SEND Team updates

The SEND Team have made changes to support the delivery of the Statutory duties of the LA in respect of SEND, in particular, the 20 week timescale for an EHC needs assessment and the delivery of high quality EHCPs. Both of these areas are seen as priority, not just as a result of the ongoing scrutiny following local area SEND inspection process, but also because ensuring that children and young people with SEND are supported to achieve positive outcomes and be prepared for their future lives as an adult is central to the ethos of DMBC and its partners. 

To ensure that the EHC needs assessment process is more robust we have identified specific Case Officers to manage the EHC needs assessment. They will be responsible for drafting the EHCP, liaising with parent carers and young people and liaising with schools up until the point where the final EHCP is issued. This means that we have had to review case loads for the rest of the Team and have taken the decision to divide the team into 2 areas so that Case Officers are allocated to either the Early Years/Primary team or the Secondary/Post 16 Team. For all queries regarding a child with a final EHCP your allocated Case Officer will be your first point of call. The Early Years and Primary Team is managed by Kelly Warne and the Secondary and Post 16 Team is managed by Rob Bennett. We tried to keep change to a minimum but it is important to continue the development of the SEND Service. We will regularly review the changes that we have made alongside our ability to meet our Key Performance Indicators and review of feedback.

This change supports the introduction of 2 new SEND panels this will be where decisions regarding whether to commence a statutory assessment and whether to issue a EHC plan will be made. These are multi agency panels, with representation from across education, health and social care partners. Headteachers and SENCOs are invited to attend and contribute to this decision making process.