Kevin McDaniel, Director of Children's Services, and CCG representative to present the update.

Kevin McDaniel presented the SEND Area Inspection Update to the Panel based on the inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission which took place in July 2017.

Kevin McDaniel highlighted that it was the first time that a SEND Area Inspection had been carried out in the borough. The inspection outcome letter identified strengths including that overall young people with additional needs and disabilities attended, achieved and secured post 18 opportunities better than their peers nationally.  Inconsistencies in access to services were identified across the area and many parents reported processes being too difficult and inconsistent when seeking help.  Overall the inspectors believed that the weaknesses were such that the Local Authority had to submit a written statement of action to Ofsted by the 24 November 2017.

ACTION: UPDATE ON ACTION PLAN TO PANEL IN BOTH OCTOBER 2017 AND DECEMBER 2017 MEETINGS

The following points were raised about the report;

·         This was a very concerning report as some children are being let down.

·         A number of parents had made it clear to inspectors that they felt their child was not getting services they were entitled to. While some parents used influence to get more support that others, some pupils were missing out on the right support.

·         The report identified that some schools were excellent at picking up on additional needs while others put it down to behavioural issues and did not act upon them.

·         This outcome could be attributed to decisions in the past but things were starting to improve now and the Director of Children’s Services would identify any additional resources required for consideration by Cabinet in October 2017.

·         The report was published on the Ofsted website on 1 September 2017.  All state-funded schools were contacted on the first day back at school after the summer holidays for a SEND briefing meeting that was two days later. The attendance to the SEND meeting was 40 schools; only one of which was a secondary school. The panel considered that the attendance was very poor. The secondary schools that did not attended had now all been contacted and there were dates in the diary for meetings to discuss the report and next steps.

·         Members asked if AfC were able to assist to improve our services. It was noted that both Kingston and Richmond had not yet been through the SEND inspection process, however they had excellent experience and the RBWM service would be talking to them.

·         Independent schools were not invited to the meeting.

·         Better communication was required. Having a system where parents and children were not having to repeat the entire case numerous times to different staff. Having continuity for cases.

·         Members asked what other authorities did to promote the local offer. There were many ways of communication including an annual “come and try” event, a paper booklet and better joint communication between partners.

·         The local Parent Forum was disbanded in 2016 because it was ineffective. A new Parent Forum (PACIP) had been developed to build the trust of parents. This had been supported by the DfE and a grant had also been secured.

Debbie Hartrick, representing the Clinical Commissioning Group, was present at the meeting. They agreed with the recommendations from Ofsted and welcomed any opportunity to improve services as a result. The DCO role had been strengthened as a result of the inspection to better meet the parents.  There was a recent parent participation group at which parents said they really valued the family support service.

A school inclusion charter was discussed and members wanted to know how it could be enforced.  The charter would be public so schools would be under pressure to sign up and parents could hold local leaders to account. Some other Local Authorities had already taken this approach.

Other points discussed by the panel included:

·         Some schools had the wrong attitude: instead of thinking what changes could be made for the child, they were thinking we can’t make changes within the school.

·         There was a lack of collaboration across the borough.  We had some excellent SENCOs and a day conference would be very useful to have all the fantastic people sharing their experiences and talking to each other to improve outcomes.

The Chairman was informed that the Headmaster of Holyport College, Walter Boyle, was in attendance at the meeting and wanted to speak. The Panel unanimously agreed that they allow him to speak even though he had not registered to speak. The Panel felt that it was important to hear what the school had to say.

Walter Boyle, Head of Holyport College made the following points:

·         Secondary schools did not attend the SEND meeting as schools were only informed on the first day of term after the summer holidays, with only two days notice. Holyport College were not going to attend as they have lost confidence in the borough.

·         Funding from the borough for children with additional needs was not easy to access.

·         Holyport College had given a lot of commitment to the borough.

·         Holyport residents felt that they could not access their local school because of EHPC pupils and this has been raised with the borough.

·         In 2014, 20% of year 7, In 2015, 15.9%, In 2016 18.2% and in 2017, 29.5% were EHCP/looked after/adopted pupils.

·         Walter Boyle asked the Panel and the Leader of the Council, who was present at the meeting, that after the meeting, the issues raised would stay on the Agenda and not be forgotten. Councillor Dudley assured the Panel and the Headmaster of Holyport College that this would stay on the Agenda and would go to Cabinet in October. The borough wanted to improve the outcomes for all these children and their parents.

The Chairman highlighted that we were determined to put this right and asked for the action plan to be on the Agenda for the next meeting. The Chairman thanked the officers for their hard work and encouraged schools to assist.