Trafford Local SEND Reform Plan 2026

Annex A: Local SEND Reform Plan

Name of Local Authority: Trafford Council

Name of Integrated Care Board: Greater Manchester ICB

Local SEND Reform Plan SRO: Jill McGregor

Signatories

Executive Summary

Trafford’s Local SEND Reform Plan sets out our vision for transformation over the next 3 years, with a priority to create a sustainable SEND system which delivers early identification, intervention and mainstream inclusion through an iterative approach, so that all children and young people can thrive and achieve their potential in local provision. Our plan is built around our existing SEND Ambitions Plan, local inclusion service infrastructure and strong partnerships with schools and settings and aligns with the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act. It will also work in synergy with other reforms such as Families First Partnership Programme and Best Start in Life

The four building blocks provide the foundations for delivery including:

• Strengthening inclusion across education settings
• Access to specialist support and local placements
• System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production
• Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

Central to this work is the development of the Experts at Hand model which has been co-created from across the partnership to work in a place- based way across consortia of schools and settings. Delivery will be supported through a dedicated Project Manager and SEND Navigator to ensure access is clearly understood, fair and equitable. A dedicated Experts at Hand steering group has already been established and this will continue to meet to ensure a smooth mobilisation of resource and maintain pace and traction.

As Trafford already benefits from a strong SEND infrastructure through a number of services, inclusive of Educational Psychologists, Local Area SENCOs and SEND Advisory Consultants, we are in a good position to bring additionality to our offer to ensure our schools and settings are well supported. In addition, our previous development of the Local Inclusion Support Offer through the Change Partnership Programme, has enabled us to pilot alternative ways of working, which we will refine accordingly.

Our key metrics for monitoring success will fall under four key areas aligned to the four delivery building blocks:

• Inclusion
• Early Intervention and placement
• Engagement, participation and collaboration
• Trust, confidence and lived experience

Monitoring of our key metrics will continue to take place through our SEND dashboard as well as our feedback loops capturing the lived experience of all partners. The Senior Responsible Officer will be integral to ensuring rigorous governance is in place ensuring models of working and outcomes provide financial sustainability and value for money Trafford welcomes this opportunity to drive forward reforms and develop strong inclusive practice across the borough.

Section 1 – Vision and Goals

Our vision is “to have excellent provision that meets the needs of children/young people with SEND and their families in their local communities” and places co-production and working with families, through integrated service delivery, at the heart of what we seek to achieve and our commitment to ensure children and families are receiving the right help, at the right time and in the right way. This vision is centred around ensuring all of our children thrive and achieve their potential within an inclusive and sustainable system.

Trafford’s Strategic SEND Ambitions Plan reflects the reform principles and sets out our strategic intent to improve outcomes for our children and families. These include:

Our voices shape our future

 We will make sure there are opportunities for children and families to engage in ongoing reflective dialogue and provide feedback to influence decision-making and shape services.

Ensuring our children have the best start in life  We will ensure our Best Start in Life offer meets the needs of families with children with SEND  We will ensure that Inclusive Provision is embedded across all settings  We will continue to embed an integrated approach

Our young people thrive and reach their potential

 We will ensure that all young people feel that they “belong” in their settings  We will maintain strong outcomes for all C/YP with SEND across all milestones of their educational journey and transition well, equipped with skills for employment and for life.

The strategic goals set out a move from participation and consultation towards demonstrable influence and co-design embedding our vision for the voice of children and young people to shape service delivery. In 3 years’ time we want to see an increased level of parent/carer satisfaction through lived experience and use a “you said, we did” overview alongside parent and CYP surveys to capture that success over time.

Through this work it is our intention to provide a system that supports an increase in the proportion of pupils with an EHCP in mainstream to increase in line with North West regional neighbours (above national) including for those at SEN support. Equally we want to see a reduction in absence for SEND pupils down to 2% below national and 1.5% below national for pupils with an EHCP with exclusion rates halving. More children with places in and

accessing mainstream settings, reducing special school and INMSS cost and a sustainable system that represents value for money alongside better outcomes for children and young people is at the core of our ambitions.

From greater inclusion, early intervention and increased attendance and standards we want to achieve a GLD up 5%. KS2 pupils achieving expected standards in reading, writing and maths with EHCPs will improve to 18% and SEN support to 46% respectively. We also want to see KS4 A8 average scores with an EHCP 25 and at SEN support 49.5.

Our model will be focused around our Experts at Hand (EAH) offer; this will enable multi-disciplinary teams to work in and through schools/settings and clusters, to offer the right support at the right time, and build skills, knowledge and expertise across the early years, schools and post 16 sectors. More children can be supported effectively without the need for escalation to specialist services, helping to reduce pressure on the system over time. Alongside stronger partnerships between education, health and families, this shift towards early intervention and inclusive practice will improve outcomes for children and young people while supporting a more sustainable, integrated SEND system.

Section 2 – Strategy

training for all settings

Inclusion bases established throughout the sector supported by practice standards to deliver equity and consistency Access to specialist support and local placements

from across the partnership. Our SEND Strategic Partnership Board is well attended and has good representation across the entire system and the SEND Steering Group acts as the vehicle for operational delivery. The Chief Executive and Lead Member Assurance meeting ensures political and senior officer line of sight to SEND and meets quarterly. The Leader of the Council also attends this meeting ensuring that scrutiny sits at the highest level. Headteacher representation at Board level ensures that it is well placed strategically to maintain a focus on ambitious outcomes and achievement with the foundations to strengthen shared accountability. Whilst we have a Designated Social Care Officer to provide connectivity, support and challenge, we have been hindered by the absence of a Dedicated Clinical Officer for a while which represent a relative weakness in the system at this point in time. This has at times frustrated the oversight of the health system in SEND. Our SEND Ambitions Plan has been strengthened significantly and provides clarity and a whole system approach to turning our strategy into actions and our approach to the SEND reforms will be embedded within them. Trafford is committed to working in partnership with families using the principles and behaviours set out in our “Co-production Guide”. Trafford Parent Forum as our Strategic Partner, has been engaged in the development of our governance and Ambitions Plan. Most recently, this has been hampered as they have been transitioning into new arrangements with new representatives in place; however, we have continued to engage families in our work, particularly in the development of our plans and we have used multiple forums, including webinars, using our Family Hubs and through support from Greater Manchester PCF, to ensure they are sighted on our strategic work and provide opportunities for parent voice to be shared. This will be an ongoing area of development with our new PCF colleagues. Our Children and Young People’s Steering Group is developing and will drive forward our engagement with C/YP to ensure their voices shape our planning too. Surveys have been shared and workshops held with our secondary aged pupils, to ensure their views, particularly around inclusion and belonging, will feed into our planning. Strengthening inclusion across education settings Collaboration and relationships with all providers across the age ranges are strong; there is representation from Headteachers and SENCos at both strategic and operational levels which facilitates both support and challenge. This includes both maintained and academies settings.

