Oxfordshire Local Area SEND Strategy (May 2022)

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Oxfordshire Oxford Health issionil NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Commissioning Group

Qb Oxfordshire Reus) County Council

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Foreword

This strategy is for Oxfordshire children and young people aged 0 - 25 years who have Special Educational Needs or/and Disability

(SEND), their families and the professionals who

work together with them.

This document sits alongside our Health and Wellbeing Strategy, which in turn is informed by our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). It was produced by the SEND Strategy Development Group, with representatives from Oxfordshire County Council (education and social care), NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, education settings and Oxfordshire Parent Carers Forum.

This strategy is set within the national context and our statutory requirement to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND under the requirements of the Children and

Families Act 2014. It is also informed by our local

context, which sees rising numbers of children who have a range of complex needs and the requirement to provide high quality, ambitious and responsive services within the national funding provided.

We consulted on the draft strategy from 10th January to 10th March 2022 with published

materials, Easy Read versions and some adapted

materials prepared by sixth form students at one of our Oxfordshire special schools. The consultation focused on the five strategic objectives set out in the draft:

—

¢ Improving outcomes for children with SEND

e Developing a continuum of local provision to meet the requirements of children and young people with SEND

¢ Good physical and mental health and wellbeing

e Improving post-16 education, learning, employment and training

¢ Positive move into adulthood for young people with SEND

During the consultation period, seven independently chaired roadshows were

held, two of which were adapted specifically for children and young people. Given the restrictions resulting from the pandemic, the events were held online with over 200 people attending.

There were 866 responses to the consultation with over 90% support from parents and professionals for the new SEND Strategy objectives, resulting in no changes proposed to the five strategic objectives.

We recognise that we did not explicitly state within the Strategy that co-production is at

the heart of everything we do and central to moving forward with the implementation of this strategy. As a result, the Strategy has been amended to include reference to co-production.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

The local area recognises that it still has work

to do to ensure that children, young people and their families have confidence in the robustness of proposals to implement and embed positive change. This will best be achieved with full involvement of children, young people and their families/carers.

Feedback confirmed the objectives as a positive framework for improving SEND provision and outcomes for children. There was significant interest in the implementation plans. Other themes included lack of resources and the need for staff training. These issues will inform the implementation plans.

Implementation plans will take into account parental feedback, will be developed in co- production, and remain consistent with

the strategic objectives. In addition, impact measures for the Local Area SEND Strategy are in development in order to help us to monitor our progress.

This is our shared Local Area SEND Strategy and it will require meaningful commitment from commissioners and service providers to work co-productively and in equal partnership with families, children and young people. We are committed to building those partnerships and ensuring that Oxfordshire becomes a beacon of SEND success.

Contents

Underpinning Principles

Executive Summary

Introduction

Context - Setting the Scene

Reasons to Change

Our Vision

What do we need to make this happen? What does success look like?

Governance and Monitoring

10) Easy Read version

Appendices

The legal requirements underpinning the Local Area SEND Strategy How the Local Area SEND Strategy was developed

(iii) Data Sources

(iv) Governance Structure

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Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

1) Underpinning Principles

Welcome to Oxfordshire’s Local Area SEND Strategy.

Oxfordshire’s ambition is for those with SEND to have rich and fulfilling lives at the heart of their communities.

This strategy sets out how Oxfordshire will

work towards that ambition by developing high quality services across education, health and social care to support children and young people with SEND and their families. This is to ensure that they can access high quality services across education, health and social care.

To do this, we have had to rethink the ways

in which we work. This strategy reflects the need to build strong partnerships using the principles of co-production, including our plan for securing this long-term change and how we will know it is working.

When we use co-production, we involve all the relevant people in the design, delivery and evaluation of services and in decisions that affect them. This gives people control over their own lives and can provide the community with a sense of collective ownership. It helps people thrive and feel a sense of place and belonging and ultimately leads to better lives for everyone.

