Kingston upon Thames Local SEND Reform Plan 2026

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames - SEND Reform Plan

Table of contents

Executive Summary​ 3 Section 1 – Vision and Goals​ 4

• What the local area partnership is trying to achieve?​ 5

Section 2 – Strategy​ 6

• Where the local area partnership expects to be in the next 3 years​ 6
• What is the local area partnership’s strategy for delivering on the above?​ 22
• Please upload a completed copy of the Local Partnership Maturity Assessment Tool.​ 22
• What is the local area partnership roadmap for the next 3 years?​ 23
• What will the local area partnership deliver in the first year?​ 38
• How will the local area partnership deliver the first-year plan?​ 46
• Other funding Local Authorities.​ 47
• System partner and stakeholder engagement, and co-production​ 49
• Risks and Mitigations​ 51
• Dependencies​ 55

Section 3 – Monitoring and Evaluation​ 56

• How will the local area partnership know delivery is on track?​ 56
• Reporting to DfE​ 58

Section 4 – Governance​ 59

• How will the local area partnership ensure delivery of plans remain on track?​ 59

Section 5 – Central Government Support​ 73

• How can we help you?​ 73

Name of Local Authority: Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Name of Integrated Care Board: South West London Integrated Care Board Local SEND Reform Plan Sro: Charis Penfold, Director of Education

Signatories

Executive Summary

A brief summary of your local system ‘change story’ – your local context, where you are now, where you want to get to in the next 3 years, how you know you are succeeding and how you will know you have achieved your vision for the next 3 years. Please include a brief qualitative summary. This summary should also include your assessment of current and forecast performance against the headline metrics.

Please structure your ‘change story’ using the following aims:

• ​ Build a 0-25 system where children and young people receive support to achieve and thrive through (a) more inclusive settings and
• stronger local partnerships
• ​ Improve capacity and capability of the mainstream and specialist workforce to identify and meet need
• ​ Improve confidence of children, families, and stakeholders in reform and readiness of the system
• ​ Stabilise finances and improve value for money

Kingston’s SEND system builds on a strong start. Progress through the SEND Futures Programme has improved multi-agency partnerships, built strong early intervention practices, and successfully transitioned a high rate of young people into paid employment. However, the local area faces escalating challenges driven by a rapidly growing SEND demographic, marked by a 12% annual rise in EHCPs and waits of up to 95 weeks for neurodevelopmental assessments. This surging demand, combined with over-reliance on high-cost independent specialist placements, has placed critical financial strain on the system.

By investing in an early and impactful approach, our goal is to deliver a holistic, child-led system across Education, Health, and Care for all children and young people aged 0-25. By intervening early and providing appropriate support, we aim to ensure all children and young people feel included, have their needs met, and achieve positive outcomes at transitions.

To ensure a fair system, we aim to strengthen trust by working in equal partnership to improve inclusive practices. This includes upskilling school teams and developing consistent understanding of ordinarily available provision. We are committed to clarity across our local offer and ensuring shared accountability by capturing independent feedback on lived experiences. Rooted in multi-agency decision-making, we will build a flexible local offer that meets needs earlier and closer to home, maximising high needs and health funding.

The ambition in our SEND Futures Plan reflects SEND Reform principles, but requires a pivot in key activity to update priorities in Year 1 to begin system transformation:

A shift from high-cost, independent sector reliance to localised provision, enhancing joint-commissioned early interventions. We will work with the Integrated Care Board to protect statutory SEND functions alongside our Specialist Expertise at Hand offer, addressing the current High Needs Block over-expenditure of £12.3m.

Investment in shared digital infrastructure across health, education, and social care to create a "single view of the child".

Strengthening access to early intervention and mainstream expertise across all settings through local SEND clusters and consultation models. This will increase confidence in mainstream provision and as a result, we anticipate a decrease in the number of EHC needs assessment requests in 2026, which sits at 356 as of 2025.

Expanding support for parents and carers through listening, engagement, and agreed co-production, aligning with the Best Start in Life and Families First programmes.

We will monitor our plan’s impact on lived experiences by:

• ​ Developing a quality assurance model using ‘lived experience’ with schools, early years, and colleges to evaluate mainstream inclusivity and impact of Specialist Expertise at Hand.
• ​ Assessing post-16 destinations towards independence to increase the percentage of pupils in sustained destinations after Key Stage 4, currently 95%.

We will stabilise finances and improve value for money by:

• ​ Pivoting resources towards earlier intervention for children without EHC plans through close scrutiny of high needs spending.
• ​ Establishing metrics to evaluate whether more children access and remain in local education.
• ​ Enhancing strategic place planning utilising robust Mime data to drive commissioning decisions.

Section 1 – Vision and Goals

1.​ What the local area partnership is trying to achieve?

Please set out your goals for your local system. These should be clear, aligned to the vision set out in the Schools White Paper, small in number and measurable. These goals should include clear reference to:

• ​ Outcomes for children
• ​ Confidence of parents, carers and young people in the system
• ​ Management of finances to secure value for money

The following are the goals and measurables for delivering our vision described in the executive summary: Goal: To ensure children and young people (Cyp) feel included, have their needs met early in appropriate educational provision, and achieve positive outcomes at key transitions. Measures:

• ​ Increase the percentage of Cyp with SEND in a sustained destination after Key Stage 4, currently 95%.
• ​ Increase the percentage of Cyp with SEND meeting a good level of development (currently 26%); percentage meeting expected standards in reading, writing, and maths at Key Stage 2; and average Attainment 8 measure at Key Stage 4.

Goal: To strengthen trust in the system by working in partnership with all partners to improve inclusive practices. Measures:

• ​ A regular deep-dive quality assurance model in partnership with the Parent Carer Forum and SEND Youth Participation Group, tracking the lived experience and confidence of parents, carers, and Cyp through a questionnaire.
• ​ Increase the number of Cyp successfully supported by EPs, SaLTs, and OTs without an EHCP (currently 273).

Goal: Build a flexible local offer that meets needs earlier and closer to home, maximising the impact of our high needs and health funding. Measures:

• ​ Increase the % of high needs spend on in-borough provision.
• ​ Increase the % of children and young people supported in mainstream provision.
• ​ Average unit costs per placement type benchmark at or below average compared to other relevant local authorities (dependent on DfE benchmarking info).
• ​ % of children / young people supported in placements costing above the average cost for that placement type reduces

Section 2 – Strategy

2.​ Where the local area partnership expects to be in the next 3 years A description of what your local system would look like in the next 3 years in line with the national vision set out in the Schools White Paper and set within the context of where you are starting from as a local system.

In particular, as commissioning system partners, you should reflect on and agree what your fully fledged Experts At Hand Offer model should be and how this will be deployed via mainstream settings and providers (including those not based in your area – e.g. further education colleges attended by your young people) to build their capacity as well as identify and meet the needs of children and young people earlier and without the need for a statutory assessment for Education, Health and Care.

To help you fully consider the scope and scale of change required, you may find it useful to structure your response using these 4 building blocks of an inclusive system, reflecting on what is working well in your system, what you are most worried about, what needs to change, and how the enablers will help you achieve your 3 year vision.

When summarising where your local area partnership currently is, please include an assessment of where you are in reference to the core minimum requirements above and how you bridge the gap, making reference to and attaching additional documents that provide underlying evidence for your summary.

Local blueprint for the next 3 years

Where we are Where we will be in the next 3 years

Building Block 1: Strengthening inclusion across education settings - organising places and provision close to home Our existing Kingston SEND Futures Plan prioritises meeting the needs of children and young people within their local community. Collaborative efforts with special school providers resulted in a 128.5% increase in specialist places between 2011 and 2025. Consequently, 67.2% of pupils with EHCPs now attend local special schools. Dysart School, St. Philip’s School and Spring School increasingly educate more in-borough pupils than out-of- borough pupils (around 77.0% across the three schools), reflecting strong confidence in the Local Offer. To strengthen mainstream inclusion, the borough established 19 Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs) in 16 schools across the nursery, primary and secondary phase. A review of our SRPs took place in Autumn 2025 to strengthen the consistency of commissioning local specialist provision in mainstream schools, forming the basis for future Inclusion Bases. Strategic use of falling school rolls has further expanded local capacity, such as the creation of 24 primary Severe Learning Difficulties (Sld) places at a satellite site at Latchmere Primary School in partnership with Dysart School and Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust (Ohcat). This not only made use of surplus space at the primary school but has enabled the mainstream staff to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of the staff from Dysart School. Expanding in-borough specialist provision is central to enhancing inclusion and managing SEN transport expenditure. By reducing reliance on out-of-borough and independent placements, the council aims to lower transport costs and foster social integration closer to home. This is supported by an expansion of our shared Independent Travel Training (ITT) Team, which currently trains 24 young people annually in Kingston. A training curriculum designed to be highly Over the next 3 years, we will be focused on further strengthening our Inclusion Base offer - both Support and Specialist (see Annex A) - so our mainstream schools gain confidence and expertise to support more children with SEND. We will be completing our planned new specialist provision to educate more of our children and young people with more complex SEND needs, who cannot be educated, within a mainstream environment, within their local community. Working in partnership with our mainstream schools and early years and post-16 settings, we will have created two new secondary age Specialist Inclusion Bases to meet the needs of pupils with more complex autism and we will have a clear programme underway to develop or improve Inclusion Bases within our mainstream schools and settings which aligns with local need and will contribute to reducing further pressure. This will include supporting education settings to develop their own Support Inclusion Bases - and our expectation is that the planned audit will identify that a number of schools/settings already have an Inclusion Base provision in place - and identifying secondary schools where capital funding may be required to develop Specialist Inclusion Bases. It may also involve changes to existing SRPs as we move to greater economies of scale by developing larger and more sustainable provisions. By strengthening these Support and Specialist Inclusion Bases and ensuring our mainstream schools gain the confidence and expertise to meet more complex needs, we aim to successfully increase the overall proportion of pupils with SEND educated within a mainstream setting. All secondary schools will have at least one Support Inclusion Base which will reduce reliance on Alternative Provision. This activity will be enabled through the strong and robust relationships we have with all our schools, and we will ensure that any new provision reflects local personalised to the needs of each young person will further promote independence and reduce long-term demand for commissioned transport services. We have a comprehensive inclusion programme for mainstream schools which supports them to put in place a strong offer for children and young people with more complex needs, thereby reducing the need for specialist provision. This is aimed at both primary and secondary schools. For example, we have recently expanded our autism and speech and language advisory team to respond to increasing needs in this area. Current projects include two additional secondary Specialist Inclusion Bases and new provision for secondary-aged Sld and post-16 needs. These initiatives aim to reduce reliance on special schools and out-of-borough placements, with all projects undergoing travel arrangement assessments to ensure a positive impact on SEN transport. Any decisions relating to new provision are evidence based and we commission an external organisation to undertake our SEND forecasting which is used alongside our internal data and information to enable us to effectively identify gaps in provision and then work to address these gaps. Any proposals for new provision are considered at the well-established SEND Places Workstream and then reviewed for approval at the Council’s Education Capital Board. Our SEND Places Workstream ensures oversight of place quantity and quality, with regular progress reporting to the Council’s People Committee, Schools Forum, and the SEND Partnership Board, which includes a summary of local sufficiency pressures and how our planned place growth addresses demand trends.

demographic needs, and maintains high educational standards. A range of support will be offered to schools to enable them to develop or improve Support Inclusion Bases including the refreshed Inclusion Audit to support school self-evaluation and accountability. We will ensure that the planning of any new school places is linked into the demand and capacity planning of NHS providers. The development of Inclusion Bases will strengthen inclusion in mainstream settings by evaluating current provision and gaps we need to support, and will be supported by the introduction of a SEND cluster model. This will align with the National Inclusion Standards, ensure greater consistency across Inclusion Bases, and allow us to share funding, specialist resources and collective expertise which in turn, will help to build greater parental confidence in the local offer. By expanding these support and specialist inclusion bases, we are also directly fulfilling our goal to build a flexible local offer that meets needs earlier and closer to home, driving our essential shift away from high-cost, independent sector reliance to localised provision. Our Alternative Provision (AP) offer will be strengthened. Universal training will develop Quality First Teaching, particularly to support pupils who present with behaviours that challenge. Support for schools to develop broader and deeper curriculum, so that we have a flexible needs-led curriculum to better engage all pupils and maintain high standards. More consistent reintegration from AP to the home school by engaging to understand the needs of the pupils entering AP and focusing on day 1 reintegration plans. Progress measures will monitor impact of and specialist intervention support. We will be focused on developing new specialist places only where there is clear and evidenced demand that cannot be met in mainstream provision. This will include the creation of new secondary aged Sld provision and progression with plans for a specialist post-16

SEND campus, both of which align with local need and will contribute to reducing future pressure. In doing so, we will increase the percentage of children and young people with EHCPs from within the borough who attend our local special schools and further strengthen the confidence in our Local Offer. An impact assessment of travel arrangements will be carried out as part of the planning process for all new provision, which will demonstrate expected changes to travel distances, journey times, and reliance on out of area placements, and any specific travel related mitigations. As our mainstream schools will be supporting pupils with a higher level of need, we will be working with our special school academy trusts to discuss and review the thresholds for the complexity of need of pupils supported in our special schools. This will enable us to ensure that specialist provision supports those pupils with the most complex needs. The creation of more in-borough specialist places, and the focus on accommodating children and young people with more complex needs in our mainstream schools, will support us to continue to effectively manage spend on SEN transport. We don't anticipate any savings in SEN Transport relating specifically to the reforms within the next three years as there is insufficient time to see the effect of out of borough placements moving in-borough, and pupil numbers continue to rise, likely causing spend to also rise over this time period. However we are expecting to continue to see savings within SEN transport where least expensive personal budgets increase and most expensive taxis decrease. Furthermore, the expansion of Independent Travel Training (ITT) will provide young people with SEND the necessary support to navigate travel independently or semi-independently. This initiative fosters personal autonomy and essential life skills while contributing to long-term financial sustainability. At least 28 young people in Kingston will be supported to travel independently by 2028/29.