accountability across the SEND Partnership. The Strategic SEND & AP Board will continue to report into the Locality Board, which has system-wide representation including the Chief Exec as Place-Based Lead, and a strong health focus, enabling robust connectivity across the SEND system. We will increase SEND visibility across wider systems and strengthen health engagement. We will ensure impact evaluation drives continuous improvement through a clear shared outcomes framework built on transparency, lived experience reflecting impact and delivery progress. Co-production with Parents/Carers and CYP We will move from participation and consultation towards demonstrable influence and co-design. This will include broadening parental engagement and thereby strengthening parent/carer forum influence, as well as embedding our vision for the voice of children and young people to shape service delivery. These are key to improving trust and confidence. Strengthening inclusion across education settings Our SEND system will demonstrate a significant shift to inclusive mainstream provision and early prevention. We will have a predictive, intelligence-led approach to commissioning and sufficiency planning through a single SEND dashboard. This will enable us to align data directly to commissioning and sufficiency planning as well as improve our forecasting accuracy. We will build on the success of the Change Partnership Programme to develop our Experts at Hand offer to continue to strengthen inclusive mainstream practice and reduce the reliance on specialist escalation. We will scale successful interventions and redesign ineffective activity. Schools and settings will be co-design partners within SEND Reform delivery using training, quality assurance and peer support as enablers to improve practice. We will build on the existing strong internal infrastructure of SEND advice, support and training and move to a “locality consortium of schools” model thereby improving access to specialists through shared efficiencies which align with our locality ways of working.

Embedding the APST to further refine and improve the 3- tier model of support

Clearly defined delivery model of support built on the 3-tier model of universal, targeted and specialist support System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co- production

Strengthened co-production to ensure demonstrable influence and design

Robust data systems which inform commissioning and planning and strengthen accountability Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

Effective intelligence-led workforce development offer with targeted support through outreach specialists

Development of SEND Profiles to enable robust quality assurance Enablers Capital

• Inclusion base and specialist place rollout

Workforce Development

Continuation of needs-led workforce development programme

Experts At Hand locality-based delivery model

Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce

Outreach support Data/digital systems

Single SEND dashboard including both quantative and qualitative measures based on lived-experience feedback loops

School/setting inclusion profiles

Place planning and sufficiency modelling to inform commissioning intentions

Regular data reporting into Assurance Board and SEND Strategic boards

Risk register

As a selective borough, there is an inevitable inequitable distribution of pupils with SEND across the secondary sector and post 16 provision, but we have remained steadfast in our focus on inclusion, with many aspects of quality assurance and training taking place across all types of provision. As a result, SEND has been a standing item at all meetings raising the profile of inclusion at the highest level with an aim ensure maximum engagement and shared responsibility. Early identification of SEND is strong in Trafford as we know getting it right in the early years can have a long term, positive impact on children’s outcomes. We focus on ensuring that the early years’ workforce have the skills, experience and knowledge to best support young as well as work effectively with families through a range of support provided by Health Visitors, Trafford Early Development Service (TEDS) and the Early Years SEND Advisory team. We also commission through Early Years DSG money a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) and Educational Psychologist (EP) linked to best start offer plus an EP offering workforce development and overseeing system projects. Our Early Years Graduated Approach compliments the co-designed and launched Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision tool supported by a robust workforce development offer. Performance for children and young people with SEND is also strong in Trafford as evidenced in the educational outcomes at all milestones including attendance and exclusion rates. This is due in part to the strong workforce development offer already in place developed by our internal teams. A robust specialist health services provision includes children’s community nursing team including special school and learning disability nursing, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Access to specialist support and local placements The Local Authority SEND Inclusion Services are made up of Educational Psychology Service (EPS), SEN Advisory Service (SENAS), Sensory Impairment Support Service (TSISS) and our Education of Vulnerable Children’s Service. Our SEND advisory service is a strength and provides direct and targeted advice and support to settings and schools so that they can deliver appropriate support to our children and young people related to Autism and Social Communication, Physical and Medical Needs, Specific Learning Difficulties and Quality and Inclusion. Most schools in Trafford have a named Educational Psychologist (EP). The EP Service offers regular support to all schools to help them to identify and support children with SEND. The service provides bespoke training to schools based on their needs and requirements. In response to the increased demands around Social and

There will be 4 locality-based school and settings consortia who will be provided with timely access to the multi-disciplinary teams through an access system in which the multi-disciplinary teams will be visible within school at agreed times. The teams will work in collaboration with schools to understand and assess ongoing needs to enable the identification of suitable training and support to be delivered. The Early Years EAH offer will be an enhanced offer of the current professionals available to settings but working in an aligned locality consortia model. Support and training will be provided at whole setting- level as well as targeted cohort support and the model will be jointly commissioned and owned by the LA and ICB. A generic workforce offer will continue to be available to support the universal offer of ordinarily available inclusive provision with a continued roll out of Mental Health Support Teams throughout our schools. The Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce will be embedded across the borough, providing holistic early support and intervention for those at risk of suspensions and permanent exclusions as well as providing whole school training, to ensure all young people feel that they belong. Our Educational Psychology service will have an embedded model of pre-statutory as well as statutory support, providing training and advice to both young people and parents/carers. They will provide settings with strategies for implementation as well as solution-focused ways of working, reacting and responding to need as required. The Balanced System will be embedded as part of the EAH offer delivering its core principles of prevention and early intervention to

