Telford SEND highlights improvements | Shropshire Star

A joint inspection by education agency Ofsted and care inspectorate CQC was carried out at Telford & Wrekin last year.

The inspectorate assessed the “effectiveness of local arrangements for meeting the needs of children with special educational needs (SEND)”.

Telford & Wrekin Council was assessed alongside a range of partners, environments, parents/carers and young people across the health, education and care sectors.

Natalie Bevan, the council’s SEND service delivery manager, said this was not an inspection of the local authority, but “rather about how the whole region, including health partners, is working to support SEND”. Ta.

The partnership in Telford & Wrekin achieved the best of three possible outcomes.

The inspectors concluded: “Local partnership SEND arrangements usually deliver positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

“Where improvements are needed, regional partnerships are taking action.”

Mrs Bevan said the inspection report recognized the “passion and determination of local organizations to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and to achieve positive outcomes”.

“This has highlighted that children and young people with SEND are seen, valued and included in Telford and Wrekin communities,” Mrs Bevan told councilors at the council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee this week. Told.

Due to the positive results, the next full SEND test will be performed within the next five years.

The joint report states that “the needs of children and young people are usually identified and assessed quickly and accurately.” Appropriate support is therefore provided to meet their evolving needs. ”

It was also stressed that “community leaders closely monitor” young people who are not in education, employment or training.

The partnership was praised for having an “effective system” to help young people return to suitable jobs.

The “stability” of senior leadership at Telford and Wrekin SEND services was also highlighted.

The partnership was given areas for improvement including “improving the governance, monitoring and oversight of diagnostic pathways”.

This includes neurodevelopmental, mental health, and speech therapy evaluations.

Communication with families beyond formal consultation channels and advice about the support available to children and young people with SEND were also areas for improvement.

Some of the changes being made include systems for overseeing partnership committees and monthly service contract reviews to review diagnostic performance data.

Recent developments will mean 50 per cent of schools in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin will be covered by mental health support teams.

Additional funding has been dedicated to additional autism diagnostic evaluations.

The Child Development Center has opened a consultation desk for people with autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who are on the waiting list or who have been discharged from the hospital within six months.

Since the spring, additional staff have been added to speech therapy services, reducing wait times.

A “Collaborative Working Group for Parent Involvement” was also established, with representatives from more specific parent groups.

The partnership “reminds staff” to avoid using acronyms in meetings and communications.

The partnership is also working to “create a parent-friendly version” of the service and map a governance committee.

It also plans to hold a “marketplace event” to let parents/carers know who the key parent groups are.

Councilor Paul Watling, cabinet member for adult social care and health care, said improvements were “continuous”.

Furthermore, he added: “I’m really proud that we got the best possible result, but what more can we do?

“We keep saying, ‘How can we work together to be better and do things differently?’

“Part of that process is for people to connect and tell us about their position.”