One question, every plan

There are 5 principles of the SEND Local Offer, Accessible, Collaborative, Comprehensive, Transparent, and Up-to-date. ACCTUp, as we call them. They're the principles that we work by too, alongside many councils.

So it's been really interesting to look at some councils SEND Reform Plans, the ones which have been made public. Schoolsweek published an interactive map (I guess it makes it quicker to spot your own council, and your neighbours, and who hasn't made their plan public).

"The DfE said plans were live operations documents owned by local area partnerships, which include health and social care colleagues. It's up to these partnerships whether to publish plans.

But approval doesn't mean delivery arrangements are fixed or final, the DfE said, with councils expected to continue to develop them in response to ongoing SEND reforms."

By Samantha Booth. schoolsweek.co.uk (opens in a new tab)

At Pop Pop Studio, we've gone one step further, making a survey tool to interrogate all the SEND Reform Plans, and make a side by side comparison.

So in addition to this week's reading on the SEND Reform Plans, I've added a link to a Survey question, and its answer, across all 40 documents. If you've got a question you'd love answering, let me know.

"But the system is already creaking amid a national shortage of specialists, particularly EPs. Twenty-eight councils said it was "likely" that the risk could materialise, with two rating it as "very likely"."

By Samantha Booth and Ruth Lucas. schoolsweek.co.uk (opens in a new tab)

Survey question

Does this council's plan name a specific staffing risk to delivering its Experts at Hand offer, such as a shortage of educational psychologists, speech and language therapists or occupational therapists, and does it propose a specific mitigation such as a training pipeline, university partnership or grow your own scheme, or does it not address the risk at all?

Survey question

When this council describes its inclusion bases or resourced provision, does it name what would make a place actually work, such as on-site therapy staff, flexible integration with mainstream, or a properly designed space, or does it only give a number of places and a budget?

"Most English local authorities refused to reveal their plans to us ahead of receiving a DfE decision. But analysis of the 40 made available reveals 17 contain scant details on post-16 provision.

The plans will be scored across eight areas on a four-point scale, so thin post-16 detail could still result in proposals being passed if the rest of the document is strong. Meanwhile, councils that fall short must revise their plans and resubmit, which would likely delay their deficit write-off."

By Anviksha Patel. feweek.co.uk (opens in a new tab)

Survey question

When looking at post-16 further education, does the council name specific colleges or providers, with specific costs and dates for new places, and how they will be staffed?

Survey question

Does this council say what capability, leadership or delivery capacity it needs to carry out its plan, or does it only list what it plans to do?

It's been really interesting to see how the SEND reforms are moving from consultation to delivery.

If you've got a Survey question you'd like answered, about the draft SEND reform plans, SEND strategies, or LA inspection reports, let me know and I'll run it for you for free.

cheers
Jonny Holden