Emotional Mental Health needs, the EPS offer is inclusive of evidenced-based programmes to schools to build capacity and a whole school approach to emotional health and wellbeing. The team also operates an inclusion model of service delivery, which means for each child they are involved with, they are working with school to co-produce outcomes and packages of support with parents, pupils, and staff. In addition, our Virtual School in partnership with Chester University have rolled out our “Belong” project across a third of our schools and colleges to complement our inclusive vision for Trafford. This leads to a post-graduate qualification in Attachment and Trauma Awareness, aimed at increasing attainment, attendance and wellbeing of staff and our most vulnerable pupils, through relational inclusive practice. Through our involvement in The Balanced System delivery of support for Speech, Language and Communication Needs we will improve speech, language and communication outcomes for children and young people (CYP) by shifting from a refer- asses-treat model to prevention, early intervention and whole- system capacity-building. Through our involvement in the Change Partnership Programme, we established our Local Inclusion Support Offer based around the 3 key areas of pressure driving up requests for EHC Plans:

improve access to timely, high quality SLC support for CYP.

Investment will see the implementation of inclusion bases throughout the education estate, including funding for improved adaptations to the environment, thereby enabling C/YP to attend a school in their community which best meets their needs. This will enhance the offer of specialist provision already in place in the borough and will benefit from outreach support from the specialist sector. We will also continue to focus on improving Preparation for Adulthood through earlier intervention, prioritised mental health support and strengthened employment and independence pathways. Delivery will be supported by building on our current successful infrastructure of inclusion services but strengthened through robust performance monitoring and a strengthened co-production model. Financial Sustainability and Resource Management Finally, we will ensure SEND reform, inclusion and sufficiency planning is aligned to long-term DSG recovery through a strengthened link between spend and impact.

✓ Speech, Language and Communication in the Early Years ✓ Transition from primary to secondary ✓ Social, Emotional and Mental Health This has enabled us to work with schools and settings to devise an offer of support from additional providers including Wellcomm and Can Do, Speech and Language Therapists, Clinical Psychologists and the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce. Whilst it is still early, we are already seeing this targeted approach impacting on attendance, suspension and exclusion data for vulnerable pupils. Trafford has an embedded model of Small Specialist Classes and Resourced Provisions within mainstream settings; these are LA commissioned places supported by a range of specialist services. Most recently we have piloted special school outreach to these settings to provide reviews, training and clinics. This provides an effective delivery model to build on as we roll out Inclusion Bases across the local area.

Baseline Please see the attached data dashboard

Target Metrics The target KPIs are presented in the dashboard.

Success measures

• –Inclusion metrics – Attendance and suspension/permanent exclusion rates for all groups across all milestones / Attainment outcomes across all milestones / NEET and EET rates
• Early intervention and Placement metrics % of

EHCP/SEN pupils across the range of settings, Health metrics – waiting times across all sectors ,reach of training/workforce development, EAH impact, EY offer measures, EYSP data for outcomes for SENDTrust confidence and lived experience- complaints / parent/carer satisfaction through Lived-Experience Panels/ Voice of the Young person surveys / “You said, we did” overview, mediation and tribunal rates, 20-week timeliness / no to assess and no to issue rates / cease rates, parental feedback on accessibility of early education entitlement.

Engagement, participation and collaboration - Voice of the Young person surveys, family feedback on ability to access quality SEND advice, attendance data including EHE,

The local area partnership’s strategy for delivering on the above SEND and Inclusion remain a strategic priority across the sector and reflects our ambition of inclusion and belonging. This is important in our selective context. Collaboration and co-production from across the Local Area has remained central to informing our planning and delivery models, including parents, schools and young people. Robust governance arrangements have ensured that engagement from across the system has been strengthened; moving forward, we will work to shift governance from monitoring to driving the delivery of the plan and ensure decisions are fully co-produced and system owned.

Early identification and intervention in the Early Years is a strength, and we will continue to build on the success of the Local Inclusion Speech and Language Support Offer and establish Best Start Family Hub Inclusion Practitioners in all our 4 hubs. They will provide triaging support as well as providing support for parents to embed strategies in the home and setting.

The multi-disciplinary approach to the Experts at Hand model will be key in delivering effective inclusion mainstream practice. It will build on our well-established centrally commissioned SEND and Inclusion offer, to strengthen the implementation of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision toolkit with locality-based early intervention and implementation support. All schools will have access to this offer through our SEND Front Door, to ensure appropriate targeted support is provided.

The roll out of Inclusion Bases will be supported through outreach support from the Specialist sector as well as the SEND Advisory Service and Lead SENCOs will work across the education sector and with families and young people, to develop practice standards to ensure consistency of offer.

As reflected in our maturity matrix we are committed to our long-term which outcomes are:

• Children and young people with SEND lead successful, independent lives
• Children and young people feel they belong, are heard, and understood
• Families trust the system, have clarity, and feel confident in support pathways
• Trafford has a sustainable, inclusive system with strong outcomes for all

Through the matrix and this plan we set out what is required to be in place to implement and deliver our vision.

Our system infrastructure requires a co-produced SEND Reform Plan and Experts at Hand (EAH) model which with system monitoring through a SEND Performance Dashboard for system-wide accountability as well as Inclusion Profiles for all schools to identify best practice and target support. We will publish a Sufficiency Strategy aligned to need and have clear, accessible pathways of support for families.

In terms of service delivery, we will require locality-based multi-disciplinary teams in place and embedded place-based support services for early intervention and system wide training and support. Increased specialist places (SEMH, post-16, inclusion bases) and strengthened internal AP and specialist provision.