Working with key partners, we will have drafted a new SEND Sufficiency Strategy that will clearly set out our approach to strengthening inclusion across education settings including organising places and provision close to home. Building Block 2: Access to specialist support and local placements

The system is starting from a strong foundation. There are established commissioning arrangements, clear governance structures, and a positive culture of multi-agency working.

Over the next 3 years, our local area will enable children and young people to access support earlier, more consistently and more equitably within their local settings. There will be a significant and measurable shift in how support is accessed, coordinated and delivered, particularly at universal and targeted levels.

What is working particularly well is the strength of relationships across the system. There are positive, well-established relationships across education, health and care services and a strong culture of collaboration, openness, and shared problem-solving. There is strong engagement from schools across the system, with active participation in SEND training and decision-making panels. Schools are increasingly working collaboratively, sharing practice and supporting one another, and are playing a meaningful role in shaping system-wide approaches.

The Experts at Hand (Eah) model, to be known locally as Specialist Expertise at Hand (Seah) - see Annex B, C, D and E for more detail - will act as a central system enabler within this transition. Its primary contribution will be to improve access to specialist expertise (particularly EPs, SaLTs, OTs, and Specialist Teachers) through structured, consultative and capacity-building approaches.

This is underpinned by a skilled and experienced workforce. There is a broad offer of specialist support, including effective outreach services (such as autism outreach, the Education Inclusion Support Service and the Sensory Support Service), significant Educational Psychology (Ep) engagement, with an established linked school advisor model (82% of schools buy into the service) that helps maintain placements and build capacity within mainstream settings. There is strong involvement of Occupational Therapists (Ot) and Speech and Language Therapists (SaLT) within the wider SEND system, with effective advice and consultation (e.g. via advice lines and termly clinics/meetings) provided to educational settings. These services are often involved in pathway planning and support for families, e.g. Integrated Team Around the Child (Itac), Specialist Child Educational Provision (Scep) and Speech and

The early years sector and Family Hubs will play a particularly important role in this shift as part of an integrated early intervention infrastructure. By strengthening access to specialist input at this stage, the system will be better positioned to identify and respond to needs earlier, reducing the likelihood of escalation as children move through the system. Early years practitioners will have increased opportunities to engage in consultation, training and collaborative problem-solving, supported by Seah professionals.

Alongside this, there will be increasing development of cluster-level working, bringing together groups of schools and settings to form communities of practice. These clusters will provide a mechanism for shared learning, peer support and professional challenge, helping to

Language Educational Partnership (Salep), and EarlyBird and EarlyBird Plus support programmes for parents and carers.

reduce variability in practice and promote more consistent approaches to inclusion. Over time, cluster working will also support more efficient use of specialist resources, allowing expertise to be shared across multiple settings.

Kingston’s Alternative Provision (AP) is delivered through a "Continuum of Inclusive Practice," a three-tiered methodology designed to support young people facing barriers to education. Tier one focuses on universal support and guidance within mainstream schools, while tiers two and three provide hybrid and full-time pathways—such as Malden Oaks, Anstee Bridge, and Step By Step—for students with challenging or internalised behaviors. This multidisciplinary approach, involving services from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Social Care, ensures that students maintain a sense of belonging at their home school through bespoke, therapeutic support while fulfilling statutory duties for those at risk of missing education.

The system will also demonstrate stronger alignment between education, health and care services, and existing offers such as our Mental Health Support Teams (Mhst) in schools. The Seah model will act as a connector and integrator, ensuring that support is better coordinated and that pathways are clearer for schools and families. This will include improved navigation of services, more coherent multi-agency planning, and better use of existing provision. AfC and the Icb will also work closely to ensure that the Seah model is robustly and jointly commissioned and reflected in commissioning plans. As a result, children and families will experience a more joined-up system, with fewer gaps or overlaps in support. We will also review and re-design the services offering Alternative Provision to increase mainstream confidence, reduce suspensions of young people with SEND support. This process will evaluate current provision, training and models of support, alongside contracts and arrangements, and current budget allocation of the existing budget. A primary focus will be on ensuring that the Alternative Provision pathways of support provide an intervention that helps equip the pupils accessing it with the confidence and capacity to reintegrate into their mainstream school and avoid Alternative Provision becoming a destination. Our established Alternative Provision working group of schools, voluntary sector and CAMHS colleagues will develop this guided by shared expertise and models of best practice, including the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (Apst). The working group will ultimately look to implement a local version of the Apst that is shaped to the needs and resources of the borough. We will also ensure robust contingency plans are in place to address capacity constraints. This includes securing suitable, accessible

There are key areas where the system needs to evolve. The most significant theme is the need for greater joint working across services. While collaboration exists, delivery can be fragmented, and services operate in parallel rather than through a fully aligned model. Strengthening joint working, particularly across EPs, OTs and SaLTs, around evidence-based practice is necessary to ensure impactful intervention.

The system is also under pressure from workforce capacity challenges, particularly in relation to therapies (OTs and SaLTs) but also at a school level, affecting their ability to access training and support.

Another priority is ensuring that Alternative Provision acts as a temporary intervention rather than a permanent destination. While many students are currently referred with the intent of staying long-term or securing an EHCP, there is a concerted effort to improve reintegration rates back into mainstream settings. By addressing environmental barriers and investing in emotional wellbeing, the goal is to align AP services with a broader focus on mainstream inclusion. This

commitment ensures that every child can thrive within their school community, creating a stronger sense of belonging and improving overall attendance and school experience.

accommodation to ensure a consistent and available offer for all referred students. The Seah model will strengthen inclusive practice through earlier access to specialist advice, consultation, outreach and targeted intervention, enabling schools to respond more effectively to emerging needs before difficulties escalate to crisis point or placement breakdown. Through the Seah school-layer (Team around the School - Tas) and cluster-layer delivery, schools will be supported to build capacity and confidence in meeting a wider range of SEND and Semh needs within mainstream settings. This will include enhanced access to specialist practitioners, collaborative problem-solving, workforce development, shared accountability for vulnerable learners, and coordinated intervention planning across education, health and care partners. The implementation of Seah is intended to reduce reliance on AP by improving early intervention, preventing exclusions, increasing the sustainability of mainstream placements, and strengthening reintegration. The Seah model will also act as the primary vehicle for achieving our vision of a holistic, child-led system across Education, Health, and Care, ensuring we intervene early so that all children and young people feel included and achieve positive outcomes at transitions. In the post-16 phase, the system will have developed a clearer understanding of how specialist expertise can best support young people, informed by the initial appreciative enquiry work. This will enable the development of an approach that is responsive to the specific needs of further education settings, and may include activities such as specialist-led professional dialogue forums, targeted staff development, joint formulation around cohorts of learners, and greater involvement of careers, transition and wider support services, ensuring

Many of the foundations required for system transformation are already in place: strong leadership and governance; a collaborative culture; and established processes. However, these enablers are not yet fully optimised. The next phase of development will require a sharper focus on joint working, consistency, and scalability. This will require capacity building first and foremost.

that specialist expertise is integrated within the broader post-16 support offer. From a system perspective, there will be early signs of stabilisation in demand for statutory processes, including a slowing in the rate of increase in EHCNAs and EHCPs. While overall numbers may continue to rise in the short term, a greater proportion of needs will be met effectively through universal and targeted provision, supported by improved access to specialist advice. It is recognised that workforce capacity constraints could potentially limit the pace at which more intensive, embedded models (such as full Tas delivery) can be scaled. However, there will be evidence of more effective deployment of available capacity, with professionals able to support a greater number of children and young people through consultation, training and system-level approaches, building the conditions for deeper implementation over time.

Underpinning all of this will be a set of key system enablers, including:

• ​ A layered model of delivery, combining Tas approaches with cluster-level collaboration and system integration;
• ​ A strong governance framework, including a named Senior

Responsible Officer (Sro) and clear accountability through the local SEND Partnership Board;

• ​ Structured consultation and training processes, grounded in evidence and adult learning principles;
• ​ Robust data and performance systems, enabling ongoing monitoring and improvement; and
• ​ A continued focus on relationships, collaboration and

co-production as drivers of change.

By the end of the three-year period, the system will demonstrate:

• ​ More consistent access to specialist advice, consultation and

training, across the age phase (early years, primary, secondary, and further education settings);

• ​ Strengthened universal and targeted provision, supported by improved staff confidence and capability;
• ​ Early signs of stabilisation in demand for EHCNAs;
• ​ Improved alignment between education, health and care services, reducing duplication and fragmentation;
• ​ A more established culture of collaboration, including the development of cluster-based communities of practice; and
• ​ A clearer and more coherent offer for families, with improved communication and access pathways.

Building Block 3: System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production The local has a well established partnership board that meets on a quarterly basis to drive system change and monitor accountability for the improvement of local SEND services. The partnership includes representatives from across the SEND system including parents, early years, schools, colleges and professionals across education, health and care services. In advance of all partnership board meetings, a comprehensive data dashboard consisting of 72 key performance indicators is used to monitor and measure the impact of the local areas arrangements on outcomes for children, young people and their families.Over time, the size of the local area partnership board has grown and there is work to be done to refine the membership in order to make it the most efficient and effective decision making group. In addition to this, there is a High Needs Sub-Group of the Schools Forum chaired by the Chief Executive of a local multi-academy trust, which provides additional financial accountability for the total spend on SEND provision. The local SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (Sendiass) has been provided by Polaris Children Services since April 2023. As part of their service specification, they are commissioned to support with dispute resolution and provide parents with information about their next steps if they are dissatisfied with a decision. Where a statutory decision is made in relation to our duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, early dispute resolution with families is encouraged by the statutory SEND team before escalation to formal mediation provided locally by Global Mediation Services. Service data from Global Mediation Services identifies that mediation is not timely, and the process from local authority decision to a concluded outcome can take up to 18 months, if a parent goes through the tribunal process. The local authority’s use of dispute resolution data is still in its infancy and is not yet driving systemic service change in how our most common disputes Over the next 3 years, our vision is to build upon the strengths of the local area partnership so that education, health and social care are truly accountable for the holistic outcomes and experiences of children and young people with additional needs, and their families. Children and young people will be active contributors to the SEND Partnership Board, changing the power dynamic by enabling them to bring forward issues that are important for partners to address. Parents, carers, children and young people will feel confident that there is a partnership-wide early dispute resolution process that is effective and improves their confidence in the local SEND system. A measure of success in early dispute resolution will be to have an increase in the percentage of cases where mediation took place prior to an appeal being lodged. Where cases are unable to be resolved through internal processes, formal mediation will be timely and escalation routes will be clear. Parents will feel that the advice they receive from Sendiass is impartial, accessible and high quality. To mitigate any parental concerns about the perceived independence of Sendiass within mediation processes, we will ensure that Sendiass is operated by a completely independent, external provider, and that the minimum Sendiass service standards are met. Parent-carers will be included on the evaluation panel for the procurement process, and we will seek the views of young people in the recommissioning of the service with clear metrics that help providers value the importance of direct work with young people 16+. We will build upon the co-production agreement with the Pcf by developing a local framework, benchmarks and an action plan that sets clear expectations and culturally embeds co-production and partnership working with parents, carers, children and young people and leaders in education settings on an individual and strategic level. We will also continue to utilise effective governance mechanisms, such as the coproduction and engagement strategic oversight group led by can and should be resolved. This is an underdeveloped opportunity given the sustained increase in the number of tribunals registered. The Director of Education Services is the senior responsible officer who has been assigned to drive forward the SEND Reforms and strengthen partnerships across the local area. This enables alignment across schools, education providers and all education services. The Kingston Parent Carer Forum has been the established local Pcf since 2019. Achieving for Children provides additional funding to the organisation to support their core operation. There is an established regular and open relationship between the Pcf and system leaders to provide oversight and shape local priorities. For example, The Kingston Pcf and SEND Parent and Carer Consortium meet on a monthly basis to discuss issues important to parents. Despite this, the principles of co-production are not universally understood and embraced by all stakeholders. Without this, individual parents, carers and young people do not always feel their voice is valued leading to reduced confidence in the local SEND system.

