Getting ready for the SEN Ofsted inspectors is something that will focus the minds of Achieving for Children and others over the coming ten months. Central Government decided that in order to support successful implementation of the SEND Reforms, it would be a good idea to develop an SEN Ofsted inspection framework (it’s never been done before). The first of these inspections are planned to take place in May 2016 – and the inspection framework is expected in December. This means that every Local Authority must be ready by May just in case they are the chosen for inspection. What is really good news is that qualitative Parent Participation forms a major part of the inspection (2 days out of a 5 day inspection); this means talking directly to families about what is working and what is not. The SEN Ofsted will focus upon the following points:
“How effectively does the local area identify children and young people who are disabled and/or have special educational needs?” (most specifically, this include children and young people who have additional needs, but do not have a Statement or EHCP) “How effectively does the local area meet the needs and improve the outcomes of children and young people who are disabled and/or have special educational needs? “
I’ve underlined the words Local Area in the points above. This is a Local Area inspection – not Local Authority. However the LA, (in our case Achieving for Children) are the people measured on how well the Local Area supports children and young people with SEN (not an easy task – being measured on areas over which you have no direct control). What does Local Area mean… it means ‘what is it like to live in Kingston or Richmond if you have SEND?’ This might include the schools, the parks, the buses, housing, the doctor, the hospital etc etc Here are the (current) five bullet points that will be judged: “How would your area demonstrate it effectively meets the needs of disabled children and young people and those who have special educational needs and improves their outcomes? progress made, towards high expectation targets progress to higher education or employment independent living participating in society being as healthy as possible in adult life” This kind of framework will encourage everyone involved in supporting children & young people with SEN to work together. So that includes education, the council, the adult services, health and more. Unfortunately, the framework isn’t finalised (and won’t be until December) and in the meantime, we must all work towards understanding what the five points above actually mean. 11th July 2015