The Local Area SEND inspection took place over three weeks between late February and early March. The inspection focused on the experiences of children and families, covering all aspects of our work in children's services, health and education and how we collaborate to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people.

Inspectors focused on 16 children, selected by inspectors from a much larger group, to understand their and their families' experiences. Surveys sent to children, young people, practitioners and parents received a strong response, and 325 documents were shared with inspectors. This information, along with our self-evaluation, helped the inspection team shape and explore key questions on-site.

The inspectors praised our partnership for putting children, young people and families at the heart of decision-making. The inspectors concluded that families received "typically positive experiences and outcomes". This meant that they awarded us with Outcome 1, the highest possible rating.

The report highlighted the strong collaboration between Dorset Council, NHS Dorset’s Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the Dorset Parent Carer Council (DPCC) in supporting children with SEND and recognised more creative approaches like Dorset’s ‘Youth Voice' to engage young people.
A strategic action plan has been developed to cover areas highlighted through the inspection.

The two key areas for us to continue to develop are:
1. Strengthening the partnership’s use of qualitative and quantitative data held to improve the outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
2. Ensuring our quality assurance and annual review processes, particularly in relation to preparation for adulthood, are robust, precise and high in quality. 
 

Capital Programme

A capital programme refers to a strategic plan for investing in and developing buildings and the things in those buildings. This includes the construction, renovation and maintenance of school buildings and facilities specifically designed to support the educational and accommodation needs of SEND young people. It might also include incorporating features like ramps, elevators, wide doorways and specialist equipment.

The SEND Capital programme was set up to create enough alternative provision places in the right locations across Dorset for children with SEND. The previous SEND Strategy included a SEND Capital Strategy that was approved on 6 April 2021, that set out to deliver 500 new specialist places in our special schools as well as within Inclusion Hubs in mainstream schools. Further capital approvals for Beaucroft and additional Inclusion Hubs, as well as two new sites as annexes to two special schools were secured in 2021 and 2022.

A list of these is set out below:

• approved DfE (Department for Education) Free Schools: The Harbour and Osprey Quay
• 8 December 2020: Cabinet approved £15.5 million funding for Coombe House, resulting in 240 places being in Dorset Council control, through commissioning agreement
• 6 April 2021: Cabinet approved the SEND Capital Strategy, creating 500 additional maintained places at £35-40 million. This strategy set out the policies that we referred to as well as stating the needs for our young people. Once this strategy was agreed we were able to develop a programme of work to guide us in developing new buildings and investing in existing ones
• 27 July 2021: Cabinet approved the first project from this £35-40 million. This first project was Beaucroft College, which opened 80 new post-16 places. This project cost £3.9 million, plus £450,000 of School Organisation Capital Allocation (SOCA).
• 6 September 2022: Cabinet then approved £31.5 million of funding across another 11 projects, which delivered 228 places

Summary of capital investment to date

Funds (Totalling £52.5-£57.5 million):

• £35 to 40 million across SEND sufficiency, including Coombe House purchase which was Council funded
• £6.6 million + £2 million Coombe House, which was council funded
• £7 million of High Needs Provisional Capital Allocations (HNPCA) for SEND sufficiency (DfE funded)
• £1.9 million of School Organisation Capital Allocation (SOCA) funding applied to SEND projects (DfE funded)

Impact:

More pupils and students with EHCPs (Education Health and Care Plan) can access education in their local school, so they can stay with their peers. This also means less travelling time for pupils to get to school, resulting in reduced home to school transport costs. Staff in mainstream settings are developing skills and expertise in meeting the needs of children with SEND through the Inclusion Hubs. 

For children and young people with the most complex needs, special schools may be more appropriate than a mainstream setting. From 2022, we have increased the number of specialist places available. We are constantly reviewing and adapting the number of places planned, based on conversations and EHCPs. We also review and adapt the places we expect to deliver. This all ensures we continue to build great provision for our children.  

 

Number of specialist planned and delivered in table format.

