Synergy - Enquiry

What we did...

1. We have made sure that all developments are identified on the Send Improvement Plan, this is regularly reviewed and monitored.

We have developed several quality assurance processes across the education inclusion service. All of these include child and young person and parent/carer voice.

There is a lack of joined-up thinking & communication with the Local Authority and School

2. We have employed a SEND Improvement Officer to focus on developing the links across the local area.

The SEND Improvement officer will work with schools to improve communications by:

Creating closer links with all education settings
Creating an extensive training calendar for the local area which will improve links between services.
Working closely with all services across the local area to create more joined-up thinking between education, health and social care.

We Said	We Did
SEND services need improvement	We have made sure that all developments are identified on the Send Improvement Plan, this is regularly reviewed and monitored. We have developed a number of quality assurance processes across the education inclusion service. All of these include child and young person and parent/carer voice.
There is a lack of joined up thinking/ communication with the Local Authority and Schools	We have employed a SEND Improvement Officer to focus on developing the links across the local area. The SEND Improvement officer will work with schools to improve communications by : Creating closer links with all education settings Creating an extensive training calendar for the local area which will improve links between services. Working closely with all services across the local area to create more joined up thinking between education, health and social care.
There is a lack of joined up thinking across professional services	To increase joined up thinking, representatives from Education, Health and Social care work together in a number of ways including: Quality Assurance Includes a number of quality assurance activities that allow us to examine much more closely the quality, standard and outcomes of our interventions and practice. Joint Planning Group Joint planning and service delivery making recommendations to address key issues by working together to identify service solutions where required. SEND Impact Group Monitors the impact of SEND related implementation of work that targets key local area priorities. The overall purpose of the group is to secure better, and lasting, outcomes for children and young people with SEND. Outcome and Resources Group Considers and reviews provision for high-cost placement and requests for specialist placements. Multi Agency Panel Considers all applications for EHC needs assessment and makes recommendations whether to carry out statutory assessment. Local Offer Steering Group Enables services to come together to make sure SEND information for children, young people, parents, and carers is up to date and promoted.
Communication could be improved from the EHC Team e.g. Who they are, what they do, single point of contact, knowing the EHC Co-Ordinator etc	The ‘Education Health and Care Plans’ section of the Local Offer now includes information on: Who are the EHC Team? Contact information What is the EHC Hub? How the process works and much more! The EHC Hub has been introduced enabling young people and parents/carers to access the progress of their EHCP request or review online 24/7
There are poor life chances for Children and Young People in preparing them for adulthood	We developed the Preparation for Adulthood Strategy (PfA) that focuses on our shared values, vision and principles for how services will work effectively together and in partnership with children, young people with SEND and their parents and carers, to prepare for adult life. We have worked with the EHC Team, health partners and SENCOs on the expectation that preparation for adulthood will be a focus in all EHCPs from an early age, not just from year 9. Multi-Agency PfA training took place in March. Supporting professionals to understand why, how, and when preparing for adulthood begins for children and young people.
We would like more opportunities for engagement and participation The parent and child voice is not heard enough	Employed SEND Participation Officer, their role is to support and encourage service improvement around co-production and make sure that children and young people and parent/carer voice is embedded across the local area. Developed Engagement and Participation Strategy which sets out the approach for providing opportunities for engagement and participation at all levels, making sure children, young people and their parents/carers are at the heart of discussions and decisions
We would like further support to use the EHC Hub including	A number of training sessions before the launch of the EHC Hub. These were advertised via education settings, the local offer and Facebook. Every education setting was offered a parent/carer training session. Parents and carers can also get 1:1 support from their SENCO.

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Working together to keep information up to date

The SEND code of Practice states:

The Local Offer should be collaborative: Local Authorities MUST involve parents, carers and young people in developing and reviewing the Local Offer, they must also cooperate with those providing services.

BMBCs Families Information Service maintain the Local Offer Website. As part of our ongoing commitment to ensure the information cited on the website is accurate, up to date and of value for SEND families FIS are facilitating a programme of activity which includes:

• ‘Let’s Talk Local Offer’ service user focus groups: Face to face and virtual sessions targeted at families and young people

• Online Smart Surveys: promoted to professionals, parents, and young people.

• Professional’s Local Offer Quality Assurance Meetings: to review service information and documents.

Each activity will relate to a section on the Local Offer Website and focuses on the information held within as follows:

Starting your SEND Journey	Education
Disabled Children's Register (DCR)	Education Health & Care Plans (EHCP)
Early Help for SEND Families	Get Involved
Childcare for Children with SEND	Becoming an Adult
Short Breaks	Money

For more information, including dates and times of upcoming 'Let's Talk Local Offer' sessions click here.

Feedback from each of the sessions is displayed below, and will be circulated through our wider communication channels.

We said, we did

SEND services need improvement

We think SEND services need improvement

Local Offer Website Quality Assurance

Starting your SEND journey

Disabled Children's Register (DCR)

Contact us

Find us on Facebook!

Help us improve the Local Offer Website

Current ways to have your say

Keeping you up to date with SEND improvements

Take a look at the Local Offer Newsletters’ (Opens in New Window)

BMBC Strategies

Worried about a child?

Barnsley's Virtual Family Hub

We Said	We Did
Clarity is needed around the purpose of the DCR	Information on the DCR section of the Local offer Website was revised to make the purpose of the DCR and why we have one clearer.