This strategy will be reviewed annually so that we can be sure that it is addressing current needs, and identifying where the focus should be.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

2) Executive Summary

Oxfordshire’s strategy outlines the vision and key —_—_ To achieve that ambition, we will publish

priorities for improving the outcomes achieved detailed and specific implementation plans that and lived experiences of children and young sit beneath this strategy and that focus on taking people aged 0-25 with SEND from 2022 to 2027. actions to reduce inequalities.

Our ambition is for all children and young people with SEND to have the right support and opportunities at the right time so that they go on to live rich and fulfilling lives at the heart of their communities.

Our four priority areas:

Develop a continuum of local high-quality provision and enable all services to be inclusive and deliver excellent outcomes for children with SEND, including building on existing good practice

To ensure that there is seamless and effective transition at all points for young people with SEND to access opportunities that are important to them and for them

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disab

3) Introduction

By placing children and families at the heart of our thinking and our actions, this strategy sets out how we will work collaboratively to ensure the Oxfordshire Local Area acts within both the spirit and the letter of the 2014 Children and Families Act.

The Local Area receives funding from government to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND. Our collective view is that this funding is insufficient to meet the requirements of the Local Area. That said, the Local Area is responsible for using the available funding wisely and effectively. As such, some hard choices have to be made about what services/provision can be supported, and these choices will be made in ways that are transparent, consistent and fair.

Our strategy will be guided and informed by the views of families, children and young people. Parents, carers, children and young people will also be central to developing and reviewing our strategy and measuring its success.

Achieving the aims of this strategy will take

ility (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

The success of this strategy will be defined by whether Oxfordshire will be a place where children and young people with SEND have every opportunity to:

Learn and achieve as a result of inclusive, effective, timely and joined-up support from a range of services

Be educated in the most effective setting as close to their home as possible

Belong and feel safe within a community, taking into account their aspirations, choices and individual requirements

Find meaning and purpose within a community, including paid employment that meets their individual aspirations and skills

collective effort and responsibility from statutory

and non-statutory services (including the privat and third sector) working in close partnership with families, children and young people to reflect their views and ideas.

Critical to the development of this strategy

will be ensuring that co-responsibility across agencies is built into the implementation proces: leading to co-production with all stakeholders, including families. This is so that the challenges to service delivery for Education, Health and Care are fully reflected, and that there is a joint strategic approach to overcoming them.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

4) Context - Setting the Scene in Oxfordshire

The following diagrams provide some high-level information about children and young people in Oxfordshire with SEND. Further detailed sources of available data can be found in the Appendices to

this document.

Oxfordshire SEND in numbers

Aged 0-25 claiming disability benefits"

Aged 0-24 on Oxfordshire disability register?

4,049

Aged 0-25 with EHCP supported by Oxfordshire County Council?

Speech, Language and Communications Autistic Specteum Disorder

EHCPs by age Age 20-25 300

Social, emotional & mental health

Age 16-19 857 Age 11-15 1,430 Age 5-10 1,300 Under 5 — 130

Groups: Vulnerable groups

Pupils at Oxfordshire schools with SEN support?

Pupils at Oxfordshire schools with EHCPs?

EHCP and SEN support pupils by need Moderate learning difficulty

Specific Ld Severe Ld Profound and multiple Ld

Hearing impairment Visual impairment Physical disability

Multi sensory impairment

SEN support but no type

Other

EHCP = Education, Health and Care plan SEND = Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Children in need with EHCP?

Children we care for with EHCP?

Child protection with EHCP?

Young people in Youth Justice System with SEND‘

Ooo®

[1] DWP February 2020, Dla and Pip.

