Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) JSNA
Key headlines
Service delivery gaps: Despite ambitious plans, there are gaps in meeting growing SEND demand for appropriate education, short breaks, respite support and access to wraparound childcare. This is especially a factor in the early years, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Communication and trust issues: Families report inconsistent communication with services, often feeling they must complain to be heard, leading to frustration.
Early identification and staffing challenges: Effective early identification is hindered by staff shortages, leading to unmet developmental check targets.
Concerns around school transitions: Families struggle with inclusion and long waits for diagnoses, particularly during transition between primary and secondary school.
Coordination and data gaps: While coordination between services exists, data inconsistencies prevent effective resource planning.
Emotional toll on families: Many families experience frustration and resort to private assessments due to delays and inadequate support. Not all families are able to do this, which is exacerbating inequality in access to services and support.
Strategic focus areas: There is an agreed focus on creating strategies for autism and improving early identification, joint commissioning, communication, and data management; these priorities are corroborated by the analysis in this JSNA.
Population dynamics: CW&C has a population of 365,061 with around 20% (74,751) aged 0-18. The child population (aged 0-15) is expected to decrease by 2% between 2023 and 2033.
Diversity and deprivation: Though the area is relatively affluent, 17% of children live in low-income households. Health indicators are generally positive, with most residents reporting good health, though 18% have disabilities.
Headline data: 4.5% of pupils in CW&C had an EHCP at January 2024, higher than the national average, with a 48% increase in EHCPs since 2019, reflecting a growing demand for services.
School placement trends: There’s a shift from special schools to mainstream settings, though use of independent specialist provision is rising, straining financial resources.
Primary SEND needs: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), social emotional and mental health (SEMH) and speech, language and communication needs (SCLN) are the most prevalent.
Educational outcomes: ‘Good level of development’ scores for young children with SEND in CW&C are behind those of their peers regionally and nationally. However, outcomes in Year 1 and at the end of Key Stage 2 are more in line. At Key Stage 4, results for pupils with SEND in CW&C show a wider gap compared with peers, reflecting a decline in performance.
Absences and exclusions: Pupils with EHCPs show a reduction in absence rates, but over a third still miss more than 10% of school sessions. Suspension rates for pupils at SEN Support in CW&C are lower than national averages, but permanent exclusion rates are slightly higher.
Health challenges: Complex commissioning and service provision across multiple NHS trusts hinder consistency and service pathways.
Public health and mental health services: Hospital admissions for self harm are higher than national averages and waiting times for mental health and speech/language services continue to rise, indicating increased demand.
Children in need: There has been a 29% rise in the number of children in need since 2020, with 5.1% linked to disability or illness.
Children in care: 31.4% of school-age children in care have an EHCP, slightly above the national average.