the Pcf chair and Director of Children's Services, to support this process. As a minimum, the Pcf will be consulted at the earliest stages of development for services and resources that impact families with SEND. We will have an effective multi-agency audit that tests the strength of partnership working with parents at an individual level. We will continue to utilise the effective governance mechanisms currently in place. These co-production benchmarks and early dispute resolution processes will work to strengthen trust in the system, through all stakeholders working in equal partnership, and ensuring we foster shared accountability by capturing independent feedback on lived experiences. The local Seah model will underpin this vision by:

• ​ Implementing a shared workforce strategy focusing on

inclusive practice and co-production, developed in partnership with our Pcf and SEND Youth Participation Group;

• ​ Utilising the existing SEND data dashboard as a predictive tool

that triggers early intervention and support, rather than just monitoring performance;

• ​ Ensuring that the joint commissioning of the local Seah offer reflects the views of the partnership from 0 to 25.

Parents, carers, children and young people will feel confident that settings, schools or colleges can access timely support to ensure their needs are well met. The Seah offer is well understood across the local SEND partnership. There is a shared universal understanding of inclusive practice which is adopted by all partners, and empowers

parents, carers, children and young people to have an active role in shaping the services and support they receive. Building Block 4: Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

This building block starts from a strong foundation. We have established a robust foundation for inclusive education, supported by our Ordinarily Available Provision (Oap) guidance, which now includes a version for Early Years, an Inclusion Charter with a supporting toolkit, and high-performing early intervention teams such as the Education Inclusion Support Service (Eiss) and a specialist Autism Advisory Team. The Autism Advisory Team has successfully upskilled staff to support 95 children, primarily in Reception and Year 1, demonstrating the impact of modeling on staff development. In 2024-25, the Eiss had 148 referrals, the Advisory Outreach Service for Autism had 78 referrals and the total number of referrals for Alternative Provision with Eiss was 128. Eiss also received 19 referrals for school training. Feedback from parents has highlighted a need to develop support services around dyslexia and dyscalculia. SEND sufficiency reporting was identified as a development area in the 2025 Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (Csa), so we are currently distributing parent/provider surveys for the Autumn 2026 Csa to identify barriers for families of higher-needs children. For children aged 0 to 5 accessing early entitlements, over 80% do so within the private, voluntary and childminding sectors.

Over the next three years, we will establish a system where staff are confident, parents have renewed trust, and pupils receive support at the earliest opportunity. Central to this is a goal to foster an environment and whole school experience where every child feels they belong.

The Seah model will support a shift towards a consultative, collaborative and capacity-building approach. Where the school and their core experts at hand group identify pre-suspension needs through monthly meetings, this will be addressed through a Tas approach. Should a more specific or time pressured situation arise, for example if schools are concerned that an individual is at risk of suspension, linked experts at hand professionals will be able to respond to support the school. This model will extend beyond our borough boundaries to include out-of-area mainstream further education colleges, ensuring consistent specialist input for all our local young people.

To align with National Inclusion Standards, we will refresh our Ordinarily Available Provision and Inclusion Charter and Toolkit guidance and implement Inclusion Reviews and Audit Frameworks to support school self-evaluation and accountability. To ensure the Inclusion Audit serves as a helpful 'mirror' rather than a compliance exercise, the framework will be designed as a concise, reflective tool, e.g. auditing the sensory environment. We will support schools to self-evaluate and align their behaviour policies with the new National Inclusion Standards through the shared Inclusion Audit Framework. To support this work and the development of their inclusion statements, we will provide training, a framework and good practice guidance to

Workforce development remains a measurable strength, with 108 schools participating in the Attachment Aware Schools Award and high engagement with our Inclusion Toolkit training. Strategically, the Kingston Cluster Pilot has proven the success of decentralised financial enablers in allowing for rapid early intervention and boosting SENCO collaboration without immediate statutory assessments. We maintain a strong co-production relationship with the Kingston Parent Carer Forum

(Pcf). However, we recognise that our baseline for parental confidence varies across the borough, and communication regarding our universal offer needs to become more systematic to ensure every family feels secure in mainstream provision.

schools on effective co-production with their parent-carer communities.

We will work closely with Early Years, school, Fe and post-16 leaders to explore the feasibility of a consistent local pay structure for Teaching Assistants and Support Staff. Our focus will be on enabling settings to professionalise this role through shared training and apprenticeship opportunities ensuring the role is seen as a key strategic part of the inclusive workforce. We will also work to build parental trust through a co-produced Universal Offer agreement.

Despite these strengths, the system faces critical challenges, including severe financial strain evidenced by High Needs Block deficit of £12.3m in Kingston, driven heavily by an over-reliance on high-cost independent placements and spot-commissioned therapies. To address this, we will move from a direct-delivery specialist model to a consult-and-collaborate approach while scaling the cluster funding model borough-wide. A transition gap remains where we must better align primary and secondary cultures to strengthen transitions, building on current initiatives like the Year 4 to 8 transition panel, and create a more flexible secondary curriculum to reduce suspension rates. Additionally, we will build on our Emotionally Related School Avoidance (Ersa) support through the formulation tool to ensure a more consistent approach to the early identification and intervention of pupils experiencing Ersa.

To underpin culture shift, we will implement critical digital enablers. We will develop our School SEND Data Dashboards towards dynamic, multi-agency ‘Inclusion Story’ dashboards and support schools to write digital Individual Support Plans, ensuring the young person’s voice is a primary driver in shaping provision and pathways. Implementing these digital ISPs will deliver the shared digital infrastructure required to create a 'single view of the child', which is vital for upskilling school teams and developing a consistent understanding of ordinarily available provision.

We will ensure system resilience by moving all schools into a SEND cluster model to share funding, specialist resources, and collective expertise. The cluster model will provide the opportunity for reflective spaces, supervision/solution circles, and peer support specifically for SENCOs as they take on a more strategic role with the implementation of the SEND Reforms.

Regarding our enablers, our data and digital systems currently rely on static reporting, necessitating a transition to dynamic, multi-agency dashboards to enable real-time decision-making. While workforce engagement is high, with 82% of Kingston schools buying back Educational Psychology services, a critical gap exists in the private and voluntary early years sector where only 10 SENCOs hold a Level 3 qualification. Furthermore, we face a significant capital and sufficiency gap in local maintained post-19 provision for complex needs, which currently forces a reliance on external placements. In the early years, although 64% of SEND Support children access inclusion funding, we must tackle outcome inequalities. 22% of children live in poverty and the Good Level of Development (Gld) for children with SEND is 26%, a gap we will address through Best Start Family Hubs, earlier identification protocols, and multi-disciplinary teams like Spot (Speech,

We will develop a Dyslexia Hub to ensure schools, Fe and post-16, have access to specialist training and advice. The development of the Hub alongside digital ISPs will support our aim to close attainment gaps, increasing the percentage of pupils with SEND achieving expected levels of development to match the national average at KS2, while sustaining our position above the national average for KS4.

Portage, and Ot).

To tackle our 22% child poverty rate and severe attainment gaps, we will invest heavily in Best Start Family Hubs. These hubs will act as integrated one-stop shops featuring named SEND specialists who will deliver support before a child starts primary school. Our goal is to achieve a 79.5% Good Level of Development (Gld) for all children and 52.6% for those eligible for Free School Meals by 2028, which will be monitored and reported on through our local Best Start in Life plan. Alongside these broader targets, we aim to increase the Gld scores specifically for children with SEND from our 26% baseline to 29% by 2028/29, which will be measured through our SEND Reform Plan.

The 16-24 cohort maintains Not in Education, Employment or Training (Neet) figures of approx 4%, which is below the national average, but is still an area to improve. Young people access targeted support, however there is a need for earlier identification. Work is underway with colleges to introduce flexible, inclusive provision. The universal post-16 offer for those unable to attend settings lacks coherence. To resolve this, we will introduce dedicated transition mentors, develop our reengagement offer and co-produce clearer information, advice, and guidance (Iag) to build parental confidence as young people move away from EHCPs into sustainable pathways.

To significantly reduce reliance on Alternative Provision (AP), all secondary schools will establish internal Support Bases by Year 3. Where AP is used, reintegration plans will be developed, from day 1. We will build on our borough-wide commitment to the Attachment Aware Award Schools through the achievement of Silver and Gold awards, with ongoing support to ensure these principles are lived out in the whole school experience. The Ersa formulation tool will be used to ensure a more consistent approach to the early identification and intervention of pupils experiencing Ersa. By embedding these trauma-informed principles and utilising the Ersa tool to intervene early, we aim to improve the attendance of pupils with SEN across all maintained schools.

We will strengthen our workforce enablers by recruiting an Early Years Senior SEND Advisor and launching a ‘Workforce Excellence’ bursary to increase the number of Level 3 qualified Early Years SENCOs in Pvi settings. Financially, we will streamline systems by transitioning to cohort-based funding for early years and developing robust tracking for children under five to improve pathway planning. We will also deploy targeted physical and emotional support via the Healthy Early Years London (Heyl) and Paths programmes to address childhood obesity and social and emotional development.

For our post-16 learners, we will develop a coherent, local authority-led universal reengagement offer that integrates core academics with specialist mentoring. To address critical capital and placement gaps, we will establish local maintained post-19 Specific Learning Difficulty (Spld) provision, reducing reliance on independent out-of-area placements. We will embed transition mentors within the Seah model to identify Neet risks earlier and expand new vocational opportunities including V-levels and pre-internships. Finally, we will co-produce clearer information and guidance to build family confidence during transitions away from EHCPs, ensuring the young person’s voice is the primary driver in shaping their pathway into adult employment and independence.By embedding these transition mentors to identify Neet risks earlier and expanding vocational opportunities like V-levels, we aim to ensure successful transitions to independence, increasing the proportion of pupils with SEND in a sustained destination after Key Stage 4.

What are your success measures?

Baseline Building Block 1:

Target Metrics - 2028/29 Building Block 1:

• ​ Number of places at Specialist Inclusion Bases at secondary schools: 120 in 2025/26
• ​ Number of Cyp with an EHCP supported and educated within their local borough: 1872 in 20251
• ​ % of pupils with SEND (SEN Support and EHCP) educated within a mainstream setting: 86% in 2025

Building Block 2:

• ​ Increase in the number of places at Specialist Inclusion Bases at secondary schools to 145
• ​ Increase in the number of Cyp with SEND supported and educated within their local borough to 2328
• ​ Increase in the % of pupils with SEND (SEN Support and EHCP) educated within a mainstream setting to 89%

Building Block 2:

1 A total of the Cyp with EHCPs attending: Early Years settings; mainstream schools/ academies; support bases; specialist bases; mainstream special schools/ academies; alternative provision; mainstream post-16; mainstream post-16 specialist provision; and specialist post-16 institutions minus the number of Cyp with EHCPs attending Nmss or independent schools - LA funded placements

• ​ Number of children and young people successfully supported by EPs, SaLTs, and OTs without an EHCP: 273 (2025/26)
• ​ Number of referrals for Alternative Provision (all types): 304 AP referrals received in 2025/26
• ​ Number of Cyp accessing local specialist teaching outreach: 504 in 2025/26

Building Block 3:

• ​ Increase in the number of children and young people

successfully supported by EPs, SaLTs, and OTs without an EHCP to 2636

• ​ Decrease in the number of referrals for Alternative Provision

(all types) to 274.