[2] DfE SEN2 and school census January 2020 (all ages) [3] Oxfordshire County Council March 2020

[4] Oxfordshire County Council August 2020

As of March 2020, Children and Young People with an Education, Health and Care Plan in

Oxfordshire made up:

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Outcomes: Attainment and progress of pupils with SEN support © Pupils with Special Educational Needs in Oxfordshire do less well than nationally at each stage from Early Years to GCSE

2018/19 [SEN support SEN Support | No SEN No SEN Oxfordshire England Oxfordshire England Early years: % good level of development | | 25 29 | 78 77 Key Stage 2: % expected level in reading/ 22.2 25.4 75.5 74.9 writing/ maths Key Stage 2: progress in reading | | -1.71 -1.01 | 0.45 0.35 Key Stage 4: average attainment 8 score 29.3 32.6 51.4 50.1 Key Stage 4: average progress 8 score | | -0.56 -0.43 | 0.22 0.08

Access to work by Learning Disabled adults

Percent of adults with Learning Disability in paid employment

12.0

10.0 Sa Ss 8.0

6.0 4.0 2.0 0.0

10/11 11/12 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19 —— Oxfordshire —— England South East

Adults with an Learning Disability in paid employment 2018/19 30.0

25.0 20.0 15.0

10.0 — 5.0 Aff | 0.0

LA —— England

People with learning disabilities have a lower than average life expectancy/higher mortality.

The strategy will need to be informed by further analysis of life outcome data to ensure that there is a detailed understanding of the circumstances people with disabilities are living in within Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

5) Reasons to Change

There are compelling reasons why the Local Area needs to improve SEND services, and therefore outcomes for children and young people with SEND. These reasons include:

e The need for clarity about what support is available for children and young people with SEND in all mainstream schools and settings from 0-25

e Alack of understanding around parental confidence in the support for children with SEND

e Insufficient understanding around children and young people with special educational needs who are not consistently accessing full time education, including children with EHC Plans without a school place

e Insufficient capacity within local specialist education provision, leading to the use of independent non-maintained special schools

Stakeholders have clearly told us about the lack of trust and confidence families have in the ability and willingness of the Local Area to consistently deliver what has been promised.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

6) Our Vision

We are ambitious for all children and young By working together we will consistently secure people with SEND. This vision is underpinned by —_ good outcomes for children and young people our strategic principles: aged 0-25 with SEND, and their families. e That the perspective of families will The implementation of our vision will be inform the development of plans, services underpinned by the key principles of: and policies

e Protecting and promoting the human rights of children and young people with SEND, ensuring that they are treated as individuals °

¢ Promoting authentic inclusive behaviours ° in order to ensure high quality and impactful services for all

e Effective early identification, help and provision available across the Local Area

e Building meaningful and purposeful opportunities for a rich and fulfilling adulthood

e Ensuring that systems are transparent and fair

Effective communication

Building trust and confidence though dignity, respect and understanding

Working in partnership

Maximising the impact of available resources

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Strategic Objective 1 - Improving outcomes for children with SEND

We are committed to the Local Area effectively discharging their duties under the Children and Families Act. We want the Local Area

to be equipped to effectively secure high quality outcomes for children with SEND. High quality services that are accessed ina timely manner and at the earliest opportunity have

a significant impact on outcomes for children, and lay the foundations for better life chances.

The following priorities have been identified:

e Timely identification and assessment across the Local Area that leads to earlier intervention

¢ Development of meaningfully joined-up services and approaches

e Improved outcomes for children with SEND

e Increased expertise, competence and confidence of staff working to meet the needs of children with SEND

Strategic Objective 2 - Developing a continuum of local provision to meet the requirements of children and young people with SEND

There is a range of provision for children with SEND in Oxfordshire. It is essential that we develop more local provision so that more children have their holistic needs met within their own communities.

The following priorities have been identified:

e Identify any gaps in the continuum of provision

¢ Improve multi-agency early intervention for children and young people with a range of needs

e Develop more local provision that can effectively meet the range of identified needs and demand

Strategic Objective 3 - Good physical and mental health and wellbeing

We want healthy, happy children and young people who enjoy life. We will work in partnership with children and young people and their families to improve access to both the universal and specialised services they need.

