Sefton SEND Strategy 2025-2028 (Easy Read summary)

Sefton SEND Strategy.

2025 – 2028.

This Easy Read information is a summary of what is in the strategy.

SEND – means Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

In this document ‘We’ means all the partners who are involved in developing Sefton’s draft SEND Strategy.

The draft strategy is split into 2 sections.

• The Vision.

The Vision – This is what we want to achieve by following the SEND Strategy

• The 4 Priorities.

Priorities – These are the most important things we want to achieve.

1. Inclusion.

2. Developing local services for children, young people and families.

3. Improving Transitions and preparing for adulthood.

4. Good communication and quality information .

Vision.

Our goal is to help children and young adults with SEND in Sefton.

We want them to have good life chances and support to do well.

They should go to schools near home, make friends, and feel part of their community.

We want them to be healthy in body, mind, and feelings.

Their needs should be known early and met quickly.

They should learn to be independent and have dreams for the future.

We want them to grow into adults who feel ready to live happy lives.

All organisations will be partners that work together to give the best support.

Families should be strong and live safe, happy lives.

Priority 1 is Inclusion.

Inclusion means to help meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and ensure they are included.

Good Information.

The Local Offer is a website that helps families find support for children with special needs or disabilities. It is for ages 0 – 25 with SEN or Disabilities. The information will be correct, current, and made with help from families.

The Local Offer will also have better details about services. This includes community activities and short breaks for families. Everyone can use this resource to find what they need.

Services will give families information, advice, and support.

This includes the Early Help and Early Years Service are part of this support. They work with families to give the best care. They help children grow and learn well.

Team Around the Baby and Building Attachments and Bonds Service (BABs) are also here to help. They focus on building strong bonds and attachments. This support helps families feel connected and supported.

Workforce Development – staff training.

There will be a new programme to help staff in Sefton schools and services learn new skills. They will get training on things like school avoidance, mental health, and trauma. This will help them support students better.

We will create a community of practice where everyone can learn from each other. Professionals will share good ideas and practices. This will help make sure staff are confident and skilled in their work.

We will work with families, schools, and other services to make sure help is given when needed.

How Services are doing and how they can develop.

The Team Around the School (Tas) will keep helping schools in Sefton. This will support children and families early, especially those at risk of harm or getting into trouble.

We will work to make sure children with special needs go to school regularly. This includes children who are cared for, missing from school, or afraid to go to school. We will give help and training to staff to support these children.

Different services will work together better to help children, young people, and families. This will make sure they get the right help when they need it. We will link Early Help and SEND services to find and assess needs better.

We will find and assess special needs and disabilities early. This will make sure all children and young people in Sefton get the right help at the right time. We will also support children with social, emotional, and mental health needs.

We will make sure Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP) are done on time and are good quality. These plans will show what help children need as they grow. Families will learn what makes a good plan.

How people use services.

We will check how long people wait for assessments through the SEND Partnership Board. If there are delays, we will make strong plans to help.

We work with Cheshire and Merseyside Health Care Partnership to help children and adults with Autism and Adhd.

We know more people need Autism and Adhd checks. Waiting lists are long, and people need help.

Our Sefton SEND partnership wants to make things better for everyone.

• We want to see neurodiversity as a difference, not a disability. We know there are challenges, but we want to also focus on strengths.

• We aim to support each child’s needs early. We want to help children, and their families reach their best, not just focus on diagnosis.

• We will make our approach clear and organised we have called this the graduated approach. This will help everyone understand what to do and when.

• We will listen to people’s experiences and use their ideas to improve our services. Their voices are important to us.

• We will work with Local Authorities to make schools and early years settings better for children with neurodiversity. They need to feel included and supported.

• We will shorten waiting lists by training more professionals to do assessments. We will also make the assessment process quicker and simpler.

• Many people with neurodiversity also experience mental health and educational challenges. We will change how professionals work together to support those needs as early as possible.

Priority 2: Developing local services for children, young people and families.

This means having enough services for families and how organisations can work together to arrange and buy them together.

What services we need locally.

We will listen to local people and organisations to understand their needs. They will check and review information often to know what is needed for children with special needs.

We will look at local services and make sure there are enough school places for children. We will share this information in the SEND Sufficiency Strategy.

We will work with other councils and groups to share good ideas and improve services. We will use data and information to help improve services.

We will follow the SEND Joint Commissioning Strategy to bring health, education, and care together. This will help use resources well and improve lives for children and families.

We will make sure there are enough short breaks and fun activities for children with special needs. They will also help families to meet and support each other.

We will improve the quality of special education and other services. They will help education providers understand and follow the law.

We will keep checking and improving services. They will listen to children, young people, and families to make sure services work well.

Family Hubs will get better at helping children with special needs and their families. They will work with other groups to offer more support, especially for children at risk.

We will make sure there is help for children waiting for assessments.

We will support children in the youth justice system.

Co Production.

We will work with children, young people, families, and schools to hear their thoughts on services. This helps us make services better. We will work together to shape and change local services.

Children, young people, parents, carers, schools, and professionals will help make guidance and information that is useful for them.

We will teach our partners about working together. This will make sure everyone knows how to work well together in the future.

Priority 3: Transitions and Preparing for Adulthood.

Planning and Coordination.

We will make long-term plans for children and young people.

Services will work together to see what is needed and to help with changes. This starts from Year 9 to get ready for being an adult.

This will help children and young people with SEND feel strong and sure. Families will also feel better about changes.

Improving Pathways and Information.

We will make sure information about services for children and young people with SEND is easy to find. This includes help for those aged 14 - 25, like the Preparation for Adulthood Guide and the Sendiass Service.

Sendiass means SEND Information, Advice and Support Service.

We will make clear plans from birth to adulthood.

These plans will help with changes in education, health, and social care. We will support children who are home-schooled, missing school, or in alternative provision.

We will help children and young people with SEND get ready for adulthood. This includes further education, jobs, and social activities.

We want to improve social opportunities and reduce loneliness and support their emotional health and wellbeing.

We will work with others to make sure there are safe and welcoming places to live. This includes supported living and day support. We want young people to know about their choices.

We will look at how services help children and young people with their parents and carers. We want to make these services better and improve their experiences and outcomes.

The provision giving support to young people over 16 with an EHCP and their local council will check if their existing plan meets their needs.

We will work with employers and further education providers to increase opportunities for young people 16+ with SEND.

Priority 4: Improving our communication and the quality of information available.

Communication is key. Children, young people, and their families will get timely and helpful messages from services.

They will be kept informed news by:

• Services.

• Partners.

• Local Offer.

• Communications like the SEND newsletter.

• Social media.

We will listen to what children, young people, and families say is important to them and how they want to get information.

We will make a SEND Communication Strategy to improve how we talk to everyone involved.

We will consider the accessibility of information and how it is given.

Children, young people, and families will know how their feedback is used and what changes we make because of it.

Why this page, not just a PDF? The original is a PDF - fine to read, but a poor fit for assistive technology: heading structure is often inconsistent or absent, text doesn't reflow for zoom or a narrow screen, and screen readers can struggle with multi-column layouts and scanned pages. This page is the same content rebuilt as plain, semantic HTML - real headings, text that reflows, nothing a screen reader or zoom tool trips over.

Republished from Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council under the Open Government Licence v3.0. View the original PDF.