A report outlining the progression of the local area’s Written Statement of Action (WSOA) has been endorsed by Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet today.
The Written Statement of Action has been co-produced in response to a local area inspection of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) which took place in July 2021. The local area includes not just Warwickshire County Council, but also the Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS providers, schools and settings. As part of the inspection, the Inspectors reviewed evidence of how children and young people with SEND are identified, how their needs are assessed and met, and how they are supported to move on to their next stage of education, the world of work and wider preparation for adulthood.
The final inspection report was issued in September 2021 and noted some positive action including the commitment of leadership across the local area to improving outcomes for children and young people through its ambitious SEND and Inclusion Change Programme. It also noted that children and young people with SEND achieve positive educational outcomes, and a high proportion of them remain in education, training and employment. Attendance rates for children and young people with SEND are very positive and fixed-term exclusions have reduced dramatically.
However, it also highlighted significant areas of weakness that the local area needs to address, particularly waiting times for autism assessments and the quality of the online local offer.
In total, five significant areas of weakness were identified for action. The report presented to Cabinet today has outlined the progress made to date on those areas in the draft Written Statement of Action, which is set to be submitted to Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission by the 24 December 2021.
Talking about the progress made, Councillor Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Education and Children’s Services said:
“As an authority we know that we have work to do and we know there are several areas where we need to do better to improve the services we provide. However, I want to reassure families that we are committed to improving services and I am pleased to see the huge amount of progress that has already been made, not only on the Written Statement of Action, but also with the SEND and Inclusion Change Programme.
“We have been working closely with families and our strategic partners including Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice over the last few months to co-produce the Written Statement of Action which will be submitted to Ofsted by the 24 December for approval. Our action plan will be robust, and we will work with rigour and pace to ensure changes are made to help us to improve and enhance the SEND offer in Warwickshire.”
As part of the commitment to improving the lives of Children and Young people with SEND, an additional £1.5m has been committed to address the autism waiting list on top of £1.6m from partners to support the transformation of pre-assessment and post diagnostic support.
For more information on SEND in Warwickshire visit https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send