The following priorities have been identified:

e¢ To empower children and young people with SEND and their families to share their lived experiences in order to better understand and support their health and wellbeing

¢ To provide meaningful, high quality support that meets the holistic needs of the whole family

e Toensure that all children and young people with SEND can access seamless, joined-up services at the right time and in the right place

Strategic Objective 4 - Improving post-16 education, learning, employment and training

All young people will have access to high quality provision in education, training, work experience, apprenticeships and study programmes that support them into meaningful, paid employment and provide them with skills for independent or supported living.

The following priorities have been identified:

e Develop the range and choice of local post- 16 SEND provision

e Develop a comprehensive range of aspirational pathways to sustainable, paid employment

e Improve the quality and accessibility of information about post-16 options for young people with SEND, and develop training and guidance for families, providers and employers

e Develop systems for collecting and monitoring outcomes data from post-16 education providers

Strategic Objective 5 - Positive move into adulthood for young people with SEND

All young people with SEND and their families should have a positive experience of moving into adulthood. We want young people with SEND to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to have choice and control over their adult lives.

The following priorities have been identified:

e Information, advice and guidance available at key transition points so young people and families have the information they need to plan as early as possible

e Earlier identification of young people with SEND with timely assessments and support planning

e Improved partnership working with young people and families, Children’s and Adults Social Care, health, schools and colleges focusing on young people’s strengths and aspirations

e Improved social care experience for young people and families

e Better outcomes for young people with SEND in adulthood

e More young people with SEND living closer to home

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

7) What do we need to make this happen?

To ensure that we collectively deliver our vision, SEND will be a golden thread weaving through all provider services, with a clear and shared commitment to it from senior leaders.

Budgets will be aligned to our strategic priorities with team plans, individual performance

and development targets consistent with the strategic objectives.

Carefully developed implementation plans will be co-produced in partnership with families and service providers. These should be reviewed regularly to ensure that the necessary pace of change is maintained, and action taken when key improvement markers are not met.

Professionals will require a comprehensive, holistic training offer to increase competence, confidence and effectively share good practice.

This will be overseen by joint strategic governance, accountability and challenge through the Oxfordshire SEND Strategic Partnership Board and the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

8) What does success look like?

We will know we are successful when:

Children, young people and their families tell us that the services provided are meeting their needs

Children and young people’s needs are identified early, and partners communicate and coordinate services well, working together to meet these needs

Early preventative services help parents to provide appropriate physical and emotional care to their children

Families can access the right level of support when it is needed

Reviews are thorough, and support providers to enable improvements in the outcomes for the child or young person

Children and young people with SEND are fully involved in all aspects of education, and feel part of their community

Children’s needs are met in mainstream settings as appropriate, and when more specialist help is needed we are almost always able to provide this in Oxfordshire

Services use effective interventions so children and young people with SEND make evidenced progress towards their outcomes

There are well-coordinated transition for children and young people at all key points, through to adulthood and beyond

All agencies have high aspirations for all children and young people with SEND and we are working effectively together to support them through key transitions to be independent and well-prepared for adult life

Children and young people and their families are positive about their

experiences of the SEND system in Oxfordshire

Professionals are confident about meeting the needs of children with a broad range of SEND working closely with their parents

Children and young people with SEND and their families are partners in designing and evaluating services

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

9) Governance, Monitoring and Review

SEND is a golden thread weaving through everything we do as a Local Area. The delivery of our Local Area strategy is a partnership responsibility which needs to be collectively owned by all stakeholders working with children, young people and families. Strong governance, accountability and challenge will be provided through the Oxfordshire SEND Strategic Partnership Board and the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board.

The SEND Strategic Partnership Board meets regularly and reports to the Council Executive. Partners grouped under thematic priorities will be the delivery vehicle for implementation of the strategy.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Appendices

1) The legal requirements underpinning the Local Area SEND Strategy.