Year	Planned	Delivered as of 14 June 2024
2022	220	81
2023	441	264
2024	579	389
2025	740	543
2026	781	718
2027	807	845
2028	817	895

 

Read more about our Capital Programme.

Current SEND data:

• 50% of pupils with an EHCP are in mainstream schools 
• 69% of pupils with an EHCP are male 
• 31% of pupils with an EHCP are female 
• 57% of pupils with SEN Support are male 
• 43% of pupils with SEN Support are female 
• 20% of pupils with an EHCP have Speech, Language and Communication as primary need 
• 549 EHCPs have been issued, which is a 15% increase 
• 277 EHCPs have ceased (because they were no longer needed), which is a 6% decrease 
• 272 increase in active EHCPs, which is a 7% increase  

EHCP data:

• 549 EHCPs issued
• 277 EHCPs ceased
• net increase of EHCPs is 272

EHCPs issued and ceased by month from September 2023 to July 2024.

Month and year	Issued	Ceased
Sept 2023	49	54
Oct 2023	55	39
Nov 2023	34	22
Dec 2023	35	20
Jan 2024	43	31
Feb 2024	46	20
Mar 2024	36	7
Apr 2024	59	15
May 2024	54	14
June 2024	55	8
July 2024	72	47

 

Our 6 Strategic priorities are:

1. Early identification - we identify needs early and put in plans to support.
2. Inclusion - our children and young people feel like they belong at home, at school and in their community.
3. Our SEND pathway vision- everyone understands what services are available and how to access them.
4. Next steps and preparation for adulthood - young people move into adulthood successfully with the right support. 
5. Sufficiency and provision - we have access to enough resources to meet need.
6. Managing money and resources - we spend our money sensibly to meet need

Our vision is clear and focused

We want our children and young people with SEND to be healthy, happy, and safe. We want them to be able to achieve their potential to lead a fulfilling life. We want them to have, and to expect, the same opportunities in life as other children and young people. 

Our shared values

Our shared values are:

• always putting children and families at the heart of everything we do. This includes how we develop and shape services
• no child or family left behind. We strive for equity of outcomes for all
• focus on early intervention and prevention. Offering the right help in the right place at the right time
• working restoratively. Doing things with families, not to or for them
• thinking family. Providing a joined-up approach
• focusing on and building on the strengths with individuals, families, and communities
• being inclusive. Challenging discrimination where we see it and promoting a sense of belonging for all our children in communities
• taking a rights-based approach to our work
• delivering best value for money. Spending the Dorset pound on the things that get the best outcomes for children and families
• always remaining hopeful and determined to achieve good outcomes for all
   

Our strong Quality Assurance and Practice Improvement processes help education, health and social care colleagues to work alongside our children, young people and their families to deliver high quality, timely services that have a positive impact.

Through our Quality Assurance and Practice Improvement Framework, we ensure the quality, effectiveness and timeliness of:

• educational settings’ graduated approach to supporting children and young people who have SEND
• capturing and considering the child/young person’s views, wishes and aspirations as well as those of their family
• Education Health and Care needs assessments, EHCPs and annual reviews

We undertake a comprehensive cycle of multi-agency quality assurance and data analysis which includes:

• data analysis to identify themes and trends
• auditing, practice improvement and learning activity
• feedback from children, young people and their families
• regular reviews of practice and performance to ensure continuous improvement

Impact

The views of children, young people and their families are consistently identified and captured during the EHC needs assessment.

Data

Over 80% of new EHCP are graded ‘Good’ or better. 

Ofsted

1. The timeliness and quality of education, health and care (EHCP) plans is improving. 
2. The quality assurance of EHCP plans is ‘robust, precise’ and ‘high-quality’.  
3. Children and young people, as well as their families, are growing in confidence in local services. This is a result of local area leaders developing a knowledgeable workforce across the multi-agency partnership.
4. Training and development across the partnership are highly effective.

