Written Statement of Action for the county published on behalf of all partners.
Following the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) local area inspection of Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) in July 2021, Warwickshire County Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group in conjunction with Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice are pleased to publish the Written Statement of Action for the county on behalf of all partners.
Co-produced with health, education partners, and parents and carers, the Written Statement of Action (WSoA) focusses on several priorities to help drive through improvements and long-term sustainable change across SEND services for our children and young people and parent carers. The WSoA has been approved by Ofsted and CQC, and the ongoing collaborative work across all partner organisations will continue.
The WSoA focuses on five key themes:
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The waiting times for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments, and weaknesses in the support for children and young people awaiting assessment and following diagnosis of ASD.
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The fractured relationships with parent carers and lack of clear communication and co-production at a strategic level.
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The incorrect placement of some children and young people with Education Health and Care plans in specialist settings, and mainstream school leaders’ understanding of why this needs to be addressed.
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The lack of uptake of staff training for mainstream primary and secondary school staff to help them understand and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.
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The quality of the online local offer.
Councillor Penny-Anne O’Donnell, Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet Support for SEND, said:
“The local area is committed to improving support, services and provision for children and young people and parents and carers across Warwickshire. To help us to achieve this we are working in partnership, increasing co-production and building on the expertise within the system. Since the inspection, senior leaders in Warwickshire County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group have been working with services and stakeholders to understand the actions we need to take to make improvements. These include working with parents and carers, staff, the SEND and Inclusion Partnership, and schools and settings.
“I would personally like to thank everyone who has been involved in the development of the Written Statement of Action to date and for helping Warwickshire to improve the services they provide to children, young people and their families. Moving forward, progress on all actions within the plan will be regularly reviewed through our WSoA Steering Group, the Department for Education and NHS England. I look forward to seeing the difference we can make by working together to improve the lives of children and young people across Warwickshire.”
Dr Sarah Raistrick, Chair of Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said:
“We welcome the publication of the Written Statement of Action for Warwickshire which sets out our priorities for improving services for children and young people with a special educational need and their families and demonstrates the work which has already taken place across the system to deliver change. We remain committed to working with our partners and our population to deliver these improvements and creating long term sustainable differences for our children and young people, parents and carers.”
Elaine Lambe from Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice said:
"Warwickshire Parent Carer Voice are pleased to have been involved with the development of this Written Statement of Action to make sure that the voice of parent carers was heard. The Written Statement of Action is a positive start and now the hard work needs to continue with all partners working together to make the vision a reality, we look forward to the increased co-production with parent carers across health, education and social care."