In relation to special educational needs and disabilities, statutory services are currently bound by three pieces of legislation and the associated statutory guidance:

(i) The Children and Families Act 2014, The Carers Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010.

The Carers Act mirrors the Children and Families Act in relation to SEND as this legislation applies to young people with SEND from the age of 18, and wholly so from the age of 25. The Children and Families Act 2014 (Part 3 relates to SEN) and the SEND Code of Practice set out the following:

e The strategic planning duties apply to all disabled children and young people and those with SEN;

e The individual duties generally apply to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. Individual duties related to children and young people with a disability are also contained in the Equality Act 2010.

(ii) The Equality Act 2010 brought together a range of existing equality duties and requirements within one piece of legislation. The Act introduced a single Public Sector Equality Duty (Psed) or ‘general duty’. This applies to public bodies, including maintained schools and academies, free schools etc. It covers all protected characteristics - race, disability, sex, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, and gender reassignment. This combined equality duty came into effect in April 2011.

The duty has three main parts. In carrying out their functions, public bodies (including educational settings) are required to have due regard to the need to:

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e Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act

e Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

e Foster good relations across all characteristics between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Early years providers, schools/academies, Fe colleges, sixth form colleges, 16-19 academies and independent special schools approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014 all have duties under the Equality Act 2010.

All publicly funded early years providers must promote equality of opportunity for disabled children. Schools, academies and colleges have wider duties to prevent discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and to foster good relations.

Local authorities are required to put in place an Accessibility Strategy as specified in Schedule 10 of the Act: Accessibility for Disabled Pupils.

All schools/academies are required to put in place an Accessibility Plan, covering the same responsibilities (see Schedule 10). They are also responsible for the provision of auxiliary aids and services to individual pupils. All schools/ academies must make reasonable adjustments to meet the individual needs of children and young people with SEND; this will address

the needs of the majority. More specific local guidance about schools’ responsibilities is available on the local Offer website.

Schedule 10 says: An accessibility strategy is a strategy for, over a prescribed period:

1) Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school curriculum;

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

2) Improving the physical environment of the schools for the purpose of increasing the extent to which disabled pupils are able to take advantage of education and benefits, facilities or services provided or offered by the schools;

3) Improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information which is readily accessible to pupils who are not disabled.

The delivery of information in 3) must be:

e Within a reasonable time

e In ways which are determined after taking account of the pupils’ disabilities and any preferences expressed by them or their parents

2) How the Local Area SEND Strategy was developed

The review of SEND was overseen by the Oxfordshire SEND Performance Board, a multi- agency partnership, with parents and carers at its core and comprising stakeholders across education, health, public health, social care, voluntary and community sector partners, and the Oxfordshire Lead Member and Executive Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Young People. Our review comprised:

Phase 1: Data and evidence gathering and analysis to answer:

e Is our pattern of provision for children and young people with SEND suitable to meet changing needs?

¢ Do parents and young people find it attractive?

e Willit be affordable within future financial allocations?

We gathered and analysed:

e Data on the range of SEN in the area, recent trends and likely changes in the future

e Evidence on how effectively the current pattern of special educational provision meets needs in the area

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e Evidence on how effectively the current pattern of special educational provision prepares children and young people for adult life

e The range of special education needs which would generally be met by mainstream providers

The range of SEN and disabilities which would generally be met by specialist providers

e The range of SEN and disabilities which would be generally met by highly specialised providers

Acore element was to gather evidence about what works well across the current system, areas for improvement, and SEND provision mapping for the future across the whole life cycle from birth through to young adulthood.