• ​ Increase in the number of Cyp accessing local specialist

teaching outreach to 744 Building Block 3:

• ​ % of cases where mediation has taken place prior to an appeal

being lodged: 20.8% (2025)

• ​ No current baseline for % of parents/carers who feel their voice

was valued in decisions about their child's support when audited. Baseline to be set in Year 1.

• ​ No current baseline for % of children & young people who feel

their voice was valued in decisions about their support. Baseline to be set in Year 1.

• ​ Increase in the % of cases where mediation has taken place prior to an appeal being lodged to 65%
• ​ Increase in the % of parents/carers who feel their voice was valued in decisions about their child's support to 90%
• ​ Increase in the % of Cyp who feel their voice was valued in decisions about their support to 90%

Building Block 4:

Building Block 4:

• ​ Improve attendance of pupils with SEN in all maintained

schools to over 94% (aligning with the national ambition of a 1.3 percentage point increase).

• ​ Increase the % of pupils with SEND (EHCP and SEN Support)

at or above expected levels of development to national average for Key Stage 2 and remaining above national average for Key Stage 4

• ​ Increase in % of pupils with SEND in a sustained destination

after Key Stage 4 to 97%

• ​ Increase the Good Level of Development scores for children

with SEND to 29%

• ​ Overall attendance for pupils with SEN across all maintained

schools (including special): 90% (average of both EHCP and SEN Support - 2024/25)

• ​ % of pupils with SEND (EHCP and SEN Support) at or above

expected levels of development is below national average by 3% in Key Stage 2 and above national by 12% for Key Stage 4 in 2024/25

• ​ % of pupils with SEND in a sustained destination after Key

Stage 4: 95% in 2025

• ​ Good Level of Development scores for children with SEND: 26%

in 2025

3.​ What is the local area partnership’s strategy for delivering on the above?

A brief summary of your local system’s theory of change or reform strategy. Reflect on the output of your Local Partnership Maturity Assessment Tool, particularly your Local System ‘change story.’

While Kingston possesses significant strengths, such as robust multi-agency governance, a proactive Pcf, and a strong early intervention offer, we face critical challenges. These include a £12.3m High Needs Block deficit, 12% annual rise in EHCPs, and an over-reliance on high-cost independent placements and spot-commissioned therapies.

To address these interdependencies and drive progress, our reform strategy relies on:

• ​ Enablers: Targeted investment, including Experts at Hand and Transformation funding, High Needs capital, shared digital infrastructure,

robust co-production frameworks, partnership working, and integrated decision-making provide the foundation for systemic change.

• ​ Activities: Core actions include deploying the Specialist Expertise at Hand (Seah) model, building Specialist Inclusion Bases in

mainstream schools, establishing local SEND clusters, embedding practitioners into Family Hubs, developing shared digital systems and co-producing a Universal Offer agreement.

• ​ Outputs: These mechanisms ensure specialist support is more easily accessible, services and pathways are jointly commissioned,

improved early years identification and a multi-agency "single front door" via Family Hubs, and shared, high-quality data and strong co-production arrangements are established.

• ​ Intermediate Outcomes: This leads to local provision that builds confidence with our families and is responsive to need and location,

earlier identification preventing escalated needs, and reducing reliance on statutory processes, and embedded coproduction in decision-making at all levels.

• ​ Longer-term Outcomes: Ultimately, children learn at schools close to home alongside peers, with special schools supporting the most

complex needs. Every school will be resourced to meet predictable needs, and children with SEND will achieve excellent long-term outcomes and receive support as soon as possible.

4.​ Please upload a completed copy of the Local Partnership Maturity Assessment Tool.

Link to Local Partnership Maturity Assessment 5.​ What is the local area partnership roadmap for the next 3 years?

Reflecting on the broad timescales and expectation for deliverables set out in the Schools White Paper, key documents and core minimum requirements set out in this document, please provide a high-level roadmap for the next 3 years. Please highlight key milestones and a trajectory to the target metrics identified above, including leading indicators. In the 2026-27 column, in particular, please reference how you plan to meet the core minimum requirements in your narrative, including details and evidence in supporting documents. You can insert or upload supporting documents including graphics/visuals that illustrate your data trajectory.

Local roadmap for the next 3 years

Building Block 1: Strengthening inclusion across education settings

2026/27 - particular reference to how we will meet the core minimum requirements listed above In 2026/27, we will carry out an audit with all settings, including early years and post-16 settings, primary and secondary schools in the borough including those in Multi-Academy Trusts, to identify which settings have Inclusion Bases and where there are gaps. This will enable us to work collaboratively to identify suitable sites within school/setting premises and jointly plan the development of any new provision that is required. Alongside this, feasibility studies for two secondary Specialist Inclusion Bases, developed in partnership with local schools to meet demand trends, will be completed and presented for funding approval. We will also begin the expansion of the Independent Travel Training Team to support more young people to travel independently. We will also explore options with the parent-carer community to achieve their ambitions for a small, nurturing mainstream secondary school in the borough. In relation to specialist provision, we will focus on the establishment of Orchard Hill College accommodation at the Moor Lane Centre in Chessington. This will address capacity issues at the current Beaconsfield site in New Malden. A recent net capacity assessment undertaken by Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust (Ohcat) has identified the site will need to reduce capacity to 35 students from September 2026 from 55 currently. The accommodation at the Moor Lane Centre will enable additional pupils to be supported while future plans for a post-16 SEND campus are progressed. By creating the places we will ensure we can continue to support the number of students currently accessing the college and in doing so prevent them having to move to out of area placements and independent specialist provision.

Furthermore, we will progress discussions with the Department for Education (DfE) to redesignate a former primary school site as a new specialist provision for secondary aged pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties (Sld) who cannot be educated in a mainstream environment. This will enable us to meet the demand for this type of provision currently moving through the primary phase, and ensure we are able to avoid sending our children and young people out of the borough, instead educating them closer to home. This aligns with current demand trends and would address expected future pressures for places of this type. Discussions will also be held with the DfE to consider the potential to use the site of the now cancelled Surbiton Primary Academy to create the long-planned specialist post-16 SEND campus. This is in response to increasing current and projected demand for post-16 specialist provision, and will involve working collaboratively with Ohcat to create a purpose built centre for students who cannot be educated in a mainstream environment. Key milestones:

• ​ Conduct a borough-wide audit of existing school/setting Inclusion Bases.
• ​ Complete feasibility studies for two new secondary bases.
• ​ Establish new accommodation for Orchard Hill College at the Moor Lane Centre.
• ​ Progress negotiations with the DfE to redesignate former school sites for new specialist secondary and post-16 SEND provisions.

2027/28

In 2027/28, we will conclude the borough-wide audit of school and setting Inclusion Bases, using the funding to develop a programme of capital works to ensure schools are able to meet the requirements as set out in the SEND White Paper. We will also finalise two Specialist Inclusion Base projects at secondary schools, providing 35 additional places for pupils with complex autism to be educated within mainstream environments. Plans for repurposing the former Surbiton Primary Academy site will progress, and the Independent Travel Training Team will be expanded with four new posts, enabling more young people to gain greater independence. Finally, we will begin drafting the new SEND Sufficiency Strategy in collaboration with partners, setting out a long-term vision for strengthening inclusion and providing high-quality provision close to home. We will focus on completing the Department for Education led project to move Spring School to its permanent site in Chessington, enabling the school to increase to the planned number of 90 students. Capacity is currently impacted by the limitations of the temporary site. This will enable us to educate more children and young people with SEND within the borough.

Simultaneously, we will complete the redesignation of Norbiton Primary School as specialist secondary Sld provision, providing at least 70 specialist places to meet a current gap in our local offer. Key milestones:

• ​ Complete two secondary Specialist Inclusion Bases to provide 35 new places for pupils with complex autism.
• ​ Relocate Spring School to its permanent Moor Lane site to reach its full 90-student capacity.
• ​ Open the new specialist secondary Sld provision at the former Norbiton Primary School site.

2028/29

In 2028/29, our focus will shift towards long-term infrastructure and the strategic refinement of our local offer. We will work closely with all secondary schools to ensure that each has at least a Support Inclusion Base in place. To complement this, a detailed plan will be established to address any remaining gaps in Specialist Inclusion Bases across the borough, ensuring a consistent level of support for all students. A business case will be presented to the Council’s Education Capital Board and a decision made regarding the development of the specialist post-16 SEND campus at the site of the cancelled Surbiton Primary Academy. Discussions will be underway with our special schools with regard to the complexity of the needs of the pupils they support. As mainstream schools support more pupils who would previously be accessing a specialist place, there is an opportunity to review these thresholds and ensure we have the pupils with the most complex needs in our special schools. We will also finalise our new SEND Sufficiency Strategy which will clearly set out our approach to strengthening inclusion across education settings including organising places and provision close to home. Key Milestones:

• ​ Secure a decision on the development of the specialist post-16 SEND campus at the Surbiton site.
• ​ Review special school thresholds to focus on pupils with the most complex needs.
• ​ Finalise the new SEND Sufficiency Strategy to strengthen local inclusion.

Building Block 2: Access to specialist support and local placements 2026/27 - particular reference to how we will meet the core minimum requirements listed above

Year 1: Establishment and Early Implementation of Seah

The first year will focus on establishing the infrastructure, workforce and delivery mechanisms required to operationalise the Seah model, while prioritising areas where impact can be achieved most effectively within existing capacity constraints. Year 1 is intentionally designed as an implementation, testing and learning phase, enabling the partnership to establish, evaluate and refine delivery approaches before wider scale-up in subsequent years. Please see Annex B which outlines the partnership approach that our local Seah model is based on. Annex C lays out the core rationale for why we chose our local Experts at Hand model. Annex D outlines the local Seah model in more depth. Annex E outlines Year 1 implementation plans in detail. A key priority will be the early years sector and Family Hubs, where earlier access to specialist expertise has the greatest potential to influence longer-term outcomes. Given workforce limitations, delivery in Year 1 will not involve full Team Around a School (Tas) implementation. Instead, it will focus on structured consultation cycles, training, and professional dialogue forums, enabling settings to access specialist input in a scalable and sustainable way. Particular attention will be given to strengthening links between Early Years providers, Family Hubs, EPs, SaLTs, OTs and wider support services. In parallel, the programme will begin to explore how the Seah model can be adapted to the post-16 context. This will involve an Educational Psychology-led appreciative enquiry with two local colleges, designed to understand current strengths, identify gaps, and co-produce a model of support that is appropriate for this phase. Recognising that many post-16 providers operate across local authority boundaries, work will be undertaken collaboratively with neighbouring local authorities and relevant partners to support alignment, reduce duplication and inform the development of coherent approaches for providers serving young people from multiple areas. We will begin to test and explore approaches to specialist consultation, workforce development and collaborative problem-solving within post-16 settings, providing an evidence base for future implementation. Approximately 20% of schools will participate in the Tas layer during Year 1, receiving structure consultation, implementation support and access to specialist expertise. A further 20% of schools will participate in the Cluster layer, supporting collaborative practice development, workforce learning, peer challenge and operating as communities of practice. Learning generated through both layers will be systematically shared across the wider

system to ensure that all schools and settings benefit from the Seah model during Year 1. We will also complete a comprehensive audit and evaluation of the current Alternative Provision pathway. The existing key performance indicators will be developed, assessing the impact of Alternative Provision on reintegration, attainment, holistic outcomes, and preparation for adulthood, in accordance with best practice guidance. We will also be able to strengthen support for our children and young people experiencing Emotionally-Related School Avoidance (Ersa) and their families through better support via our Family Hubs. Recruitment during Year 1 will take a phased and pragmatic approach, recognising national workforce shortages. Efforts will focus on maximising existing capacity, exploring flexible workforce models, and introducing support roles to extend the reach of specialist professionals. Recruitment will prioritise areas of greatest need, while also focusing on retention and sustainable deployment. Workforce planning will prioritise EPs, SaLTs, OTs and Specialist Teaching, whilst identifying opportunities to utilise assistants, trainees and support workers where appropriate. The focus in year 1 will therefore be on articulating the additional capacity required and funded across providers so that this can be reflected in commissioning plans as well as provider demand and capacity planning including recruitment. Joint commissioning arrangements between AfC and the Icb will be established and embedded throughout Year 1. This will include agreement of governance arrangements, workforce planning, funding deployment, reporting processes and shared accountability mechanisms to ensure the model is delivered as a coherent education, health and care partnership. Key milestones: By the end of Year 1, the system will have:

• ​ Established governance arrangements, including the Seah workstream, named Senior Responsible Officer (Sro), and reporting arrangements through the Local Area SEND Partnership Board
• ​ Initiated Seah delivery within Early Years and Family Hub contexts.
• ​ Delivered structured consultation and training to a defined cohort of settings.
• ​ Begun to establish initial cluster forums to support professional dialogue.
• ​ Begun workforce expansion and role development, within realistic constraints.
• ​ Completed the Post-16 appreciative enquiry and identified next steps.
• ​ Established baseline data and evaluation processes to inform Years 2 and 3.
• ​ Initial evaluation of the model chosen prior to stepping up delivery in Years 2-3.

