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Improvements to the SEND service - February 2020 update

We have pledged to work in partnership with parents and carers to improve, review and design services and engage with children and young people in decisions about them.

We have been doing this in a range of different ways over the past year from:

  • one-to-one interviews
  • co-production sessions
  • countywide surveys.

Below is a flavour of just some of the ways you are helping us to make a difference.

Listening to you

  • One-to-one interviews have helped us to focus on ways we could improve communication with you (parents and carers).
  • We have conducted a number of focus groups with parents to help to shape the services we provide. One workshop, held in Maidstone in October, was attended by parents and local parent advisory support groups who discussed what they wanted from a new education, health and care (EHC) plan.
  • You shared your views on your experiences of getting support for your children in our SEND survey carried out last summer and rightly challenged us to get things right. We received 660 responses in total. Your feedback showed us just how important it is that parents and children can discuss concerns, feel listened to and see a clear plan for support. View the full report including recommendations for action we should take.

Working with young people

  • Our youth workers carried out a face-to-face survey with young people in December to hear their views and experiences first-hand.
  • Further workshops with young people are taking place over the next few months, including a workshop to hear from young people about their experiences moving from childhood into adulthood.

Working with other professionals

  • We have started to work with an independent team of parents/carers and people who work with families every day from Rotherham, to help us and parents to develop a shared understanding of what real co-production means and how we can work better together to shift the balance of decision-making to include children, young people and their families. The Rotherham team held the first series of workshops with parents and carers on 28 January.

Kent PACT

  • Kent PACT is a new parent carer forum set up for parents of children and young people with disabilities and additional needs. They offer a way for parents to have their say and influence KCC, local health services and other organisations. Some of the parents on the forum are also key members of the joint KCC/NHS SEND Improvement Board. Visit the Kent PACT website to find out more about their work and how to sign up to join the forum.

While we have started to put the building blocks in place to move towards a culture of openness and transparency with parents, we still have some way to go. The parents and young people that we have met with over the past year have shown a great willingness to talk to us and share their experiences, ideas and thoughts that are helping us make a difference for children and young people with SEND.

We have pledged to work in partnership with parents and carers to improve, review and design services and engage with children and young people in decisions about them.

Previous updates

Read our other updates on the ways we've been working with parents, children and young people to improve the SEND service.