Priority two - Increase the level of Specialist Resourced Provision available for those who need it
Our findings
The Delivering Better Value Programme (DBV) reviewed SEND Services in Warwickshire and found that the breadth of the education provision needed increasing, in particular there was a lack of Specialist Resourced Provision (SRP) across the county. IMPACT’s film ‘Wrong Size Fits All’ highlights key themes raised by children, young people and their parent carers about the struggles they face in mainstream schools; they also shared the importance of having education provision that enables children and young people to achieve according to their academic ability. We also recognise that provision needs to be located in areas where there is greatest need and close to home.
SRP offers an important model of education that enables greater flexibility, whilst maintaining access to an academic curriculum and links to the wider mainstream school, depending on the child or young person’s interests and areas of need. Some young people, who were educated in a specialist setting shared that they thought SRP may have worked for them, if it had been available at the time that they needed it.
Six new SRPs opened in September 2024 creating a further 68 places, increasing the total offer to 272 places for the 2024/25 academic year. This is ahead of the target of 231 places by January 2025.
Our actions
- Support the implementation of the DBV programme by working with schools to increase the number of SRP places for children and young people with SEND. It is expected that there will be a greater number of SRP places in the areas of greatest need, such as Nuneaton.
- Increase the number of SRP places to over 500 by 2028 with a priority to develop secondary resourced provision to ensure suitable transition opportunities for children leaving primary school.
- For the growth of resourced provision to be linked with the Education Sufficiency Strategy to ensure provision in place for growing populations.
- To review the impact of increased resourced provision in terms of both outcomes for children and young people and financial sustainability.