Parent feedback

1. Thank you for everything that you did for us as a family with the provision of an EHCP. The outcomes achieved are just fantastic. Thank you for providing the plan which recognised her needs so succinctly. We have our daughter back and a completely different child to the one at the beginning of the EHCP journey. Our daughter has a future and a good one.
2. My case worker was very thorough in explaining the process. When I had any questions, they were answered swiftly without hesitation.
3. I couldn’t ask for a better service. It made getting my son help in preschool so much easier. 

Birth to Settled Adulthood (B2SA)

Strategic priorities 1 to 5

The B2SA service launched in April 2024. It was designed through a collaborative effort between Dorset Council’s Children’s and Adult Social Care, Dorset Council elected members, NHS Dorset and the Dorset Parent Carer Council. This partnership aims to enhance outcomes for children and young people.

The service now offers full support from birth. Best start in life advisors help children aged 0 to 5 years with their development and learning. The service also supports young people up to 25 years old, aiming to help them achieve a settled adulthood. Some young adults may reach this milestone before 25. Being settled means living in a stable environment, getting the right support, engaging in work or meaningful activities, maintaining good health, having friends and being part of the community.

Children and young people were consulted to identify what is important to them in building independence and preparing for adulthood. This feedback has shaped how the partnership supports children and young people at each stage of their life to build independence and prepare for adulthood.

The service also supports young carers, parent carers and adult carers. The service also includes a Disabled Children’s Occupational Therapy Team that provides assessments, equipment and adaptations. There has also been further investment in occupational therapy resources to reduce waiting times.

Impact: 

Children and young people are supported appropriately to achieve the outcomes that are important to them and are supported to develop their independence and preparation for adulthood at an earlier stage.

SEND 2023 Survey

Strategic priorities 1, 2 and 3.

The DPCC promoted the 2023 SEND Survey widely, encouraging parents and carers to complete and return it. The overall response of 377 parents and 22 carers was encouraging, although we would have liked to have seen a higher response rate. 
Some key findings are: 

• 49% have confidence in support for special educational needs 
• 43% feel their child's needs are identified on time 
• 24% believe there is effective collaboration between parents and practitioners in Dorset 
• 66% feel involved in EHCP discussions 
• 62% know who to contact about their child's EHCP
• 54% are confident in describing education needs in their EHCP review 

The next SEND survey is planned for 2025. From the results, we aim to learn and improve. The 3 week Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection, based on these survey findings, helped inspectors conclude that families' experiences are "typically positive."

Impact: 

The DPCC analysed the results and continues to work strategically with Dorset Council and health partners to improve on the findings. We are happy to report, that through our partnership agreement, we can see a positive difference in all areas for Dorset families, children and young people.

Let's Talk online events

Strategic priorities 1, 2 and 3.

We listen carefully to families and when we see dissatisfaction on social media or hear about families that need a better experience, we work hard across the partnership to address specific concerns. The Dorset Parent Carer Council work with us to address these issues directly. We agreed on an approach we feel is helpful to the partnership and to families. 

We introduced Let’s Talk SEND Online, and it has been a great success. This initiative allows parents and carers to join an online webinar and get valuable information and answers on various topics like school transport, attendance and short breaks. It also provides a chance for parents and carers to connect with the right people within the council to discuss their personal concerns.

Impact: 

The DPCC have noticed an overall softer approach amongst some families and a willingness to appreciate openness and honesty, they can see that we are working together to improve outcomes and communication. Parents and carers feel listened to, can find information quickly and access the right support from services.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) update

Strategic priorities 1 and 2

SENDIASS is delivered in Dorset by Family Action. The service provides free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
Their aims include: 

• empowering children, young people and their parents and carers to play an informed, active part in decision-making, supporting them to make the best decisions   
• partnership working with providers of education, alternative provision providers, training, supported employment and health and social care  
• ensuring service user views are heard, understood and utilised to make continuous improvements
• making sure service users understand their rights, roles and responsibilities 

SENDIASS data: impact facts and figures from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 

• responded to 1,198 enquiries
• 34% enquiries for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and 29% for education enquiries
• 81% autism related enquiries  
• case work for 50 tribunals, with 96% positive resolution
• 4.39 out of 5 positive service user feedback

Impact: 

Family Action delivers Dorset’s SENDIASS impartially in line with, and often exceeding, the DfE endorsed Minimum Standards.

