Schools collaborate to improve offer for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCo’s) from local schools met on Wednesday 6 December at Grimsby Town Hall to build on an ongoing piece of work to improve our offer for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

This work is a part of Delivering Better Value in SEND, known as DBV. DBV is a national programme funded by the Department for Education. North East Lincolnshire is one of 55 Local Authorities to participate.

The Local Authority is being supported to identify the highest impact changes that can be put in place to improve outcomes for children and young people.

As part of the focus on improving our offer with and for schools, they have each completed an individual SEND evaluation facilitated by the Local Authority in conjunction with Learn Teach SEND Hub.

The purpose of the event was to take the findings of their evaluations further, to receive and share advice and guidance as well as receive resources to support their individual action plans.

Rebecca Taylor, Head of SEND and Inclusion said: “We have done an extensive amount of research and engagement to understand the needs of our schools and their pupils.

“The SEND evaluations have given us the opportunity to take this further, working with each setting to understand in more detail their individual strengths and challenges, and establish solutions.

“Every setting now has an individual action plan encompassing all areas of SEND that they can execute in a targeted way to improve their offer. This creates a strong foundation for even more improvements going forward.”

The next cohort of schools will meet on 24 January meaning all Local Authority schools, Academies, and Trusts will have taken part.

Cllr Margaret Cracknell, portfolio holder for children and education, said: “We are being proactive in our approach by working with schools in such an individual way.

“This approach means that we are unlocking the potential of our schools and their staff to provide the right support to children and young people.”