Our workforce and culture will require ongoing sector engagement to sustain inclusive culture and a workforce development offer through LISO and EAH model. In order to ensure school leaders continue to buy into the inclusive culture and behaviours, stronger mainstream and AP collaboration will be necessary.

Throughout the 3 years, strategic governance will focus on ensuring sustainability so that the most effective practice is embedded into normal ways of working and we have a self-improving system.

What is the local area partnership roadmap for the next 3 years?

Further roll out of funded PINS and Belong Programmes across the primary and secondary sector, focusing on areas of need

Re-design the Assistive Technology Lending Library, with recruitment of AT Champions

Ensure all settings and schools have access to the EAH offer. Access to specialist support and local placements The EAH will be the vehicle for settings and schools to access a locality-based multi- disciplinary specialist support with a navigation function providing signposting and advice to parents/carers and partners.

Establish a SEND Sufficiency Strategy based on the needs identified in the JSNA and demand in the system.

Create a plan for the roll-out of Inclusion Bases in conjunction with schools, with targeted funding and timescales.

Implement the committed specialist bases in defined schools.

Establish practice standards to ensure consistency of delivery across all schools. System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production

Revisit governance arrangements to strengthen the oversight of the implementation of the SEND reforms, including the positioning of the SRO and establishment of a risk management system

Strengthen co-production with the newly formed Trafford Parent/Carer Forum to improve communication and engagement and move to influence and change

Embed the expectations of the reforms within the SEND Ambitions Plan

Introduce termly Lived Experience Advisory

• Panels to enable a “You said we did”

approach. This will be led by our PCF in conjunction with SEND commissioners.

System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production

Embed co-production and feedback loops and evidence impact of Leaps and influence on commissioning

Continue to improve and strengthen Early Years and Education engagement to support greater consistency of practice and experience across the borough

Strengthen health engagement in joint planning and delivery using our dedicated health SEND ambition to provide clear oversight of progress, ensuring that performance is monitored through key indicators while also enabling health providers to contribute across wider SEND ambitions on the delivery to support continued alignment with local area reform implementation. Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

Utilise Inclusion Profiles to target support and challenge and identify where peer to peer support would be helpful

Embed Learning Circles to support opportunities for greater practice sharing

System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production SEND governance and strategic oversight reflects strong grip and shared accountability across the partnership.

• Co-production is embedded and reflects growth in stakeholder confidence
• The voice of young people is influencing decision-making
• Rates of complaints show a decrease
• Full engagement of health in joint planning and delivery reaching success measures including health providers contributing to those across the wider system.

Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours Relational inclusive practice is an embedded way of working across settings and schools.

• Inclusion profiles reflect strong outcomes and improved consistency of practice
• Workforce development maintains a focus on whole settings early identification and support

Clear reporting lines established into the High Needs Sub-Group and Funding Forum to ensure impact of reforms on spend is monitored.

Build upon the engagement and co- production work that is well established across the local area, with strong collaboration between children’s health providers and wider SEND partnership structures. Health representation is embedded within key forums, including the SEND Steering Group, SEND and AP Partnership Board, and Locality Board, supporting shared ownership of priorities and joint delivery of improvements.

Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours The roll out of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Mainstream Practice toolkits provides the foundations to embedding inclusive behaviours, alongside the continuing implementation of our Belong Programme across schools, with its focus on relational inclusive culture.

• Strengthen understanding of “ordinarily available” provision through audits and the establishment of Inclusion Profiles
• Develop a programme of Learning Circles to provide peer to peer support and the sharing of good practice
• Establish a model of “SENCo supervision” using clinical psychologists

Success measures Drawing on metrics from the accompanying data template E.g. Improve attendance of pupils in all maintained schools (mainstream and special) with SEN Reduce spend on ISS places

Inclusion and Belonging

All schools and settings have access to the EAH through the locality-based consortium model

Numbers of schools and settings accessing training increases

The OAIP toolkit is rolled out across the borough supporting schools and settings to meet needs at a universal and targeted level

Inclusion and Belonging

Performance indicators across all measures reflect continued improved trends (LI)

Data reflects a growth in children having needs met at a universal and targeted level

Inclusion profiles demonstrate equity of SEND provision across the borough

Inclusion and Belonging

Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision is an embedded approach across all school and settings

Sustained strong outcomes across all education performance indicators including rates of Eet(Li)

Increase # children and young people supported by Education Psychologists/Salt/Ot in maintained provision Improve overall effectiveness of provision NEET data Leading indicators (LI)

Achievement for SEND pupils at all milestones remain in line and above national comparative data

Attendance rates for pupils with SEND continue to improve across all milestones including both persistent and severe attendance (LI)

Rates of suspensions and permanent exclusions for SEND pupils decrease, particularly in the secondary sector (LI)

Improved rates of SEND young people who are in Education, Employment and Training (LI) Access to specialist support and local placements

Schools and settings accessing specialist support increases

Rates of requests for assessments and EHC plans show signs of stabilising and remain below comparative data (LI)

The rate of growth for requests for EOTAS shows signs of stabilising (LI)

Inclusion bases are operational in line with delivery plan

More young people are in post 16 provision and accessing education and training System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production

Feedback loops reflect early indications of reported confidence in the navigation offer

LEAPs are operational and evidence of system change

Improved grip and shared accountability through shared ownership of dashboard including the High Needs Budget.

Rates of attendance and exclusions show a favourable improvement and above national and statistical comparative data. (LI)

NEET rates for young people with SEND are reducing with more young people accessing education, employment and training Access to specialist support and local placements

Data reflects an increase in the number of young people with SEND accessing education in mainstream provision or the local specialist sector. (LI)

There is a decline in the numbers of young people accessing out-of-borough provision including Independent and Non-Maintained Special Schools (LI)

There is timely access to EAH including the Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce

Ongoing reduction in the rates of EHCP requests and EOTAS requests. (LI) System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production

Continued parental confidence reported through engagement processes and partner reports

Strengthened sufficiency planning which connects need, provision and funding.

Robust financial monitoring reports begin to reflect value for money.

