The partnership of organisations which deliver services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Rotherham has reiterated its commitment to make further improvement.
The pledge follows a joint inspection of local services by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission this summer, which highlighted both areas for improvement and a number of strengths across current provision.
An inspection team visited Rotherham in July to judge the effectiveness of the area in implementing the disability and special educational needs reforms, as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. Their inspection process considers SEND services in Rotherham over the whole seven-year period and so doesn’t solely reflect the current position.
The inspection identified that the partnership had not fully implemented the national reforms across all areas of judgement within the inspection framework, although a number of strengths were identified across all aspects of Rotherham’s SEND services. It was confirmed by inspectors that areas of development identified by the Council and its partners prior to the inspection were those that needed further enhancement to support improved outcomes for children and young people in the borough.
Building on the improvement plans in place prior to the inspection, the partners are collectively moving at pace to support those areas identified as needing further improvement. This will involve a partnership approach across Rotherham Council, NHS Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group, Rotherham, Doncaster & South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDASH), the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, families, early years providers, schools and post-16 institutions, all pulling together to deliver an area wide improvement across SEND.
The report highlighted four areas for improvement, which the Council and CCG will address over the next 18 months through an action plan called a ‘Written Statement of Action’.
Suzanne Joyner, Strategic Director Children and Young Peoples Services at Rotherham Council said: “The pandemic has been a difficult time for many local children and families, even more so for children and families with special educational needs and disabilities. As we come out of the pandemic this report is well-timed as we re-evaluate our offer. It is clear we have a partnership collectively owning the SEND agenda in Rotherham which will drive enhancement of the SEND offer across the borough - and this a priority for us all.
“Whilst we remain determined to tackle the areas where improvement is still required, it should be acknowledged that the report covers the whole of the last six years, including many historic deficiencies in SEND provision that have already been, or are being addressed. Recent major investment in new specialist Social Emotional and Mental Health provision at Dinnington, the expansion of specialist SEND provision in mainstream schools, redevelopment of Newman Special School and recent work with health partners to address neuro developmental needs underline our commitment to developing the local offer.
“We have a workforce right across our partnership, who are continually working in collaboration and with absolute dedication to improve outcomes and enhance opportunity for children and young people with SEND in Rotherham. This unwavering commitment is a real strength as we move forward and will support local area improvement of the SEND agenda.”
Ian Atkinson, Executive Place Director, said: “Working with our partners across Rotherham, we are continually striving to provide the best services possible for our children and families. There is a tremendous joint effort and commitment to the local SEND agenda but we acknowledge the need for improvement across the areas highlighted. Our strong partnership working will enable us to develop our SEND offer to further enhance the experience for our children and families.”