Success in Year 1 will be measured primarily through coverage and access, including the number of settings engaged, the scale of consultation activity delivered, and the number of practitioners accessing training and support. Early qualitative indicators, such as practitioner confidence and feedback from settings, will also be important. Additional measures will include workforce capacity and development timeliness of support, evidence of strengthened collaboration across education, health and care partners, and the establishment of baseline measures relating to inclusion, engagement, participation and service demand. Findings will be used to refine delivery, identify areas requiring further development and inform planning for Years 2 and 3.

2027/28

Year 2: Expansion and Embedding of Seah

The second year will focus on expanding the reach of the Seah model and embedding it more consistently across phases, including increased engagement with schools. Building on the learning, evaluation findings and implementation experience gained during Year 1, the focus will shift from establishing delivery mechanism towards further reach, strengthening consistency and embedding the model within routine practice across the system.

Building on Year 1 learning, there will be a gradual introduction of more structured Team Around a School approaches in a targeted number of settings. Cluster-based communities of practice will become more established, supporting peer learning and consistency of approach. Participation in both the Tas and Cluster layers will increase, enabling a greater number of schools to access direct specialist expertise through consultation, training and implementation support.

There will also be a stronger emphasis on aligning Seah delivery with system-integrated services, ensuring that schools and settings experience a more coherent offer across education, health and care. Joint commissioning arrangements between AfC and the Icb will become increasingly embedded, supporting coordinated workforce planning, resource deployment and service delivery. Building on the Early Years and Family Hub activity established during Year 1, there will be increased opportunity for practitioners to access consultation, workforce development and collaborative problem-solving. Learning from the Year 1 Post-16 appreciative enquiry will be translated into the initial implementation of a Post-16 Seah offer. Where appropriate, this work will continue to be developed in collaboration with neighbouring local authorities and providers. We will also focus on embedding the changes that arise out of the Alternative Provision pathway audit and self evaluation activity alongside

recommissioning provision in line with gaps in need, developing our staff training for school teams and investment in short term vocational options in line with models of best practice, including the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (Apst). Particular emphasis will be placed on strengthening reintegration pathways, improving inclusion and reducing reliance on suspections, exclusions and longer-term alternative provision placements. Workforce development will continue throughout Year 2, with a focus on increasing capacity across EPs SaLTs, OTs and Specialist Teaching services, whilst ensuring that workforce growth is sustainable and aligned to identified need. Improvements are expected in terms of access to specialist advice, consistency of practice, and early indicators of reduced escalation, although these will vary across the system. By the end of Year 2, the partnership expects to see increased reach across settings, greater workforce capacity, more established communities of practice, stronger multi-agency working and growing evidence that needs are being identified and addressed earlier through strengthened universal and targeted provision.

2028/29

Year 3: Consolidation and Clear Impact of Seah

The third year will focus on consolidating delivery, strengthening quality, and demonstrating system impact. The emphasis will shift from implementation and expansion towards sustainability, quality assurance and continuous improvement, ensuring that the Seah model is embedded as a core component of the local inclusion system. By the end of Year 3, Seah will be recognised as the primary mechanism through which specialist expertise is coordinated and mobilised across the local area, supporting a more integrated, preventative and inclusive system.

By this stage, the Seah model will be operating across all phases, including Early Years, schools, Family Hubs and Post-16 settings, with more consistent access to specialist expertise and more established consultation and training processes. The use of Team Around a School approaches will be in place. Cluster-based communities of practice will be well established, supporting ongoing collaboration, shared learning and peer challenge across settings. There will be clearer evidence of improved system functioning, including more consistent practice, better coordination across services, and early signs of impact on demand and cost trajectories. Joint commissioning arrangements between AfC and the Icb will be fully embedded, supporting coordinated workforce planning, resource deployment and strategic oversight. The workforce model will be more mature, enabling Ep, SaLT, Ot, Specialist Teaching and wider specialist expertise to be deployed more effectively through consultation, training, implementation support and collaborative problem solving.

There will be evidence of strengthened universal and targeted provision, increased staff confidence and capability, improved access to specialist advice, and greater consistency in inclusive practice across settings. Early indicators of impact may include reduced reliance on escalation pathways, improved sustainability of mainstream placements, strengthened reintegration arrangements and greater confidence amongst children, young people, families and practitioners. While full system transformation will extend beyond this period, Year 3 will demonstrate that the local area has established a sustainable model for improving access, building capacity, and supporting inclusion, providing a strong foundation for further reform. There will be early signs of stabilisation in demand for statutory processes, with a greater proportion of needs being identified and effectively supported through strengthened universal and targeted provision, whilst ensuring that children and young people who require statutory assessment or plans continue to receive timely access to them.

Building Block 3: System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production 2026/27 - particular reference to how we will meet the core minimum requirements listed above In 2026/27, we will focus on establishing the foundational frameworks and data systems required to culturally embed co-production and shared accountability across the 0-25 partnership. To ensure our strategic decision-making is as efficient and representative as possible, we will refine the membership of the local area partnership board to include formal representation from early years, schools, multi-academy trusts (MATs), and further education (Fe) providers. We will also maintain strong links to the Schools Forum to support coherent engagement and accountability across all settings. To underpin partnership working, we will utilise shared, high-quality data through our SEND Futures joint data dashboard and the ongoing use of the Local Partnership Maturity Matrix to self-assess effectiveness. To strengthen co-production, we will ensure the Kingston Parent Carer Forum (Pcf) continues to be properly resourced and will finalise a local co-production charter and framework, which will support their consistent involvement in shaping decision-making. We will adopt a minimum co-production benchmark and conduct a self-assessment against it in Year 1 to identify improvement actions. We will reorganise our SEND engagement workforce and resources in consultation with the Pcf to create the capacity we need to have joint ownership and clear oversight of all engagement, participation and co-production activity, and ensure the voices of all stakeholders informs strategic decisions. To capture the voice of children and young people (Cyp) directly and distinctly from the parent voice, we will prioritise the development of a SEND Youth Forum, building on the existing 'Young Voices' sessions, to ensure their views actively influence board decisions. We will work directly with schools to improve their strategies for culturally embedding the lived experience of parents, carers, children and young people in the development of their SEND provision. Once established, we will create key metrics for assessing the strength of co-production in our schools. To strengthen early dispute resolution and rebuild parental confidence, we will improve the data accuracy and reporting of dispute resolution locally, designing a single-view dashboard to collate this information. We will also recommission Sendiass to ensure parents and carers receive high-quality, accessible advice that supports their next steps, formally opening the procurement process and ensuring parent-carers are included on the evaluation panel, and ensuring through procurement that the minimum Sendiass service standards are met. We will seek the views of young people as part of this process with clear metrics that help providers value the importance of direct work with young people 16+. We will also ensure that the joint commissioning of the new local Experts at Hand (Eah) offer explicitly reflects the views of the entire 0-25 SEND partnership. Key Milestones:

• ​ Establish a single named Sro and refine the Partnership Board membership to include formal representation from early years, schools, MATs, and Fe.
• ​ Agree on a co-production benchmarking framework and action plan at a SEND partnership level.
• ​ Design a single-view dashboard to collate all available dispute resolution data and identify where current reporting is missing.

2027/28

In 2027/28, our focus shifts to embedding these frameworks into workforce culture to drive systemic change. We will invest in a local area-wide training programme that enables the delivery of a shared workforce strategy, establishing agreed mechanisms for engaging all schools, early years providers, and post-16 providers, including out-of-area mainstream colleges accessed by local young people, to support inclusive practice and co-production. This will be a collective effort: the Local Authority, schools, and parents will meet to agree on a framework and action plan, then choose a training programme. To guarantee commitment from out-of-area partners, we are considering making this training a core component of our formal commissioning agreements. We will look at how we can better utilise our data, and improve our existing joint SEND Partnership data dashboard, ensuring it is used not as a tool for simply monitoring progress, but as a mechanism to inform what early intervention and support is needed before needs escalate. We will also use qualitative and quantitative evaluation from early years, schools and post 16 providers to evaluate the impact of our mainstream investment and Seah model. To reduce reliance on tribunals, we will actively use the themes pulled from our new dispute resolution dashboard to transform existing service and decision-making processes, ensuring we consistently address the most common disputes at an earlier stage.

We will also begin to integrate young people with SEND as active, formal contributors to the SEND Partnership Board, changing the power dynamic and ensuring that distinct issues important to them (such as the Preparation for Adulthood pathway) are directly addressed and actioned by system leaders. Key Milestones:

• ​ Launch a local area-wide training programme and engagement mechanisms focusing on inclusive practice across all setting types (including out-of-area post-16).
• ​ Integrate young people as active, distinct contributors to the local area partnership board.
• ​ Use dispute resolution data to transform existing service processes to address common disputes earlier.

2028/29

By 2028/29, our goal is for co-production and shared accountability to be fully embedded, universally understood, and embraced by all stakeholders across the local area. We will deliver and embed a transparent, local dispute resolution protocol that all partners understand, ensuring parents and carers feel completely confident that the system will address their concerns fairly, early, and consistently. We will ensure that every child's most local school, early years setting, or college shares a collective responsibility for inclusion and can access timely support through the fully embedded Seah offer, directly meeting their needs effectively. Furthermore, we will embed a consistent group that actively represents the collective, distinct voice of young people with SEND at a strategic level, ensuring their lived experiences continuously and directly influence system leadership and service development. Key Milestones:

• ​ Deliver a local dispute resolution protocol with transparent escalation routes understood by all partners.
• ​ Fully embed co-production principles universally across all stakeholders, settings, and groups.
• ​ Embed a consistent group representing the distinct collective voice of young people at a strategic level.

Building Block 4: Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

2026/27 - particular reference to how we will meet the core minimum requirements listed above We will co-develop, publish, and annually refresh a partnership-wide Universal Offer agreement. This will be co-produced with MATs, schools, early years settings, and post-16 providers, underpinned by needs-based data. We will refresh our Ordinarily Available Provision (Oap) guidance and Inclusion Charter and Toolkit, implementing Inclusion Reviews and Audit Frameworks, aligned with the golden thread of inclusion in the Ofsted Framework, to support school self-evaluation and accountability. The agreement will be formally ratified by the local authority, Icb, Mat representatives, and the Parent Carer Forum (Pcf), establishing a clear baseline of inclusive provision available, along with a shared accessible language and definition of inclusion. We will work with our special schools to develop a transition passport for pupils transitioning from mainstream, with an aim that by 28/29, all pupils with SEND have a transition passport, ensuring primary strategies are embedded into secondary planning before September. We will provide evidence-based guidance and peer-learning opportunities for secondary schools to explore primary-style pastoral nurture, such as vertical grouping or smaller transition tutor groups. We will also encourage and support schools to host early Key Stage 2 open mornings and embed the Ersa formulation tool as a standard part of the transition pathway for vulnerable learners. To strengthen early intervention and reduce escalation, the local area will begin the phased implementation of the Seah model in 2026/27. This will focus on establishing governance, including the Seah workstream, and co-producing the model with partners, including education, health, care and Parent Carer Forum representatives. Delivery will prioritise Early Years, and Family Hubs, using structured consultation cycles, training and professional dialogue to improve access to specialist expertise. We will launch a new dyslexia hub in September 2026. By deploying this group-level specialist support directly into schools and out-of-area further education settings, we will build local capacity and reduce reliance on independent placements that require significant travel assistance. We will embed the Ersa formulation tool across all settings to ensure consistent, evidence-based approaches to early identification and intervention of pupils experiencing Ersa. To meet the early years core minimum requirements, we will publish our updated Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (Csa) in Autumn 2026. Using targeted parent and provider surveys, this assessment will explicitly detail the availability of early years places, specialist SEND places, and map local gaps for children with complex and emerging needs. To address these gaps, we will expand the role of our Best Start Family Hubs (Bsfh) by integrating named SEND specialists to provide direct support and implement a ‘pre-reception’ information flow protocol, ensuring identification and specialist input are operational before the child starts school. We will recruit an Early Years Senior SEND Advisor to strengthen our workforce. To bridge the qualification gap in the Pvi sector, we will launch a ‘Workforce Excellence’ bursary to increase the number of Level 3 qualified Early Years SENCOs. Simultaneously, we will deploy the Healthy Early Years London and Paths programmes through our hubs to address childhood obesity and social-emotional development. To meet the post-16 core minimum requirements, we will strengthen pathways to adulthood by expanding access to training, re-engagement support, employment, and our local Supported Internship (SI) offer, including partnerships like the Capella House hub. We will clarify pathways by co-producing clear Information, Advice, and Guidance (Iag) to support families transitioning away from EHCPs. This process will be informed by consistent information flow and timely specialist support by embedding the Seah model into post-16 settings to ensure transition planning is focused on long-term independence. Key Milestones:

• ​ The Universal Offer agreement is co-produced and formally ratified by the SEND Partnership Board, local authority, Icb, and Pcf.
• ​ Publication of the Autumn 2026 Csa with comprehensive SEND sufficiency data and specialist place mapping.
• ​ 15% of schools engaged with an Inclusion Review (incorporating the Pins neuro-inclusive audit).
• ​ Launch of the Dyslexia Hub in September 2026 with established referral pathways.
• ​ Launch of the Workforce Excellence bursary for Pvi Early Years SENCOs.