Access to specialist support and local placements

The sufficiency strategy is embedded and is meeting forecast data with more young people accessing local provision

Access to specialist advice and support is embedded within typical ways of working

Transport budgets reflect a stabilised position with less pupils accessing out-of- borough provision System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co-production

Reduced complaints and tribunal appeals reflect greater confidence in the system

Parental and young people voice is embedded in ways of working

The SEND partnership can demonstrate effective value for money as reflected in reduced escalation expenditure

The SEND Data Dashboard is accessible here: SEND%20data%20ov erview.xlsx What will the local area partnership deliver in the first year?

4 Lead Sencos (seconded from schools) The remainder of the team will involve the deployment of existing teams to operate in a locality-based model. Success measures

Full roll out of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice toolkit across all schools and post 16 settings

Over 50% of schools and settings receive access to targeted and whole school support through the EAH

Increased use of assistive technology is across the school sector

School feedback loops evidence confidence in EAH model

The SEND dashboard reflects improved educational outcomes for young people with SEND Building block- Access to specialist support and local placements

SEND JSNA refreshed.

Ongoing capital works for inclusion bases/specialist bases.

Practice standards for bases co- produced and finalised.

Head of SEND & Inclusion

Committed work on specialist bases commenced.

Head of Education Places, Access and Vulnerable Children

Workstream 2- Roll out of Inclusion and Specialist Bases

Practice standards to start being developed.

First round of funding available for secondary schools to access to establish inclusion bases.

Outcome The SEND JSNA is updated to reflect need and demand to support effective commissioning. The refreshed SEND Sufficiency Strategy reflects the programme plan for the roll out of:

• Committed plans for specialist places across the primary, secondary and specialist sector

(Sponsor: Director Education, Inclusion and Early Support)

Allocation of funding to all secondary schools to invest in inclusion bases and deliver environmental adaptations

Wave 1 of additional primary inclusion bases Success Measures

Funding allocations received by all secondary schools for full implementation of inclusion bases

Agreed practice standards developed to support consistent practice

Expressions of interest received by primary schools for adaptation funding

Building block - System leadership, local partnership collaboration and co- production

SEND Participation and Engagement Officer

“SEND Plan Launch” event planned and delivered.

Feedback loops established within the Strategic Board.

Evaluation report and year 2 planning

Trafford Parent/Carer Forum

Lived-Experience Advisory Panels established and first meeting held.

Workstream 3: Our Voices Shape Our Future (Co- production and Engagement) Outcome

A programme of co- production and engagement events is established for parent/carers and young people

Lived Experience Advisory Panels are re-established with termly thematic focus groups

The SEND Navigator is implemented, working alongside Family Hub and ND Navigators.

Feedback loops are built into strategic board meetings to enable partner voices to be heard.

(Sponsor: TBC) SEND navigator in post and embedded in the Family Hub.

Success Measures

• SEND Navigation function is active
• Parent/carer and young people survey reflect positive steps
• A reduction in complaints and numbers of mediations

Building block- Encouraging inclusive culture and behaviours

SEN Advisory Service (SENAS) Manager

A single SEND dashboard is agreed.

The SEND dashboard is complete with regular reporting into SEND Board.

Inclusion Profiles completed and used to target year 2 support and workforce development.

Virtual School Headteacher

Lead SENCOs are deployed to support the implementation of the OAIP toolkit

Workstream 4: Inclusion and Belonging

Planning for the Inclusion Portfolios commences.

Evaluation report of OAIP toolkit finalised to support year 2

Early Years Consultant Outcome There is greater consistency in practice across all schools and settings with the Ordinarily Inclusive Mainstream Practice toolkit integrated into daily practice. The implementation of Inclusion Profiles provides a robust oversight of inclusion indicators for each setting to enable targeted support where appropriate. Success Measures

• The SEND dashboard reflects ongoing improvement in inclusion indicators – eg. Attendance, suspensions, exclusions
• All schools are implementing the strategies within the OAIP to support high quality teaching and learning
• Targeted interventions are improving outcomes for pupils with SEND (Sponsor: Director of Education, Inclusion and Early Support)

The number of young people accessing alternative provision or EOTAS begins to reduce

Projected Investment Spend per quarter

• £239k
• £329k
• £131k
• £148K

Total: £847k

• £220k
• -
• £180k
• £140k

Total: £540k

• £372k
• -
• £117k
• £109k

Total: £598k

Experts at Hand (EAH)

Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforce

Workforce development programmes- PINS/ Belong

Transformation roles (Project Support / Data Analyst / SEND Navigator / SEND Commissioner / Participation and Engagement Officer Total Spend

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

The delivery of the programme of reforms will be achieved through key workstreams, aligned to the building blocks and woven into our SEND Ambitions Plan. This will be supported through the recruitment of project support, a data analyst and SEND commissioner. The SEND Steering Group will act as the delivery board, focusing on establishing and mobilising key teams and overseeing the implementation and roll- out with regular reporting to the SEND Strategic Partnership Board and Assurance Groups. The Transformation Funding allocation will be used to provide additional infrastructure to support the implementation of the Reform Plan.

There will be named programme leads for the workstreams from across early years, education, health and social care, utilising our existing Inclusion services.

Regular data reporting and feedback loops will be built into the programme, including the development of Lived Experience Advisory Panels, to enable ongoing feedback from parents/carers, young people and partners. The SENCO forums will provide a vehicle for ongoing reflective audits, and a programme of themed learning circles will support the sharing of good practice. The newly appointed Data Analyst will provide the tracking function against the KPIs identified in the plans.

Investment will be directed at:

• Experts at Hand organisation and implementation
• A strengthened whole-scale workforce development aligned to the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision Toolkit
• Programme management, performance reporting and tracking of impact
• Capital investment in the roll out of Inclusion Bases

Other funding Local Authorities.

Block Transfers

Trafford is not proposing to make a block transfer following a decision from Funding Forum. This was due to increased concerns from school leaders around school budgets and the ongoing reductions in staffing they are having to make to support budgetary constraints.