Quotes:

“Life changing - our son now has a school placement and we are extremely grateful for the support provided.”

“It gave my child the voice I was struggling to achieve on my own and he now has the right support in school.”

Ofsted said '…SENDIASS has redesigned its approach to responding to the increasing requests for independent information and guidance. This has strengthened its ability to manage available resources and continue to provide timely and effective support. This includes… a triage process for referrals into the services…’ 

Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN) transformation 

Strategic priorities 1, 2, and 3.

Dorset Council, NHS Dorset, early years providers, schools, and families are working together to transform how children and young people’s speech and language needs are met.

Our focus is investing to ensure we can all support the development of speech and language, meet additional needs and provide this support where children and their families are, wherever possible. In the last 12 months we have started to make significant improvements including:

• open access to speech and language support for children under 5 with no referral or waiting times
• 24/7 access to local and national advice for families and professionals across Dorset, including strategies on how best to support SLC development
• beginning to roll out having a speech and language therapist link role in each mainstream school. This role will support children and young people and school teams to meet needs effectively

Impact: 

Children and young people, and their families, have quicker access to speech and language advice and support in their local community.  Families have access to reliable information on how they can support speech and language development and access support. Professionals across education, health and social care are being supported to identify needs at the earliest opportunity, and to deliver targeted interventions to prevent escalation of need.

Autism in schools project 

Strategic priorities 1 and 2

This project aims to encourage whole school curriculum changes, with support from senior leaders and head teachers. This will be shown through updates to policies and guidance, backed by a development plan that promotes positive autism support and practices in schools.
The aims of the project:

• to improve attendance at school of children and young people with autism and those who are neurodiverse through reduction in days lost from school
• to prevent/reduce exclusions of children and young people with autism and who are neurodiverse
• explore ways to improve inclusive, multi-agency approaches
• to improve and build on relationships with the parent care forum, developing parent networks and support to families

14 schools have taken part this year across Dorset. These schools have received whole-school training, follow-up coaching, leadership training for senior leaders, additional resources and funding. 1,645 school staff have been trained since September 2023.
Feedback from the training included: 

• Early Years: “All the training was relevant and gave good insight into supporting children with autism”
• Schools: “Very informative and relatable. Information that will help me with my day-to-day practice”
• Post 16: “Good training. Clear, concise and useful”

Impact: 

Schools understand the needs of autistic children and young people. They also understand what support and adjustments they can put in place. This means fewer children and young people experience suspensions and have an increased sense of belonging.  Parents and carers feel listened to by the school, and their confidence in the school's ability to make the appropriate reasonable adjustments has increased.  

Dorset's Neurodiversity Hub has been launched

Strategic priorities 1, 2, and 3.

Dorset’s neurodiversity hub was launched in March 2024.

We have worked alongside people with lived experience of autism and ADHD, as well as professionals in the NHS and local charities, to co-produce the content for our neurodiversity hub website. 

Our newly launched website includes signposting to a wide range of support, as well as articles, blogs and videos produced by members of Dorset’s neurodivergent community.

In our first month we saw over 6,000 users access our website, and further 5,578 for the period 1 April to 30 June. It is great to see many people still visiting the website after its initial launch.

Optional qualitative feedback for the report from website users:

Rating 4.5 stars out of 5 for ease of use
Some feedback quotes:

• I love the drop boxes for expanding on certain sections, the navigation is clean and clear and easy to look through
• I particularly looked at information for children and families. Really good to see a page showing all local support groups - easy to find on the website
• great graphics and love the logo and large font writing thank you
• thank you for setting up this sight it been badly needed thank you all
• the information for ASD/ADHD was helpful
• I like the lay out and the fact you have a special link for the children, young people and adults

Impact: 

Families and practitioners can access our newly launched, co-produced neurodiversity hub. This enables signposting to a wide range of support. 

