understand what ‘good’ looks like because there are so many different views and experiences. Good support, information and advice services so parents know what to expect and what their options are."

You said: "Neuro-development assessment waiting lists are too long and create crisis in un-met needs."

You said: "We know there is a national shortage of Speech & Language therapists, Occupational therapists and Educational Psychologists but the lack of involvement of these services is having an impact."

You said: "The wait for a child to be seen by CAMHS is too long. The gap between TAMHS and CAMHS is too big so children are being missed..."

You said: "Let us jointly agree the definition of inclusion and exclusion so we all have a shared understanding..."

You said: "Compared to other local authorities we have a good number of special schools and units. Whilst the mix and diversity isn’t always alright, in comparison to other local authorities we have good provision..."

You said: "Sexual behaviour is dealt with in a very ‘British’ way. Please see beyond sexual language if abuse is being disclosed."

You said: "Local procedures are not aligned with the Code of Practice – please review to make sure Swindon is compliant."

You said: "Schools are not being funded enough to meet children’s needs, examples given include schools sharing that they do not have any funding within their budget to meet need without an EHC Plan."

You said: "EHC Plan outcomes are not robust enough. Provision is not quantified and specific enough. Sections A-C are not updated regularly."

You said: "EHC Plans do not reflect health needs. Health advice should include Adverse Child Experience (ACE) information and what health provision will be offered to meet this."

You said: "The SEND team do not check how schools use the money they give them for children."

You said: "We want greater understanding and use of Personal Budgets for EHC Plans but the system is confusing."

You said: "Pooled budgets across education, health and social care would remove unnecessary barriers."

You said: "Increase the capacity of the SEND Team."

You said: "Professional reports towards Annual Reviews and towards cross agency working for other meetings like Child Protection Plans..."

You said: "Schools and the Local Authority do not accept private professional reports."

You said: "Does transition to adulthood start in Year 9, 10 or 11? There is a lack of consistency in what parents are being told, the conversations being held at reviews and when referrals are being made."

You said: "Transition is not happening as it should so this is having an impact on how the Local Authority plans and the experiences of young people in housing, social care services, employment."

You said: "There used to have a transitions team in schools that worked well, where has this gone?"

You said: "Transition events do not have enough employers who are willing to take on people with SEND."

You said: "There is a lack of work experience for young people with SEND. SEND children and young people need mentors and good strong role models."

You said: "The Virtual School is very ‘virtual’. How are Swindon implementing their new requirements for adoptive children?"

You said: "In June 2019, Swindon SEND Families Voice raised concerns over the process for applying for a Blue Badge on the Council website. The website has been changed to make the application process easier."

You said: "The Disabled Children’s Team social workers are excellent. However there are frequent changes of social workers across teams. Our children and families need continuity not instability."

Help us to improve this website