Capital

Whilst Trafford’s educational landscape is complex due to its selective context, our Sufficiency Strategy reflects our commitment to ensuring that every child and young person with SEND can access the right support in their local community. It will maximise mainstream inclusion in line with the reforms and address the current shortfall of secondary specialist places in-borough to be used where required due to complexity of need, meaning children with the most complex needs can attend a local school.

The capital strategy is a central component of our sufficiency strategy, aligning capital investment with:

• increasing mainstream inclusion
• reducing reliance on high-cost independent placements
• improving outcomes for children and young people
• supporting long-term financial sustainability

We are adopting an “inclusion-first” hierarchy, whereby:

• Existing mainstream capacity is adapted and enhanced
• Inclusion bases are developed at scale (support and specialist)
• Specialist school provision is only expanded where necessary for pupils with the most complex needs

Strong governance arrangements, including the School Places Steering Group and Strategic Place-Shaping Board, ensure that all capital decisions are aligned to this strategy and subject to robust challenge and oversight.

Across all sectors, an element of our sufficiency strategy is to enhance and develop existing offers and identify and utilise available space, in partnership with schools and Multi-Academy Trusts. We have already established strong engagement with school leaders across all sectors, consulting them consistently over time to assess the needs across our 4 localities to inform future planning and activity. 15 of the 19 secondary schools in Trafford are academies; trusts will co-design inclusion base models and lead delivery of capital projects which will adapt and develop existing spaces in these schools.

Over time, Trafford’s High Needs Capital Programme has focused on addressing the lack of specialist base capacity in the primary mainstream sector; we have achieved an additional 176 places over the last few years. In addition, the primary mainstream sector has already developed 71 support base places which presents a positive foundation to build on. Alongside this programme of work, we have been committed to investing in our local specialist sector. This has contributed to a reduction in out-of-area placements at primary phase, providing a strong evidence base for scaling this approach into secondary provision. We currently have 3 secondary special schools in- borough, catering for SEMH, MLD, ASC and PMLD and this local specialist provision is operating above capacity across all designations. Too many secondary age children and young people are placed in costly independent settings, often outside the borough, because there is

insufficient specialist local provision for secondary age children.

We have seen a 15.5% growth in pupils attending Independent and Non-Maintained Special School places over the last 2 years, with 166 CYP currently placed in INMSS high-cost settings. Our sufficiency strategy includes creation of specialist base places in secondary schools, and additional places in secondary special schools in-borough. Placement in specialist provision is limited to cohorts where needs cannot be safely or effectively met within mainstream environments, including pupils with PMLD, complex SEMH and high-risk cohorts. Investment in specialist provision is necessary and will significantly reduce the requirement for INMSS placements. On average, the cost of an INMSS placement is almost 5 times the cost of a special school placement in-borough, with an average saving of £46k per pupil where in borough special schools are used.

These pressures will inform our strategic planning over the next 3 years.

Year 1 (2026-7)

Inclusion base model

We propose to establish a support base capital grant initially for secondary mainstream schools to enhance and adapt the physical environments of existing support bases in place. For any schools without a support base, the grant will enable schools to set up an environment suitable for the needs of their learners. We aim to achieve support bases in all 19 secondary schools. If this is not achieved, the contingency would be to create slightly larger bases in some of our schools, which meet evidenced needs. There will then follow a primary

school allocation, ensuring equity across the system.

We will support schools to provide classrooms that are structured, predictable, and designed using evidence-based principles to reduce sensory overload, with clear zones that support learning, independence, and regulation. This will go hand in hand with the development of core delivery principles to ensure consistency of quality and delivery across the borough. Aligned to this is the further roll-out of assistive technology through the continuation of our loan library to improve the accessibility of the curriculum for all learners.

Years 2 & 3 (2027-2029)

While we have maximised opportunities to meet need within mainstream settings, there remains a clearly evidenced cohort of pupils whose needs are too complex to be met through inclusion bases alone. To address the shortfall in secondary specialist places to meet these, we intend to create 74 places in specialist base places and a further 95 places in specialist school places. Capital works are already underway through a scheme being led by The Dean Trust to create 25 additional specialist base places at Broadoak School. There is a high level of confidence that the first cohort will start in 2027. Investing in support and specialist bases will provide the support needed to address the main primary areas of need across our schools. This would also enable a more aligned, inclusive pathway from our primary bases into secondary, thereby protecting space in the specialist sector for our most complex young people. Further schemes will be driven through an EOI process for specialist bases alongside targeted conversations with schools with planned expansion or new builds to identify a first phase of the capital investment across the estate. Followed by a more targeted process to ensure equitability of offer across the borough that meets the needs of communities, all in collaboration with our school colleagues.

A business plan has been developed by Sovereign Trust to support moving their sixth form provision to a satellite location to create an additional 55 secondary phase specialist places at Manor Academy. Trafford is working in partnership with the trust to identify a suitable satellite site.

Value for Money

This capital strategy is expected to deliver:

• Significant increase in mainstream inclusion capacity, reducing reliance on specialist provision over time
• Reduction in high-cost independent placements, particularly at secondary phase
• Improved continuity of provision from primary to secondary, reducing transition risk
• Better outcomes for children and young people through local, stable placements

Investment is designed to deliver long-term cost avoidance, by:

• reducing INMSS placement costs
• minimising transport expenditure
• improving system efficiency

Our capital strategy represents a comprehensive and ambitious programme of system transformation ensuring capital investment not only addresses sufficiency pressures but is actively driving the transition to a more inclusive, sustainable, and high quality SEND system.

.

1. System partner and stakeholder engagement, and co-production.

Strategic Governance

Trafford's Strategic SEND and AP Board hold the remit for system leadership, oversight, and delivery of our strategic SEND improvement plan, including the implementation of our SEND reform plan. It has senior, whole system membership from across education, health, and care, including representation from the Lead Member, parents/carers, and commissioners, and is chaired by the Director of Children's Services. This board will oversee the transition process, including changes in roles and responsibilities arising from the Schools White Paper, and support shared responsibility and accountability whilst remaining solution-focused to address any challenges along the way.