Annual Health checks for young people with a learning disability 

Strategic priorities 2, 3, 4 and 5.

NHS Dorset have been leading a campaign, with wide engagement from stakeholders, to promote the Learning Disability annual health checks for 14 to 25 year olds with a learning disability.  We are proud that Youth Voice has been at the heart of the campaign, with young people helping to develop dedicated written and video resources as well as inclusion toolkits.

Find out more about Annual Health checks.

Find out more about Annual SEND Health checks.

Children and young people mental health transformation 

Strategic priorities 1 and 3.

A recent review has introduced a new mental health model for children and young people. This includes a ‘no wrong door’ policy, early help services and changes to NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The goal is for children, young people and their families to have a positive experience and receive timely, appropriate mental health support.  

Impact: 

Identification, assessment, and support for mental health and emotional wellbeing needs will be timely and tailored to the specific level and type of need.

 

Education Strategy  

Strategic priorities 2 and 3.

The Education Strategy was launched in mid-March and is available to read. The Education Strategy outlines five key priorities, with the voices of children and young people at its heart.
Each priority explains its purpose, how we plan to achieve it and what success will look like. Progress towards these goals is reported to the Dorset Education Board every half term. This strategy provides a clear, agreed roadmap for delivering the Best Education for All from 2024 to 2027.

Impact: 

Our children and young people belong in their local communities and are supported to learn and achieve alongside their peers. 

Dorset Education and Advice Line (DEAL)

Strategic priorities 1 and 3.

DEAL provides a place for young people, parents and carers and practitioners who want a conversation about emerging special needs. The service was initially available 10am to 4pm, weekdays during term time. We received 300 calls during the time of operation.

In Autumn 2023, we analysed the types of calls we were receiving. We then provided a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section on the Local Offer. We saw a reduction in the number of calls after this was published, which indicated that people were able to find answers to their queries without having to contact us directly.

From May 2024, the function of the Advice Line is being provided through the Family Support and Advice Line (previously known as Children’s Advice and Duty Service, or ChAD). This means a wider range of professionals are available to provide advice and guidance throughout the year.

Impact: 

Children, young people and families receive the right help at the right time, and concerns are resolved before getting worse. 

Annual Reviews 

Strategic priorities 1, 2, 4, and 5.

In the 2023/2024 academic year, our SEND Teams held 91% of all annual reviews on time. We prioritise our attendance at annual reviews for children and young people in phase transfer years, who are in care, have a social worker, attend an independent setting, are electively home educated or who have an ‘Education Other Than at School’ (EOTAS) package of support. 

We write to parents and carers within 4 weeks of an annual review being held to inform them of the outcome of the review.  Our performance here is a key area of focus on for 2024/2025. Annual reviews are important as they ensure that a child or young person's needs and their EHCP are accurate and up to date. These provide an opportunity to look at the child or young person’s outcomes, and to celebrate achievements.

Impact: 

Children and young people’s needs are identified early, they receive support that is right for their needs and can achieve and learn alongside their friends in their communities, wherever possible. 

Coombe House 

Strategic priorities 2, 4, 5, and 6.

A focus of the school this year has been to ensure pupils have access to a clear pathway to their next steps of education, employment or training and to support their skills in accessing and being part of the wider community.  We are very proud that pupils participated in various community events, including shopping trips, museum visits and weekly activity centre visits where they challenged themselves with abseiling, zip wires and climbing.

The progress the pupils have made within their personal development has enabled them to become more resilient to overcome new challenges. The changes within the curriculum have enabled pupils to complete examinations to prepare them for their next stages with pupils sitting GCSE exams in English Language, English Literature, and Maths alongside Functional skills in both English and Maths.

Through this work, we have two pupils who have been allocated places and are able to return to maintained colleges for September 2025 to continue their studies.

Impact: 

Dorset Council established the Dorset Centre of Excellence to establish and run a local special school for the pupils of Dorset, and through the SEND Capital Strategy, have invested significantly and increased the number of special school places.

