Issue - meetings

The Board received a report advising of the development and key highlights of Oldham’s new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy.  The Strategy, which among other matters was seeking to address the five issues highlighted within a SEND Inspection undertaken two years previously, was in the final round of consultation.  Inspectors were currently attending at the Council and were being presented with the evidence of improvements and the time that had been taken to build the vision and collaborative approach between the partners with an interest and input into SEND matters. 

The ambition was for Oldham ‘to be a place where children and young people thrive’, the mission of the SEND Strategy being that ‘We want all our children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve well in their early years, at school and in further education, find employment, lead happy, healthy and fulfilled lives and have choice and control over their support’.  The SEND Oldham Partnership believed that all children and young people, including those with SEND, should be:

·         able to be educated in the borough where they live;

·         able to access opportunities that prepare them to be successful in life, learning and work;

·         able to access appropriate high-quality support to build their emotional resilience and improve their health and wellbeing;

·         safe and happy when taking part in all experiences; and

·         listened to and actively involved in decisions that affect their lives and communities

The key outcomes of the Strategy have shaped and directed a Development Plan which focused on the following key priorities for improvement:   

·         Every child and young person is a confident communicator;

·         Every learning setting is inclusive;

·         Every young person is ready for adulthood; and

·         Every child and young person is a part of their community

The Board was advised that impacts in the community should become visible if significant improvement could be made in these areas over the coming three to five years.  This gave importance to the final consultations which would ensure that all partners were signed up. 

The Board noted the benefits of keeping education, health and social care together as one and, with regard to the objective of inclusivity, the need to ensure the accessibility of schools.  Noting issues of the physical accessibility of schools, the Board was advised that the issue was wider than just adaptions and included considerations such as waiting lists and school place planning.  With regard to completion of Education, Health and Care Plans, it was confirmed that these were being dealt with in a more timely manner, with 90% now being completed within timescale.  Improvements were also being seen in relation to health and social care inputs and to presentation.

RESOLVED – That the mission and outcomes of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy be endorsed, and the Board gives its support to the use of the approach undertaken to develop this Strategy being applied to other strategies in Oldham.