2027/28

In Year 2, our focus shifts to embedding inclusive culture through improved digital systems and targeted workforce development. We will transition school-level SEND dashboards from static context reports into dynamic, multi-agency ‘Inclusion Stories’ to track attendance, suspensions, and reintegration milestones in real time, supporting joint decision-making. Simultaneously, we will support schools in moving from current SEN Support records to unified, digital Individual Support Plans (ISPs) that ensure parents, teachers, and specialists can access a single, live version of a child's support. We will fund a digital Isp offer to make ISPs easier to complete and more consistent across schools and settings. To build workforce capability, we will roll out targeted training focused on the role of class teachers, form tutors and support staff in leading the graduated response. Crucially, we will bridge the current participation gap by adapting these modules specifically for the secondary sector to ensure secondary staff feel equally skilled and confident to meet diverse needs within mainstream environments. We will review our published Universal Offer agreement, our Ordinarily Available Provision (Oap) guidance, Inclusion Charter and Toolkit, Inclusion Reviews and Audit Frameworks, so that they are aligned with the newly published National Inclusion Standards. During 2027/28, the Seah model will move into a phase of expansion and embedding, extending delivery to a wider range of schools and settings. Cluster-based communities of practice will become more established, and targeted Team Around a School approaches will be introduced. Workforce development will continue, including further use of support roles, supporting increased reach and consistency of provision. We will work closely with school leaders to professionalise the Teaching Assistant (TA) role by providing shared training and apprenticeship opportunities. Recognising pay as

a critical barrier to retention, we will advocate for a consistent local pay structure, ensuring the role is seen as a key strategic part of the inclusive workforce and an aspirational career path. Following the development of a transition passport, with Year 6 pupils transitioning to special schools in 2026/27, we will implement a standardised digital ‘Transition Passport’ for Year 6 pupils with an EHCP across the borough, ensuring primary strategies are embedded into secondary planning before September. Building on this, we will evolve the Year 4 to 8 transition panel to better align primary and secondary cultures, ensuring that inclusive strategies are maintained through the middle years. For Alternative Provision (AP), we will enforce ‘Day 1 Reintegration Plans’ (with a 6–12 week target) and implement a mandatory fortnightly multi-agency review cycle for all Tier-2 pupils to prevent placement ‘drift’ and accelerate returns to mainstream. To improve financial efficiency and reduce the administrative burden on settings, we will transition Early Years SEN Inclusion Funding (Eysif) to a cohort-based application system, enabling providers to support children with similar needs using a streamlined process. We will also implement a robust tracking system for children under five to better support pathway planning and early transitions. Support for families will be expanded by rolling out the ‘Parental Ordinarily Available Provision’ (Oap) guidance, co-produced with the Pcf, and by expanding the IChatter and Spot multidisciplinary teams to provide earlier targeted support. Building upon the strengthened pathways developed in Year 1, we will work with further education colleges to expand their vocational offers, implementing new qualifications such as V-levels and pre-internships. To identify Neet risks earlier and increase the proportion of pupils with SEND in a sustained destination after Key Stage 4, we will introduce dedicated transition mentors who can support young people with SEND at key transition points. We will also refine our broader, local authority-led universal EOTAS (Education Other Than At School) offer, ensuring it effectively integrates core academics with specialist mentoring and re-engagement strategies to keep young people connected to local education and employment. Key Milestones:

• ​ Transition to dynamic ‘Inclusion Stories’ dashboards and unified digital ISPs completed for all mainstream settings.
• ​ 100% of Year 6 pupils with an EHCP have a standardised digital ‘Transition Passport’ successfully transferred to their secondary setting.
• ​ Cohort-based application system for Eysif fully launched and operational.

2028/29

By Year 3, our goal is for inclusive culture to be fully integrated across the system, significantly reducing our reliance on Alternative Provision (AP) and high-cost independent placements. To achieve this, 100% of schools (including Multi-Academy Trusts) will participate in a formal SEND cluster model. These clusters will pool ‘notional’ and ‘top-up’ funding to share specialist resources, fostering collective responsibility for all learners within their local area and ensuring financial sustainability. This model will be used to monitor the sufficiency of universal provision, allowing us to move resources or additional Seah to schools where demand for the universal offer is spiking. Furthermore, 100% of secondary schools will have established internal Support Bases or Integrated Inclusion Hubs. These bases will provide flexible, sensory, and emotional regulation spaces alongside meaningful alternative curriculum offers at KS4 for pupils who require a bespoke pathway beyond the traditional GCSE offer.

By 2028/29, the Seah model will be more consistently embedded across the system, with improved access to specialist expertise through consultation, training and collaborative working. Workforce development will support the embedding of inclusive and therapeutic approaches within everyday practice. The cumulative impact of strengthened early intervention and improved system coordination will contribute to greater stability, with earlier identification of need and reduced reliance on escalation.

We will fully implement a standardised digital ‘Transition Passport’ for all Year 6 pupils with a SEND across the borough, ensuring primary strategies are embedded into secondary planning before the child starts in September.

By the end of the 2027/28 academic year (reporting in 2028/29), we will have closed the attainment gap for disadvantaged children, hitting our target of 52.6% of FSM-eligible children achieving a Good Level of Development (Gld) and an increase in the Gld scores of children with SEND to 29%. At the universal level, we will achieve an overall Gld of 79.5% for all children. Our broader universal EOTAS offer will be fully functional, effectively integrating core academics with robust mentoring. As a result of early interventions and improved KS4-KS5 transition tracking, we will significantly reduce the number of learners with EHCPs on long-term Alternative Provision packages, with an overall aim to decrease the number of requests made for AP as more support is put in place. We will also have fully established local maintained Post-19 Spld provision to meet complex needs within the borough. Young people with SEND will demonstrate sustained, successful progressions into employment or higher education, supported by maximum take-up of our local Supported Internship (SI) offer.

Key milestones:

• ​ 100% of secondary schools have an active, internal Support Base or Integrated Inclusion Hub.
• ​ 100% of schools are actively participating in a formal SEND cluster model with pooled funding for early intervention.
• ​ 100% of schools have a designated lead trained in Universal SaLT and Ot toolkits.
• ​ 100% of Year 6 pupils with SEND have a standardised digital ‘Transition Passport’ successfully transferred to their secondary setting.

• ​ Baseline the % of children & young people

who feel their voice was valued in decisions about their support

decisions about their child's support to 80%

• ​ Increase in the % of Cyp who feel

their voice was valued in decisions about their support to 80% Building Block 4:

• ​ Increase in the % of Cyp who feel their

voice was valued in decisions about their support to 90% Building Block 4:

Building Block 4:

• ​ Improve attendance of pupils with SEN in

all maintained schools to 94% (aligning with the national ambition).

• ​ Increase the % of pupils with SEND

(EHCP and SEN Support) at or above expected levels of development to national average for Key Stage 2 and remaining above national average for Key Stage 4

• ​ Increase in % of pupils with SEND in a

sustained destination after Key Stage 4 to 97%

• ​ Increase the Good Level of Development

scores for children with SEND to 29%

• ​ Improve attendance of pupils with SEN in

all maintained schools to 92%

• ​ Increase the % of pupils with SEND

(EHCP and SEN Support) at or above expected levels of development to national average for Key Stage 2 and remaining above national average for Key Stage 4

• ​ Increase in % of pupils with SEND in a

sustained destination after Key Stage 4 to 95%

• ​ Increase the Good Level of Development

scores for children with SEND to 27%

• ​ Improve attendance of pupils with

SEN in all maintained schools to 93%

• ​ Increase the % of pupils with SEND

(EHCP and SEN Support) at or above expected levels of development to national average for Key Stage 2 and remaining above national average for Key Stage 4

• ​ Increase in % of pupils with SEND

in a sustained destination after Key Stage 4 to 96%

• ​ Increase the Good Level of

Development scores for children with SEND to 28%

6.​ What will the local area partnership deliver in the first year?

Please outline the key workstreams, milestones and trajectory your local area partnership will deliver and achieve in 2026-27 as well as how you plan to spend the investment allocation that will help fund this year’s delivery. Please share key milestones and anticipated dates, success measures, cost breakdown and category. These should incorporate the core minimum requirements, be mapped to the building blocks above and should reflect a more detailed trajectory to the narrative, milestones and target metrics outlined in the 2026-27 column above.

Building block 1: Strengthening inclusion across education settings

Building block 2: Access to specialist support and local

Building block 3: System leadership, local partnership

Building block 4: Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

placements

collaboration and

• ​ Commence the

borough-wide Inclusion Base audit across all mainstream education settings to identify existing provision and local gaps.​

• ​ Initiate discussions with

the Department for Education (DfE) to redesignate the former Norbiton Primary School site as a new specialist provision for secondary-aged pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties (Sld).​

• ​ Begin the recruitment and

expansion phase for the Independent Travel Training (ITT) Team to support more young people

• ​ Co-production and design to

inform the core delivery components, such as consultation cycles, training and mechanisms for professional dialogue and associated evaluative measures​

• ​ Recruitment activity will

commence, taking a phased and pragmatic approach. We will focus on maximising existing capacity, explore flexible deployment models and additional support roles

data to identify where current reporting is missing​

• ​ Complete the

commissioning recommendations of the Seah offer to ensure it aligns with the 0-25 partnership vision.​

• ​ Finalise the new service ​

specification for Sendiass, incorporating direct feedback from parents/carers and Cyp​

• ​ Complete a skills and

representation gap analysis of the current Partnership Board Target trajectory:

school-level accountability mechanisms.

• ​ Design the Inclusion

Review and the accompanying School Audit Framework (integrating the Pins neuro-inclusive audit) to provide a clear structure for school self-evaluation and accountability.

• ​ Develop the Specialist

Place Mapping framework for the upcoming Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (Csa).

• ​ Finalise the technical

requirements and data categories for School Inclusion Dashboards. Target trajectory:

Target trajectory: ​

• ​ Governance arrangements

will be operational

• ​ The Seah workstream will

be established and actively contributing to model design

• ​ Initial plans for delivery to

reach Early Years and Family Hub settings will be drawn up ready for first phase of delivery

• ​ A dedicated working group

is actively engaging schools, colleges, and the Pcf in co-production and inclusion benchmarking discussions.​

• ​ Clear commissioning

recommendations for the local Seah offer are finalised and endorsed by the partnership​

• ​ A comprehensive baseline

of current dispute

Target trajectory:

• ​ 100% of core strategic

frameworks finalised and approved for autumn rollout.

• ​ 100% of data categories

for School Inclusion Dashboards agreed by the partnership board, with pilot data-feeds established in 5 test schools to validate

• ​ Orchard Hill College

accommodation is fully operational, preventing students from needing out-of-area independent placements.​

• ​ 100% of primary and

secondary schools are engaged for the commencement of the Inclusion Base audit.​

• ​ Clear plans for recruitment

will be in place for EPs, SaLTs and OTs

members complete

• ​ A formal co-production

framework and action plan are successfully agreed upon across the partnership.​

• ​ A functional, single-view

dispute resolution dashboard is successfully designed to improve strategic monitoring

commitment on delivery accountability from schools, early years providers, and the Pcf.