Phase 2: Analysis and shaping of emerging themes

Our analysis identified a number of common issues, falling into five over-arching strategic themes. These themes were agreed by the SEND Performance Board as the five strategic themes needed to strengthen and improve current arrangements for SEND across Oxfordshire and the basis for the SEND Strategy:

e Improving inclusion and education outcomes for children with SEND in Early Years settings and mainstream schools

e Developing a continuum of local provision to meet the needs of children with SEND

¢ Promoting good physical and mental health and wellbeing

e Improving post-16 education, learning, employment and training

e Facilitating positive transitions for young people with SEND to enable them to prepare for adulthood

Parents and carers were involved in all strategic group discussions. Building on this work, through a series of visioning events a joint vision statement was developed.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Phase 3: Public Consultation

The Strategic SEND Performance Board has given agreement for the vision and priorities to be consulted on more widely through a public consultation exercise to run from January to March 2022. This will involve an online survey alongside a series of public engagement events, to seek views from a wide range of key stakeholders and to enable people to share their thoughts and ideas to help shape the final version of the document.

3) Data Sources School Census

The School Census is collected every January and covers statutory school-aged children. Further information can be found on the

government website through the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-census

4) Governance Structure

Safeguarding ° Children Board

Scrutiny Sounty ° wipehectiha Sinica” Committees Council ee 9 Commissioning Cabinet Group Board

SEN2 Survey

The SEN2 survey takes place every January and covers those individuals for whom the Local Authority maintains an EHCP. Further information can be found on the government

website through this link: https://www.gov.uk/

guidance/special-educational-needs-survey

Oxfordshire County Council population forecasts

Office for National Statistics population estimates and projections

DWP StatXplore

Oxfordshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

~~} Safeguarding Adults Board

S y ys : ; Health Adult Joint of Chichen Improvement Management mae g Board Groups

Performance

Audit & Quality SEND Assurance Programme Board Group

Strategic Transitions Group

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

5) Glossary

Age Weighted Pupil Unit (Awpu)

The Awpu is the funding a maintained mainstream school receives for every pupil on roll. The Awpu amount varies by Key Stage.

Alternative Provision (AP)

Alternative provision is something a pupil participates in as part of their regular timetable away from the site of the school where they are enrolled.

Annual Review Each Education Health and Care Plan must be formally reviewed at least every 12 months.

Children and Families Act The Children and Families Act 2014 sets out the key SEND legislation.

Compulsory School Age

A child is of compulsory school age from the beginning of the term following their 5th birthday until the last Friday of June in the year in which they become 16, provided that their 16th birthday falls before the start of the next school year.

cyYP

Children and young people. The Children and Families Act 2014 gives significant new rights directly to young people once they reach the

end of compulsory school age (the end of the academic year in which they turn 16).

When a young person reaches the end of compulsory school age, local authorities and other agencies should normally engage directly with the young person rather than their parent, ensuring that as part of the planning process they identify the relevant people who should be involved, and how to involve them. A person is no longer of compulsory school age after the last day of the summer term during the year in which they become 16.

This distinction is important because once a child becomes a young person they are entitled to take decisions in relation to the Act on their own behalf, rather than have their parents

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take the decisions for them. This is subject to a young person ‘having capacity’ to take a decision under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Education Heath and Care Needs Assessment (Ehcna)

An assessment carried out by the Local Authority that determines whether a child or young person needs an EHC Plan.

Education Health and Care plan (EHC Plan) An EHC plan describes the special educational needs that a child or young person has and

the help that they will be given to meet them.

It also includes the health and care provision that is needed. It is a legal document written by the Local Authority and is used for children and young people who have high support needs.

The Graduated Approach

Schools use the graduated approach of Assess -> Plan -> Do -> Review to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place.

High Needs Block

The High Needs Block is used to fund specialist placements and top up funding for children and young people with an EHC Plan.

Independent and Non-maintained Special Schools

Independent schools are usually privately run for profit. Non-maintained schools are usually managed by charitable organisations and

are not profit-making. Neither is maintained/ overseen by Local Authorities.

