Background

Children and young people with SEND (aged 0-25 years), may need extra support at nursery, school or college, or may have health and care support needs. It is the responsibility of the Somerset SEND Local Area Partnership to make sure they get this support.

The Somerset SEND Local Area partnership includes Somerset Council, the NHS in Somerset, schools and education providers. Alongside this, other local area partners such as the Somerset Parent Carer Forum provide support and feedback from the people who use SEND services.

Our improvement journey so far

In March 2020: Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) and the CQC (Care Quality Commission) inspected Somerset’s SEND services. The inspectors said improvements needed to be made across nine areas. As a result, the Written Statement of Action (WSoA) was put in place (in December 2020) to make sure that change happened. From 2020 to 2022 area leaders put the plans into action to make sure that significant progress was seen for children and young people with SEND and their families. During this time the partnership was closely monitored by the Department for Education and NHS.

In late 2022, Ofsted/CQC re visited and found that seven areas had made sufficient progress and insufficient progress had been made against two areas that were outlined in the original Inspection as requiring improvement. As a result, the Accelerated Progress Plan (AAP) has now been approved to work on the two areas that need extra input and to help them progress in line with the other areas.

The plan comprises of ten numbered actions, each with milestones and activities that sit beneath to ensure these two areas progress sufficiently. An Accelerated Progress Plan subgroup will report to the Somerset SEND Partnership Board and will be responsible for developing the programme plan and overseeing its delivery. You can access the full approved Accelerated Progress Plan below.

What's next: the SEND strategy

The Somerset SEND Partnership, which includes Somerset Council, NHS Somerset, Somerset Parent Carer Forum and local education providers, have consulted with the public for feedback on their updated SEND Strategy.

The strategy was shaped by extensive engagement with children, young people and families and sets out how services will be delivered and led over the next three years (2023-26).

The Somerset SEND Partnership have four key themes which outline their plan for SEND services, these are:

• Working together
• Getting help as early as possible
• Access to the right support and provision
• Preparing for the future

The consultation closed on Friday 23 December and the comments are being reviewed.

More information

Get in touch

If you have any questions or would like to tell us about your experiences of using SEND in Somerset, please visit our Ways to Get Involved page, where you can find support and share your experiences of local services.