• ​ Formally launch the

Dyslexia Hub (following the September setup) with established referral pathways and initial training cohorts.

• ​ Embed the Ersa

formulation tool across all school settings to ensure a consistent approach to identifying and supporting pupils experiencing school avoidance. Target trajectory: ​

Target trajectory:

Target trajectory:

• ​ Feasibility studies for the

two secondary Specialist Inclusion Bases are completed and presented to the Kingston Education Capital Board for funding approval​

• ​ A clear baseline dataset is

established from the ongoing Inclusion Base audit.​

• ​ A measurable increase is

recorded in the number of young people actively participating in Independent Travel Training

• ​ Early Years and Family Hub

settings will be actively engaged in Seah activity with measurable increases in practitioner access to consultation and training​

• ​ Early evidence will be

available on what is most effective for Early Years and Family Hubs in accessing the Seah offer

• ​ 100% of schools and Early

Years settings have received the updated Csa and Universal Offer draft for implementation.

• ​ A measurable baseline

established for the number of children supported by the Dyslexia Hub.

• ​ 75% of schools engaged

with Spa[Rk] Ed training on the Inclusion Toolkit (moving toward the 90% 3-year-end goal).

• ​ Baseline established for

number of settings actively using the Ersa formulation tool.

Q4 (January to March 2027)

Building block 1 Building block 2 Building block 3 Building block 4

Workstream Milestones:​

Workstream Milestones: ​

Workstream Milestones:

Workstream Milestones:​

• ​ Finalise the Inclusion

Base audit​

• ​ Aim to secure capital

funding approvals for the two secondary Specialist Inclusion Bases and establish a clear timeline for implementation​

• ​ Conclude DfE discussions

regarding the secondary Sld provision to secure formal site redesignation​

• ​ Begin drafting the new

SEND Sufficiency Strategy in consultation with key partners to set out the approach for organising places close to home

• ​ The Post-16 appreciative enquiry
• ​ Formally award the

Sendiass contract to ensure the new high-quality, accessible service is ready for the 2027/28 transition​

• ​ Evaluate the co-production

benchmarking to consider recommendations for Year 2​

• ​ Use the dispute resolution

dashboard to begin pulling together themes to inform service development/ recommissioning (mediation, Sendiass & statutory teams) Target trajectory:

• ​ Formally ratify the

Universal Offer with the Icb, MATs, and Parent Carer Forum (Pcf), establishing it as the partnership-wide baseline.​

• ​ Implement the

‘pre-reception’ ​ information flow protocol via Best Start Family Hubs to ensure specialist input is operational before children start school. ​

• ​ Co-produce and launch

updated Post-16 Iag (Information, Advice, and Guidance) for transitions, focused on independence and employment pathways. ​

• ​ Formally launch the

‘Workforce Excellence’ bursary application

will give an indication of early findings, informing the development of a phase-appropriate approach for future implementation

• ​ Recruitment and workforce

development will continue, with further refinement of support roles and flexible workforce models

• ​ The Seah workstream will

undertake a structured review of Year 1 delivery, drawing on both quantitative data and qualitative feedback from practitioners, families and partners

Target trajectory:

• ​ There will be evidence of
• ​ The Sendiass contract is

successfully awarded,with parents and carers having

increased access to specialist expertise

Target trajectory:​

• ​ 100% completion of the Inclusion Base audit​
• ​ Capital funding is fully

secured and development timelines are agreed upon for the two secondary Specialist Inclusion Bases​

• ​ The first draft of the SEND

Sufficiency Strategy is shared with the SEND Places Workstream for review and feedback

• ​ There will be evidence of

been equal partners in the evaluation

process to increase the number of Level 3 qualified SENCOs in the Pvi sector.

improvements in practitioner confidence and capability

• ​ Co-production

benchmarking is fully evaluated, providing clear, actionable recommendations to carry forward into 2027/28

• ​ Extend the ‘Experts at

Hand’ consultation model to local Post-16 providers, focusing on transition planning for young people moving away from EHCPs. Target trajectory:​

• ​ 100% of the local area

partnership (including all schools and the Icb) formally signed up to the Universal Offer, ensuring a consistent baseline of provision is available in all settings without an EHCP.

• ​ 100% of children identified

with complex needs through Best Start Family Hubs have their 'pre-reception' information protocols completed and shared with receiving schools.

• ​ 100% of local Post-16

providers and secondary schools are actively using the updated co-produced Iag for transition planning.

• ​ 100% of Pvi settings have

received information regarding the Workforce Excellence bursary.

• ​ Initial cohort of Post-16

providers engaged in 'Experts at Hand' strategic consultations. Funding Summary

Quarter two:

Quarter three:

Quarter four:

Experts at Hands and Transformation Fund See proposed budget calculations (this has also been sent as a separate attachment) Inclusive Mainstream Fund This fund will be paid to schools at a public rate. Capital During 2026/27 the capital spend will be approximately £1.8m. This relates to the work to create Orchard Hill College accommodation at Moor Lane and the two new proposed Specialist Inclusion Bases. Best Start in Life During 2026/27 £132k will be allocated to transform our SEND Best Start in Life offer locally. This funding will be used for embedding SEND expertise within our Family Hubs,

Experts at Hands and Transformation Fund See proposed budget calculations (this has also been sent as a separate attachment) Inclusive Mainstream Fund This fund will be paid to schools at a public rate. Capital During 2026/27 the capital spend will be approximately £1.8m. This relates to the work to create Orchard Hill College accommodation at Moor Lane and the two new proposed Specialist Inclusion Bases. Best Start in Life During 2026/27 £132k will be allocated to transform our SEND Best Start in Life offer locally.

Experts at Hands and Transformation Fund See proposed budget calculations (this has also been sent as a separate attachment) Inclusive Mainstream Fund This fund will be paid to schools at a public rate. Capital During 2026/27 the capital spend will be approximately £1.8m. This relates to the work to create Orchard Hill College accommodation at Moor Lane and the two new proposed Specialist Inclusion Bases.

Best Start in Life During 2026/27 £132k will be allocated to transform our SEND Best Start in Life offer locally.

upskilling staff, and supporting parents and carers, and building parents' capacity for home learning.

7.​ How will the local area partnership deliver the first-year plan?

Please set out how you will ensure the required capacity and capability is in place from organisational corporate functions to support implementation of the plan. This could include reference to how you plan to build or bring in project delivery capability to manage delivery against the plan, support prioritisation, and effective use of resources; and how you plan to build the capacity and capability in data and analytics to support effective tracking against the measures in the plan and reporting that informs decision making.

The established SEND Futures Plan will adapt to implement our reform plan alongside the Icb, voluntary sector, and setting leaders, with additional funding provided to the PCFs to ensure strategic co-production.

To manage delivery and resources, we are establishing a dedicated Transformation Team. This enhances existing expertise by sustaining two SEND Project Officers and introducing a SEND Reform Practice Lead, seconded from senior Education Services. This team will provide programme oversight, regular reporting, and risk escalation to the SEND Partnership Board. The Practice Lead will collaborate with all partners to ensure measurable delivery against agreed outcomes. We have also assigned funding to bolster our SEND engagement workforce in consultation with the Pcf, creating capacity for joint ownership and clear oversight of all participation and co-production activity, alongside three SEND Support Officers coordinating the Seah model and clusters.

These roles will work across Kingston and Richmond upon Thames due to shared children’s services arrangements.

Corporate functions will support delivery: Hr facilitating recruitment; Finance and Procurement ensuring effective joint-commissioning; and Digital and Business Intelligence teams driving data-led decisions.

Workstreams will pivot to the 4 Building Blocks, focusing on strengthening ordinarily available provision, supported by a Principal School Improvement Adviser, and accessing early intervention, guided by a Senior Educational Psychologist.

To build robust digital capacity, we will introduce digital ISPs and Verbo screening systems. We will appoint a SEND Data Analyst, utilise Mime Consulting for strategic place planning, and invest in a Seah data management system to support workload, monitor reach, and evaluate

outcomes.

8.​ Other funding Local Authorities.

Block Transfers: If you have made a block transfer (Schools Block to High Needs Block) for 26-27, please set out how your plans for this funding align with the activities outlined above.

The Schools Forum approved a £620,900 Schools Block (Sb) to High Needs Block (Hnb) transfer for 2026/27, allocated as follows:

• ​ £100,000 to supporting schools with disproportionate numbers of pupils with SEND not reflected in the local funding formula;
• ​ £104,100 for primary schools to support a Behaviour Support Team to build school capacity to respond to challenging behaviour, and Semh;
• ​ £124,000 for the cluster model trial across eight schools, including a delegated cluster budget and 0.2 Fte staff member
• ​ £292,800 to support the funding of Alternative Provision places for secondary schools.

Capital: We have announced at least £3 billion in high needs capital between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to support children and young people (Cyp) with SEND, or those requiring alternative provision (AP). This funding is intended to support place delivery across the full 0-25 age range, including early years and post-16. We expect funding to support the following outcomes:

a.​ Inclusion at the core of high needs sufficiency strategy, resulting in more children and young people with SEND accessing suitable places in mainstream settings, across all phases of education b.​ Every child or young person who needs a place in an inclusion base can access one c.​ Fewer children and young people with SEND needing to travel a long way to access a suitable placement d.​ Improved suitability of the mainstream estate to support children and young people with SEND, with adaptations to improve inclusivity and accessibility of the physical environment We also welcome innovative uses of high needs capital to drive inclusion, for example, investment in assistive technology for use in mainstream settings.

Please outline your strategy for how this funding will meet the outcomes above, with reference to the core minimum requirements and other workstreams in this reform plan where appropriate. We would like to see detail around your plans to increase capacity for inclusion bases (formerly known as SEN units, resourced provision and pupil support units – Su/Rp/PSUs), such as schools, colleges or early years providers identified, engagement with relevant settings and trusts, and target cohort of needs.

If your plans include increases to places in special schools or specialist post-16 institutions, please include a clear rationale, showing the need that is being met, and why it cannot be met through other types of provision, such as inclusion bases.

If you are receiving additional capital funding to replace one or more planned special or AP free schools, please set out how this funding will meet need in your area, and plans for engaging relevant trusts in your sufficiency planning.

We have strong relationships with both special school academy trusts and mainstream schools across the borough. This is evidenced by our work to increase specialist and Srp places over the last ten years. We will continue to work with both to ensure our High Needs Capital Allocation targets gaps in specialist provision, identified through demand trends and local need, enabling us to educate more children and young people with SEND within the borough, and to strengthen mainstream school inclusivity through developing Inclusion Bases. Incorporating decision-making for mainstream inclusion capital plans, such as expanding secondary resource bases or existing primary arrangements, will expand current membership and priorities. Capital funding decisions are discussed at the SEND Places Workstream and Achieving for Children Senior Leadership Team before approval is sought from the Kingston Education Capital Board. Our High Needs Capital Allocation will be prioritised for the following projects:

9.​ System partner and stakeholder engagement, and co-production

Please outline how the local area partnership plans to engage system partners and stakeholders to develop and implement the plan – include planned engagement with schools and early years settings, alternative providers, Fe and post-16 providers (including those your young people attend that are not within your local area), Parents and Carers and children and young people with SEND, with reference to the core minimum requirements. Consider changing roles and responsibilities in the context of the Schools White Paper and how you work collaboratively to manage the transition. Please indicate where additional support is required to engage partners or

stakeholders - senior officials at the Department for Education will be available to contribute to summer term events with education leaders and parent carer forum leaders.