Trafford has a dedicated Ambition workstream within its SEND strategic improvement plan (Our voices shape our future), linked to co- production and engagement which will provide the vehicle for the ongoing co-production with the wider partnership. Our existing multi-agency Participation and Engagement Group will be strengthened, to ensure that engagement is a continuous system-wide process, which reflects shared ownership and accountability. This group will provide a critical role in ensuring co-production is embedded throughout our roll-out of the Reform Plan and information is available in a timely manner.

Engagement

Trafford already has a range of meetings with partners across the system, which provides the opportunity for regular engagement and feedback loops. These include:

Early Years and Education/FE

• Headteacher Conferences and Headteacher Cluster Groups (half-termly meetings)
• SENCO forums (termly meetings)
• Early Years Leads

We will continue to engage our system partners through these forums, ensuring we are focused on sharing ongoing messaging as well as capturing reflective responses.

In addition, our planned Learning Circles, will bring practitioners together on a regular basis to network, share experiences and most importantly provide peer to peer support in developing strong inclusive practice.

Parent/Carers

Our newly formed Trafford Parent/Carer forum, whilst going through a series of changes of late, have established positive relationships with the Local Area and supported webinars as well as drop-ins at our Family Hubs. We will work with the steering group, to implement a programme of engagement activities as well as step up our Lived Experience Advisory Panels (LEAPs), which provide a vehicle for families to feedback on the reforms through their own personal experiences.

Trafford’s Strategic Partnership Board is attended by a range of partners from across the SEND system who report regularly into each meeting; this will provide a regular feedback loop to inform ongoing monitoring and planning as well as ensuring lived experience is embedded within strategic governance and decision-making.

Young People

Trafford has a dedicated SEND Participation and Engagement Officer, who has established a programme of meaningful engagement opportunities with our children and young people. Reach has strengthened over time through establishing forums, workshops, and using surveys and this will provide a strong vehicle for ensuring our young people play an active role throughout the roll-out of our reform plan.

Embedded Co-Production

Co-production is embedded throughout our SEND Ambitions, with regular reports to the Strategic SEND Partnership Board, requiring evidence of engagement with young people and families. This will assist in strengthening the accountability of the whole partnership.

We will continue to strengthen engagement and co-production with health teams through representation on key decision-making boards and steering groups. This provides a strong foundation for shared planning, collaborative problem solving, and aligned delivery across the local area. In particular, ongoing partnership with Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy services will support the development of inclusive approaches that build on established learning and promote effective support at whole-school and whole-class level.

SEND Conference (Autumn term 2026)

To support the delivery of our reform plan, we will host a conference, bringing all parts of the system together to focus on priorities for the year ahead. This will enable us to hold the reforms at the centre of all our work, celebrate our achievements and co-produce the actions for the coming year.

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. See Annex C for suggested risk matrix.

escalated.

Parental confidence and engagement, in light of the PCF still transitioning through to their new arrangements.

Medium Medium Amber The refreshed Participation and Engagement Group will provide the vehicle to ensure parents and SENDIASS are directly involved in the co-production and implementation of our reform plan. The Local Offer steering group will also provide support in the communication of activity to families via our website. The LEAP panels will strengthen

• the feedback loop, including a “you said we did”

approach. PCF reports regularly into the SEND Steering Group and SEND Board to enable escalation if necessary.

Amber Rising demand associated with ADHD and autism creating bottlenecks across access, triage, assessment and early support, increasing the risk of escalation into higher EHCP demand, poor attendance, exclusion and reliance on specialist provision.

High Medium Amber The reform programme will hold a commitment to strengthen timely, joined-up support for neurodivergent children and young people across education, health and family help pathways, making the most of the opportunities through the National NHS, Gm NHS (ICB) neurodevelopment (ND) care and treatment reforms e.g., needs led offer; system triage Health, Education and Early Help and prioritisation of the most vulnerable

Amber

Dependencies

There are a number of national and local reforms that are progressing alongside the delivery of the Local SEND Reform Plan as detailed below. These will be managed through partnership governance and oversight from the Strategic SEND and AP Partnership Board.

NHS reforms and Integrated Care Board (ICB) arrangements

NHS Greater Manchester’s new operating model is designed to strengthen system leadership, improve consistency, and support effective escalation across localities. Central to the model is a defined workforce commitment, including a Designated Clinical Officer (DCO) aligned to each locality, providing visible clinical leadership, continuity, and a clear interface between local systems and the Greater Manchester level. This role supports

local SEND partnership arrangements by enabling timely advice, assurance, and coordinated problem-solving. Alongside this, the established Gm SEND Board provides a formal mechanism for escalation, oversight, and shared learning, ensuring that issues requiring system-wide resolution can be progressed effectively while maintaining strong two-way communication and flow of information between local partnerships and the GM system. NHS Gm is also committed to utilising the central operating model to strengthen commissioning arrangements, enabling more consistent, equitable, and outcome focused commissioning, improved oversight and assurance, and clearer alignment between local priorities and GM-wide strategic intent.

Local Authority Finance and Transformational Change

As part of Trafford Council’s ongoing work to address significant ongoing financial challenges, we have worked with the Government to seek options to address the structural financial challenges that Trafford Council faces.

We are now in the fourth year of our Finance & Transformational Change Programme, and the Council has a proven track record of translating change into improved outcomes for residents, while reshaping how we work to deliver them. We have moved from ambition to delivery: achieving savings and enabling us to go further and faster in building a more sustainable, modern operating model.

With the re-establishment of our Transformation Board, the creation of new sub-boards, which supports the comprehensive programme structured around four priority areas -Children’s Services, Adults’ Services, Temporary Accommodation, and the Corporate Front Door & Digital - we are well positioned to deliver whole-system change, aligning governance, practice and pathways across the organisation and our partners to shift demand upstream and improve outcomes. SEND reform activity will also be incorporated into financial planning, ensuring decision-making is transparent and delivers best value.

