Introduction
This page links to important documents that support and explain what is in our Local Offer.
We publish documents like strategies and policies about how we expect children and young people, and people with additional needs, to be supported and involved in their education, health and care. And we have guidance about how to find out about and use the services available.
Here are some of the documents that you might especially want to read.
SEND Effective Support
We oversee a range of support to meet the needs of children and young people in education. Educational support is coordinated with other services and there are policies and ways of working that shape the services we provide. The way we provide support for children and young people with SEND is based on the SEND Code of Practice 2015
SEND Effective Support Guidance for all who work with children and young people and their families for graduated early help, targeted and specialist support.
Somerset’s Graduated Response Tool sets out the provision ordinarily available in Somerset education settings.
SEND Strategy for Somerset
We want every child and young person to have the greatest possible opportunity to be the best they can be, to be happy, and have choice and control over their life.
We need to transform our services and work together to make sure that the child or young person is at the centre of everything we do. Our SEND Strategy Framework is the partnership response to the challenge to all of us.
The work will develop into a new SEND Strategy later in 2022 through work including the Somerset Voice Engagement Report, measurable Outcomes Framework, gap analysis, Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, development of a SEND Vision and working with the Council for Disabled Children to develop the strategy and joint ownership of the SEND system. You can find timelines and points to get involved on the final page of the SEND Strategy Framework, including the SEND Strategy 2023 – 2026 consultation running from 21 October to 23 December 2022.
How we work together to deliver SEND inclusion
Our SEND Strategy and ongoing commissioning of local services must be informed by an up to date understanding of the needs of local children and young people with SEND; this data and analysis can be found in our annual SEND Needs Assessment.
Somerset SEND Written Statement of Action
Somerset Council and NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group are working hard together to improve Somerset’s services for children and young people (aged 0 to 25) with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). The work being undertaken is outlined within the Written Statement of Action (WSoA). This is a detailed plan to improve the SEND service areas identified in the Ofsted and CQC inspection report, broken into 9 areas.
Annual Reports
The annual report provides information on how Somerset’s Local Offer has evolved using feedback from its stakeholders, especially parent carers and children and young people. You can find our Local Offer Annual Reports here
Improving Lives
Improving Lives Strategy 2019-2028 describes our plan to help people live healthy and independent lives, supported by thriving and connected communities, with timely and easy access to high quality and efficient public services when they need them.
Joint Commissioning
Commissioning is something Somerset Council (SC) and NHS Somerset do on a reoccurring basis. This allows us to regularly assess the needs of our local population and use this information to design, deliver, and review services to ensure good outcomes. Joint commissioning is where this is done in partnership to increase efficiency, make the best use of all possible resources across the system and enable joined up services. This provides a shared understanding of SEND commissioning and the agreed framework for Education, Health and Care partners, which is simple and easily understood. Our SEND needs assessment provides an overview of the data and commissioning gaps identified within this current analysis.