To develop the SEND Reform Plan, we established a steering group comprising Achieving for Children (AfC), the Icb, Kingston Parent Carer Forum (Kpcf) leads, and Early Years, Post-16, and school representatives. We hosted targeted workshops with SENCos, health providers, and young people, alongside a borough-wide stakeholder session. The Kpcf collected wider parent feedback via surveys to incorporate key learning into the Plan. As roles shift under the Education White Paper toward a preventative system, families, the Local Authority, Schools and the Icb must work in tighter unison by co-owning digital infrastructure, aligning early health interventions with classroom bases, and embedding families as equal partners in daily decision-making. Children and Young People Future initiatives include in-school sessions across mainstream, specialist, and Alternative Provision (AP) settings. For those outside mainstream schooling, we will partner with voluntary sector groups for focus groups. Crucially, we aim to shift the power dynamic by enabling young people to become active contributors to the SEND Partnership Board. Parents and Carers We will utilise existing mechanisms, such as the Parent Carer Consortium, and joint workshops, working closely with the Pcf and SEND Parent Champions. We aim to make data accessible to help parents understand local trends while developing a framework to culturally embed co-production. This includes enacting Pillar 1 Maturity Assessment next steps and supporting settings with co-production activities. Schools, Early Years, and Alternative Provision Engagement will occur through SENCo network workshops, phase-based collaborative meetings, and forum updates. Early Years engagement will happen via termly provider-facing sessions and SENCO networks. The Early Years Advisory Team will deliver information sessions through Family Hubs, enabling live feedback on the Plan's implementation. The AP working group will facilitate direct engagement with setting leaders. We are developing an impact evaluation focused on ‘mainstream inclusivity’ to promote systemic improvement rather than standard auditing. This includes monitoring the tier of AP support a pupil accesses with day 1 reintegration plans focused on early reintegration. Regular review meetings will ensure targeted support for pupils accessing AP long-term. Post-16

Termly meetings with Further Education (Fe) providers will ensure curriculum pathways and transition support are shared at annual phase transfer events. Clearer guidance will build family confidence during transitions away from EHCPs, ensuring the young person’s voice shapes their pathway to employment and independence. To collaboratively manage the system transition and create stronger mechanisms for schools to work closely with parents, we established a 'System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production' workstream. Co-led by Kingston Pcf and our Associate Director for SEND, it includes various school leaders. Stakeholder feedback will formally feed into the SEND Partnership Board through quarterly reporting. Regular ‘you said we did’ reporting on the local offer will inform stakeholders how their input shaped change. Our annual SEND Futures Conference in October 2026 will unite 150 parents and professionals. We do not currently require additional DfE support for this work.

10.​Risks and Mitigations

What are the key risks that could affect the successful implementation of your Local SEND Reform Plan, and what mitigation strategies are in place to manage these risks? Please include a maximum of 5 risks with impact and likelihood Rag for each risk. Please see Annex F in the appendices for the Risk Matrix for this risk register. ​

Therapy, Occupational Therapy and other specialist services.

• ​

Develop and implement a targeted recruitment campaign, including recruitment incentives for hard-to-fill posts, promotion of flexible and hybrid working arrangements, and further develop our links with universities and training providers

• ​

Implement a skills-mix model, increasing the use of assistant SaLTs and OTs under specialist supervision to maximise specialist capacity

• ​

Review and implement, where required, targeted retention measures including career progression pathways, enhanced continuing professional development programmes, and workforce wellbeing and salary reviews.

• ​

Closely monitor workforce capacity, vacancy rates and service demand through programme governance arrangements, with escalation and contingency commissioning in place where workforce shortages threaten delivery of Seah / Experts at Hand model.

Failure to stabilise finances due to increasing placement costs and Ehcna requests, could lead to an escalation of low confidence in the system from parents and carers, potentially leading to increased demand for EHCPs and reliance on expensive independent specialist provision. Capacity of mainstream settings not keeping up with demand could

Critical. Failure to stabilise finances, leading to a budget increase that compromises our ability to deliver systemic transformation

Likely (>60-<90%)

Rigorous monitoring of the 2026-27 investment and grant spend; clear alignment of block transfers with reform activities; increasing local capacity through capital investment in mainstream inclusion bases.

Mitigating actions:

• ​

Working in partnership with schools to mobilise interim provision where permanent provision is not ready in time

• ​

Clear placement sufficiency planning to support proactive management of the

11.​Dependencies

Please detail the key areas of the local area partnership’s proposed SEND future state and roadmap that may be impacted by wider reforms nationally and locally and outline how you will manage these. We expect these will include but not be limited to:

• ​ NHS reforms
• ​ Local Government Reorganisation
• ​ Reforms to Children’s Social Care
• ​ Best Start in Life, including Family Hubs
• ​ Best Start In Life Strategy
• ​ Curriculum and Assessment Review

NHS Reforms

NHS England’s May 2025 Model Icb Blueprint outlines significant changes to the role and functions of ICBs, including developing neighbourhood and place-based partnerships that will transfer to neighbourhood health providers over time, as well as streamlining and optimising SEND activities. Recently, South West London Icb confirmed a clustering arrangement with South East London Icb under a single Chief Executive and joint management team. Staff consultation has concluded, and transition to these new structures will finish by March 2027. For Kingston Place, there will be one dedicated Designated Clinical Officer and one Development and Delivery Manager, shared with Richmond Place. The Icb will have strengthened system leadership and oversight of SEND through a new Director of SEND and complex care and neuro-rehabilitation. The Icb and Place Neighbourhood Development Team will prioritise SEND reform through ongoing work with AfC to develop and implement the strategic vision and operational plans. Local Government Context There are currently no plans for structural local government reorganisation in London. Plans for local government reform in London focus on enhancing the powers of the Greater London Authority and voluntary collaboration between boroughs, rather than reorganisation or mergers. While national government plans aim to replace two-tier county systems with unitary authorities, these changes do not yet apply to London, therefore the direct disruption risk to local delivery is negligible. Reforms to Children’s Social Care

Children with disabilities represent a significant portion of our social care casework (16.4%–17.8% locally). Aligning SEND reform with the Families First Partnership is vital. We will mitigate the risk of siloed delivery or overwhelming the system with unaligned multi-agency reforms by shifting our focus toward targeted early help, preventing needs from escalating into safeguarding processes. We are expanding our Single Point of Access to include Family Help Practitioners. The Designated Social Care Officer is driving the alignment of social care and SEND planning, while Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams will embed to improve information sharing and support vulnerable children. Best Start in Life Strategy and Family Hubs The national Best Start in Life strategy is fundamental to our early intervention agenda, tackling service fragmentation so parents access support more easily. Through Best Start Family Hubs, we are creating integrated ‘one-stop shops’ across education, health and care for families from conception up to age 25 for children with SEND. To manage this rollout, we are embedding Dedicated SEND Support Leads and specialists directly into these hubs, providing faster, local support and targeted outreach to mitigate any risk of fragmented services. Curriculum and Assessment Review (Car) The primary risk associated with concurrent Car and SEND reforms is school capacity to manage so much change. We will mitigate this by providing schools with robust curriculum development support. Car provides an opportunity to improve the critical KS2 to KS3 transition and enhance alternative curriculum pathways, such as further embedding V and T Levels. By embedding shared leadership across early years, health, and social care, and working supportively with our educational leaders, we aim to develop collaborative accountability and commitment.

Section 3 – Monitoring and Evaluation

12.​How will the local area partnership know delivery is on track?

Please set out how you will monitor and track progress referencing:

• ​ Monitoring tools and processes - the specific tools, systems, and data you will use to track delivery milestones and measure

the impact on outcomes.

Some Local Area Partnerships hold data in a central SEND operational dashboard. This is used by teams on a weekly basis to identify trends in demand or inform conversations with local school or setting leaders.

In some Local Area Partnerships, a view of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is reviewed monthly by a SEND Board to take decisions on prioritisation, resourcing and delivery of services informed by regular data.

Please set out how you will use data to track demand (e.g., EHCP applications for assessment), Service delivery (e.g., Speech and Language Specialists deployment; places created), Service quality (e.g., parental satisfaction) and outputs (e.g., pupil attendance; pupil exclusions)

• ​

Feedback and adaptation mechanisms - what feedback loops and stakeholder input you will use to review progress and adjust your approach.

We will utilise a multi-tiered system of operational and strategic dashboards to track delivery milestones. The Quarterly SEND Performance Dashboard goes to the Kingston SEND Partnership Board, covering statutory timeliness (EHCPs and Annual Reviews), inclusion metrics, and vulnerable cohorts like Children Looked After (Cla) and those on Child Protection (Cp) plans. All plan success measures will be tracked on the dashboard against the target trajectories set in the 3 year roadmap for the next three years. This data will directly influence future commissioning decisions through reports to the SEND Partnership Board and Capital Board.

Our SEND Intelligence Analyst will produce daily and monthly SEN Support and EHCP dashboards. These are discussed at bi-monthly Performance Quality and Innovation (Pqi) Board meetings alongside Designated Clinical Officer (Dco) reports, ensuring health, education, and social care leaders jointly oversee statutory compliance and risk. We also utilise SEN2 and AP Census data to benchmark demand against other local authorities.

We currently provide detailed dashboards to schools covering outcomes, persistent absence, and suspension rates for pupils with SEND. To properly track reform impact and inform practice, we must close data gaps and gather comprehensive 'live' data. We plan to implement a single local Management Information System with administrative support to monitor data more effectively. Future priorities include:

• ​ Developing robust processes to track inclusive practices and early interventions (like our SEND Cluster Pilot), and creating a SEND Data Insight Officer role to support evaluation and performance analysis.
• ​ Creating and launching a dedicated 'Annual Review Dashboard' for schools to track progress, forecast reviews, and manage statutory timelines.
• ​ Monitoring the number and percentage of pupils entering, moving, and leaving our three tiers of Alternative Provision (AP) to evaluate the effectiveness of our continuum of inclusive practice.
• ​ Tracking specific trends in AP requests, particularly during Key Stage 4 transitions, to explore the need for increased flexibility within mainstream schools.
• ​ Utilising advanced forecasting data (such as Mime) to track demand and inform school place planning and the development of new Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs).
• ​ Analysing the intersection of SEND and Social Care alongside national trends and detailed ethnicity data to identify service gaps and ensure equitable, targeted support.

To evaluate progress, we will embed robust stakeholder feedback loops. The SEND Partnership Board will conduct thematic 'deep dives' to monitor the sustained impact of initiatives. Bi-monthly multi-agency audits, mirroring the Local Area SEND inspection framework, will involve professionals and families reviewing cases from the past two years. In 2029, we will audit children ending an educational phase, re-auditing them in 2030/31 to evaluate transitions onto Independent Support Plans or specialist provision.

To strengthen systemic accountability, we will partner with the Kingston Pcf to develop a deep-dive quality assurance model tracking real family journeys. Finally, we will use qualitative and quantitative evaluation from early years, schools, and post-16 providers to measure the impact of mainstream investment and the Seah model, alongside audits of provision and practice in mainstream schools.

13.​Reporting to DfE

Using the attached data template, the local area partnership is required to provide quarterly data returns to DfE against selected key metrics. DfE will, in turn, provide quarterly data reports with visualised analysis and benchmarking that will support your local delivery, monitoring and evaluation. This will include data the department holds on Attendance, Exclusions, and Unauthorised absence.

Please use the attached data template to upload your initial data return to DfE.

Link to The Local SEND Reform Plan - Operational and Outcome Data

Section 4 – Governance

14.​ How will the local area partnership ensure delivery of plans remain on track?

Please outline the governance structures in place to oversee delivery. Clearly set out who is responsible for overseeing reform delivery, what each governance group or individual is accountable for, and how these arrangements ensure progress is monitored and decisions are made transparently. Please identify where the named Sro for the Local SEND Reform Plan sits within the governance structure and ensure your response incorporates the core minimum requirements.

Please see Annex G in the appendices (Attachment 4) for a simple diagram of our SEND Reform governance structure.

Governance Abbreviation Glossary

Section 5 – Central Government Support

15.​How can we help you?

Please outline any practical support you need from central government to implement your plan effectively. This may include:

• ​ Access to specialist expertise or advisory support
• ​ Help with workforce development or recruitment challenges
• ​ Tools or templates to support data collection, reporting, or evaluation
• ​ Facilitation of peer learning or regional collaboration
• ​ Support with system-level coordination across education, health, and care
• ​ Guidance on navigating regulatory or policy barriers

We have established strong local partnerships and infrastructure to take our plan forward. There are some areas that would benefit from national guidance to support cross-borough approaches and/or require a national response:

• ​ Support for regional and cross-borough commissioning of specialist SEN provision to enable better strategic planning.
• ​ Development of a centralised programme to establish a consistent format for digital ISPs.
• ​ National assurance that Icb (health) funding for the SEND reforms will match the education and social care commitment.
• ​ Alignment of statutory duties e.g. home to school transport duties do not encourage access to enrichment and after school care, and inhibit our ambition to create and foster a sense of inclusion and belonging in mainstream settings.
• ​ Action to support the fragmented multi-academy trust system to better achieve local SEND collaboration.
• ​ Development of workforce training qualifications to increase apprenticeship models for therapists and support staff.
• ​ Freedom to develop a local pay structure for teaching assistants to enhance recruitment and retention.
• ​ Revisit Gp and health boundary funding so that all children and young people in education settings access consistent therapy and health provision.