Families First Reforms

The Families First reforms and the SEND improvement plan represent a major shift in system ways of working. Both initiatives aim to provide earlier, more joined-up support so families and children get the help they need, thereby preventing escalation of need. In Trafford, this will be met by aligning our Family Help pathways with our Experts at Hand offer with oversight provided by our Designated Social Care Officer. Our vision in Trafford is one of a Children’s Single Service to strengthen the shared responsibility for all our children and young people. The development of our Family Hubs and the role of multi-disciplinary teams provide the optimum conditions for ensuring a joined-up education, health and social care approach and a more cohesive experience for our families.

Best Start in Life and Family Hubs

Our Best Start in Life Strategy is key to ensuring early identification and support for our very youngest children and their families. Whilst identification of need in Trafford is already strong, the development of our Family Hubs is enabling us to deliver advice and support in local communities through the co-location of services. Our dedicated SEND Ambition, “We will have the best start in life”, outlines the connectivity between the reforms, with our Best Beginnings Board providing the governance for the delivery of the plans.

Curriculum and Assessment Review

The Curriculum and Assessment Review recognise the widening gap in relation to educational attainment with many young people with SEND making less progress than their peers. The selective context of Trafford exemplifies this even more. However, we will continue to ensure that mainstream inclusive practice is at the core of our school improvement activity and workforce development programmes, through the establishment of our Inclusion Profiles and implementation of the Ordinarily Available Inclusive Provision toolkit.

Section 3 – Monitoring and Evaluation

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

Data and systems

We aim to move to developing a more robust tracking data-model which will provide a predictive, intelligence-led approach to commissioning and planning. This will in part, be enabled through the appointment of a dedicated SEND Commissioner. Our SEND JSNA will be updated as a matter of priority and will include AP, EOTAS and secondary demand trends. This will then be aligned directly to commissioning and sufficiency planning and support the development of a refreshed Outcomes Framework.

Trafford has a SEND dashboard managed by our performance team, which is shared at the Strategic SEND Board and informs our success measures for the Strategic SEND Ambitions Plan; this includes data which covers a range of indicators from across education, health and social care, including:

• Attainment outcomes for each milestone
• Attendance data across a range of cohorts
• Inclusion data including suspensions and exclusions
• NEET/EET performance

Our SEND Assurance meetings also provide additional scrutiny to outcomes. In addition, monthly performance reports are used to map demand and impact, primarily linked to the EHC statutory processes. This includes:

• Demand coming into the system as requests
• The level of EHC plans at locality level as well as age-groups
• Mediation and tribunal data

However, we will continue to improve this infrastructure through the development of our Power BI dashboard to reflect trends, usage, outcomes, and pressure metrics enabling more live data to be available.

The strategic goals set out a move from participation and consultation towards demonstrable influence and co-design embedding our vision for the voice of children and young people to shape service delivery. In 3 years’, time we want to see an increased level of parent/carer satisfaction through lived experience and use a “you said we did” overview alongside parent and CYP surveys to capture that success over time.

Through this work it is our intention to provide a system that supports an increase in the proportion of pupils with an EHCP in mainstream will increase to 6.20% and 14.40% for those at SEN support. Equally we want to see a reduction in absence for SEND pupils down to 7.90% and 11% for pupils with an EHCP with exclusion rates down to 0.30% and 0.13%. More children with places in and accessing mainstream settings reducing special school an INMSS cost and a sustainable system that represents value for money.

From greater inclusion, early intervention and increased attendance and standards we want to achieve a Gld Up To 5%. KS2 pupils achieving expected standards in reading writing and maths with EHCP’s at will improve to 18% and SEN support to 46%, respectively. We also want to see KS4 A8 average scores with and EHCP 25 and at SEN support 49.5.

More children can be supported effectively without the need for escalation to specialist services, helping to reduce pressure on the system over time. Alongside stronger partnerships between education, health and families, this shift towards early intervention and inclusive practice will improve outcomes for children and young people while supporting a more sustainable, integrated SEND system.

Quality Assurance

Our SENAS team will also develop Inclusion Profiles across all schools and settings to monitor inclusion consistency across the borough and provide targeted support where necessary; this will enable us to monitor the impact of the EAH offer and inform future workforce development needs. We will also co-design with our education partners, parent/carers and young people, practice standards for inclusion bases. This will be delivered by our SEND advisory consultants alongside Lead SENCOs.

Section 4 – Governance

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

The Strategic SEND and AP Board will provide the strong governance structure, to maintain grip and oversight of delivery and impact across the partnership. The current SEND Ambitions Plan will be adapted to reflect the workstreams needed in the delivery of the plan, to prevent duplication and ensure shared accountability and ownership. The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) will chair the SEND Steering Group, to provide the operational oversight and ensure there is pace and traction as required.

Governance

Purpose/ Responsibilities

Membership

Cadence

Decision Rights

Escalation

What is the function of this Who does this governance How regularly What decisions can this

Mechanism

Route

governance mechanism? What mechanism comprise of?

does this governance mechanism This may be a Where can this are they accountable for [should include health and governance make?

governance group, governance overseeing? What information is PCF representation] What mechanism or an individual mechanism reported to this governance stakeholders are represented meet?

(e.g. SRO).

escalate issues or mechanism?

at this governance decision to?

mechanism? Please indicate who chairs this.

(Include n/a if an individual).

Section 5 – Central Government Support

How can we help you?

• In year 1 and 2 we have set out to establish a wholescale workforce development offer, to support this we will require help to ensure

all local and national offers are included and accessible.

• We will require support with recruitment in year 1 to ensure we can recruit the professionals required to implement our EAH offer as

well as any supporting positions to enable transformation to take place in line with our plan.

• In year 1 we would like further support and direction on the use of tools and templates to support data collection, reporting and

evaluation so we are monitoring progress over the 3 years to a standard aligned with local and national expectations.

• It would be helpful to have a clear directive on the facilitation of peer learning or regional collaboration from year 1 for sharing best

practice and to inform ongoing planning and development as we move toward implementation.

Annex B - Supporting Documents

Annex C – Risk Matrix