Information, Advice and Support Service (Iass or Sendias)

Sendias Services provides impartial advice on the special educational needs system to help children and their parents, and young people, to play an active and informed role in their education and care. Although funded by Local Authorities, Sendias Services is run at arm’s length from the Local Authority.

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

Key Stage

There are 5 key stages of education:

Key Stage National Curriculum Year Age KS1 land2 5-7 KS2 3to6 7-11 KS3 7to9 11-14 KS4 10 and 11 14-16 KS5 12 and 13 16-18

Local Authority

Local authorities are administrative offices that provide services within their local areas. There are 152 across England that have statutory SEND responsibilities.

Local Offer

The Local Offer is published by the Local Authority to give children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities and their families information about what education, health and care provision is available in their local area. It also gives information about training, employment and independent living for young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Mainstream Schools Schools that provide education for all children

occ Oxfordshire County Council

OccG Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group

Outcome An outcome is a benefit or difference made to an individual as a result of an intervention.

Non-Statutory Services Non-statutory public services are not required by law.

Parent Carer Forum The Parent Carer Forum is a representative local group of parents and carers of disabled children

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who work with local authorities, education, health and other providers to make sure the services they plan and deliver meet the needs of disabled children and families.

Pupil Premium

Publicly-funded schools in England get extra funding from the government to help them improve the attainment of their disadvantaged

pupils.

Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)

PRUs teach children who aren’t able to attend school and may not otherwise receive suitable education. This could be because they have a short- or long-term illness, have been excluded, or are a new starter waiting for a mainstream school place.

Reasonable Adjustments

Under the Equality Act 2010 public sector organisations have to make changes in their approach or provision to ensure that services are accessible to disabled people as well as to everybody else.

Resource Base

Resource Bases cater for pupils with EHC Plans who require a specialist environment within

a mainstream school to support their access

to the curriculum and activities offered by the school. A Resource Base usually has a specialist focus such as hearing impairment or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them.

Children of compulsory school age or a young person have a learning difficulty or disability if they:

e Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age or

Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of any kind generally provided for

JB05524 / 22-0014

Oxfordshire Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy 2022-2027

children of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions within the Local Education Authority area

e Are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition at a) or b) above or would so do if special educational provision were not made for them.

For children aged two or over, special educational provision means educational

or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age

by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers.

For a child under two years of age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind.

SEND Code of Practice

The statutory guidance arising from the Children and Families Act 2014. A version for parents can be found here

Sendiass

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service

or Sendiass provides free impartial and confidential information, advice and support about education, health and social care for children, young people and their parents on matters relating to special educational needs and disability.

Special Educational Provision

Special educational provision means any educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for other children or young people of the same age.

Special School

Aschool which specifically caters for children with SEND. To attend a special school, the child must have an EHC Plan.

State School

All children in England aged 5 to 16 are entitled to a free place at a state school. State schools receive funding through the Local Authority

or directly from the government, and include community schools (sometimes called Local Authority maintained schools), foundation schools and voluntary schools, academies and free schools, and grammar schools. There are both mainstream and special state schools.

Statutory guidance

Statutory guidance sets out what schools and local authorities must do to comply with the law.

Statutory Services

Statutory public services are required by the law and there are legislations that government sets for them to be in place.

Transition Planning Planning for moves between phases of education or preparation for adult life.

Oxfordshire’s plan for supporting children with SEND

2022 to 2027

Contents

Page

Introduction 26 a vgethetnpnorigee op a sitowneasner “ou edwerue sure so s se . veg . weg oo danpenessme

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In this easy read document, difficult words are in bold. We explain what these words mean in the sentence after they have been used.

Some words are blue and underlined. These are links which will go to another website which has more information.

Introduction

qenecassnsesunseeraety?

2022 om 2027

This plan has been written by people in Oxfordshire.

The plan is about how we will support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Oxfordshire.

The plan is for the years 2022 to 2027.

Children with SEND in Oxfordshire

There are about 18,000 children with SEND who go to school in Oxfordshire.

