SEND Strategy 2016-2019

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During April and May 2016 West Sussex County Council held a consultation to determine how we could strengthen education for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We were delighted that so many West Sussex families and professionals took the time to respond to the consultation on the SEND strategy which has been co-produced with nurseries, schools, colleges, carers and parents.

83% of respondents agreed with the aims and objectives of the strategy and 79% agreed with our vision for how we could achieve these. The concerns that were raised in the consultation related to the unsuitability of mainstream education for all of the children with SEND, and cited the need for more funding for specialist support and more detail on how the recommendations would be delivered.

Read the SEND Strategy document here

SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2019 – 2023 Update

For the last 3 years (2016-19) we have been working on the following objectives as set out in our strategy for 2016-2019:

1. To ensure that children with SEND are, where possible, welcomed and included within their local mainstream school.
2. To ensure that local mainstream and special provision is effective, of a high quality and delivers good educational outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
3. To build a model of educational provision and support in West Sussex which enables young people with SEND, where ever possible, to live and go to school/college locally .
4. To deliver an offer that is sustainable and cost effective now and into the future ad takes due account of predicted demand.

It is essential that our strategy for SEND and Inclusion prepares for the future needs of our children and young people. While over 90 % of our children with SEND are taught in mainstream schools within West Sussex, it is also true that over 90% of our SEND pupils who are excluded are also taught within our main stream schools. Our strategy has to focus on how we support our schools and settings with the knowledge and expertise they need to include all pupils with SEND and to help to achieve positive outcomes. If we are able to support our SEND pupils in mainstream schools well, then we will be able to reduce the pressure on specialist provision and, in turn, will be able to reduce the numbers we need to place in the independent sector.

In order to review our SEND Strategy we have invited representatives from a cross section of stakeholders to participate in five initial workshops – this includes school, early years and college representatives as well as other education, health, social care colleagues and parent carers. The strategy is being co-produced with children, young people and their families. A key output from the workshops will be the strategy delivery plan for SEND and Inclusion for 2019 – 2023 which will identify clearly the tasks, resources and timeline for implementation. The first draft of the strategy will be available for consultation in May – please look out for this. A recent SEND Strategy and Inclusion update can be found on The Local Offer here. Please contact [email protected] if you require further information.

Read the SEND Strategy update document here

For the West Sussex SEND Strategy 2019-2024 please click here