Outreach

Strategic priorities 1, 2, and 3.

Outreach from 5 of the Dorset Special schools is provided to all our mainstream schools to support them in meeting the needs of children with SEND at all stages of the Code of Practice.     

• over the last year 48% of the children do not have an EHCP
• the approach has been extended to include our 4 learning centres 

Impact: 

Increased attendance, increased time in school and in the class, improved achievement, change in staff practice and inclusive practice.

Therapeutic Thinking 

Strategic priorities 1, 2, and 3.

Therapeutic Thinking is being rolled out to all schools in Dorset.

Therapeutic Thinking trains school and education setting staff to develop a therapeutic approach to behaviour.  This means staff in schools and education settings are trained to think differently about children’s behaviour.  They are trained to think about behaviour as a form of communication and that children and young people can respond unexpectedly, often due to their worries and anxiety.  The approach helps schools to include all children and young people by creating positive relationships and a welcoming environment.  Staff are trained to think about different ways of responding to children and this helps to support them to belong to their school.

63% of all Dorset Schools have at least one trained tutor.  

Educational Psychologists, specialist teachers and outreach practitioners from Dorset special schools and learning centres support schools in putting this is place.  

Impact: 

We have seen a reduction in suspensions and exclusion.  Feedback from the training shows that staff have a better understanding of how to support children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.  The training impact has shown that staff in schools begin to use the same language when talking about children’s behaviour and feedback tells us that there is a change in the attitudes of staff and governors.  

One school told us “We changed our policy to reflect the fact that relationships are the key... Ofsted said that the children told them that relationships matter."

Beaucroft Post 16 

Strategic priorities 4 and 5.

The College at Beaucroft Special School opened in June 2023.  It is located one mile from the school site in Wimborne. The college provides a rich learning experience for their post 16 young adults.
A huge part of their learning experience is taking part in the management of enterprises. This provides them with experience in work-related learning environments, enhancing their life skills, independence, interpersonal skills, communication and teamwork. It helps prepare them for adulthood and supports them in playing a meaningful role in their local community.
The young adults support the 1HQ Cafe half termly. They serve customers, prepare food and take payments. To support this the menus are visual, and they have a specially adapted visual till. The cafe is self-supporting and able to employ staff to work alongside the students and volunteers.  Arts and crafts produced by the students are available to purchase at the cafe. Future plans are to expand and relocate in the very near future and to incorporate bicycle repairs.

Impact: 

Young people are able to extend their learning in a familiar setting, leading to better outcomes and preparation for a settled adulthood. 

Sufficiency Strategy 

Strategic priorities 5 and 6.

Children’s Services’ Social Care Placement Sufficiency Strategy has been updated for 2024 to 2027. This addresses how we will provide and commission foster care, children’s homes and supported accommodation for our Children in Care and Care Leavers. It also links to our Families First for Children Pathfinder, Birth to Settled Adulthood and other work. All this work supports children to continue to live with their families, preventing entry into care.

We have reduced the number of children in care from 475 in 2020 to 385 currently, and 25 to 30% have SEND. More children live in foster placements and fewer live in placements outside Dorset. We worked with partners to increase the number of children’s home places within Dorset from 16 to 30 places.

This means that young people with the most complex needs can stay close to their families and communities. We are dedicated to helping children with disabilities and intensive support needs stay with their families. To improve our services, we’ve opened two new short breaks homes: Hayeswood Bungalow in Wimborne and Chesnut House in Weymouth. Over 500 children use our short breaks services, and we've increased support for home and community-based care.
 

• Find your local Education and Early help (SEND) team
• Children's Advice and Duty Service (ChAD) 
• Dorset Special Educational Needs Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) 
• Dorset Parent Carer Council (DPCC) 
• For further support for families, children and young people and for the full SEND strategy visit Dorset’s SEND Local Offer 
• Find a support group run by other parent carers who have children with similar difficulties on our directory