On average, children with SEND do not do as well at school as other children.

Doing well at school means getting better at things that are important.

Why do we need a plan?

We need a plan to help make SEND services in Oxfordshire better.

SEND services in Oxfordshire need to be better because:

e itis not clear to parents what support children with SEND can get.

e not enough children with SEND get what they need when they need it.

e there is not enough space in special schools for those who need them.

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How did we write our plan?

We wrote our plan by looking at lots of different information about SEND services in Oxfordshire.

We looked at:

e what needed to be better.

e how we support people with SEND.

We worked with lots of people, including:

e different professionals from education, health and social care.

e the parents and carers of children with SEND.

Our vision

Our vision is what we would like life to be like for children and young people with SEND in Oxfordshire.

A vision is a plan for the future.

We would like to:

e include the families of children with SEND in the planning of SEND services.

e protect the lives of children with SEND and make sure they are treated well.

e make sure all services treat children with SEND fairly.

e help and support children with SEND from early on in their life.

We will work and communicate with

lots of different people and services to make sure our vision happens.

We have written this plan to help us

with our vision and make SEND —— services better.

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To help make SEND services better we have come up with 5 objectives.

Objectives are the main things we want to try and do.

Objective 1: Better chances for children with SEND

We want to make sure children with SEND have access to services early on in their life.

We want to make sure children with SEND have the same chances in life as others.

To help improve chances for children with SEND we will focus on:

e helping them early on in their life.

e making sure different services are working together.

e making sure staff have the right skills to support them.

Objective 2: Better local services for children with SEND

We want to make sure local services meet the needs of children with SEND.

To help improve local services for children with SEND we will focus on:

e finding where the services need improving.

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e making sure different services are working together.

e making sure the services are able to support those children who have lots of different needs.

Objective 3: Good physical and mental health

We want all children with SEND and their families to be healthy and

happy.

To help improve the physical and mental health of children with SEND we will focus on:

e helping children and their families to share their stories so we can learn from them.

e providing good support that meets the needs of the whole family.

e making sure children can always access the right services they need.

Objective 4: Better chances after finishing school

We want all young people with SEND who are finishing school to have access to things that will help them, like:

e getting a paid job.

e learning new skills.

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e living where they choose to live.

To help improve opportunities for young people with SEND who are finishing school we will focus on:

e making sure they have the opportunity to get a paid job.

e finding out what young people with SEND do as they get older.

Objective 5: Support while becoming an adult

We want to support young people with SEND as they get older.

We want them to live successful lives as adults.

To help improve support for young people with SEND as they become adults we will focus on:

e making sure they have the information and advice they need.

e working together to support young people to reach their goals.

e making sure they have better chances in life.

e supporting young people to live how and where they choose.

Making sure our plan

happens

We will make sure our plan happens by:

e checking all services are following the plan and supporting children with SEND.

e making plans about how we will spend our money to help children with SEND.

e offering training to any staff who work with children with SEND that will help support them.

e having groups that will check the plan is working.

These groups will meet to talk about the plan and any problems with it.

How will we know our plan is working?

We will know our plan is working when:

e children with SEND and their families are having their needs met from early on in their life.

e children with SEND have the right care and support.

e children with SEND are getting the best education for them.

e children with SEND have access to the same chances in life as others.

e children with SEND are being supported at important moments of their life - like becoming an adult.

e services are working well together to support children with SEND.

q .

9 ~— ¢ staff working with children with , SEND have the right skills and | training.

e children with SEND and their families tell us they are included in planning for services.

This Easy Read information has been produced by easy-read-online.co.uk

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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.

Recovered via OCR. This document's own embedded PDF text layer was corrupted (a broken font encoding, not a scan) - what's shown here was read back from the rendered page images instead, so heading structure isn't preserved, only paragraph text.

Republished from Oxfordshire County Council under the Open Government Licence v3.0. View the original PDF.