A plan that will improve early support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and ensure services are easier for families to navigate has been approved for Bath and North East Somerset.
The Local SEND Reform Plan has been approved by the Department for Education, marking an important milestone in Bath & North East Somerset Council and its partners’ shared ambition for children and young people with SEND.
The plan has been developed through a co-design approach involving children and young people, families, schools, colleges, health services, voluntary sector organisations and parent carer representatives.
The reforms aim to help more children and young people to thrive with support at the right time and in the right place. The plan is designed to improve outcomes, build confidence in the system, reduce the need for crisis interventions and ensure services are delivered in a cost-effective way.
Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: “The approval of our Local SEND Reform Plan is a significant step forward for children, young people and families across Bath and North East Somerset.
“This plan has been shaped through genuine co-design with families, education settings, health colleagues and young people themselves. It’s a shared vision for a more inclusive system that helps children and young people to achieve and thrive.
“It also builds on the recent Ofsted and Care Quality Commission inspection of SEND services in Bath and North East Somerset, which recognised our strong partnership working, effective early help services and significant work already under way to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.”
SEND support in mainstream schools will be enhanced alongside additional inclusion bases. A recruitment drive will increase the number of educational psychologists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists working in mainstream education settings who are ‘Experts at Hand’.
Alongside this, the programme will be supported by existing plans to increase specialist educational placements, including plans for a new 120-place special free school at Culverhay, a new special school at Charlton House, and an Alternative Provision School at the Abbot Alphege Academy.
The Local SEND Reform Plan was developed and submitted jointly by Bath & North East Somerset Council, NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, education providers, the B&NES Parent Carer Forum and other local partners through the Local Area Inclusion Partnership Board.
Read more about SEND support and reform plans in Bath and North East Somerset
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