Inspectors criticise SEND support in Redcar and Cleveland

The decision follows a joint local area SEND inspection carried out between February and March by Ofsted and health watchdog the Care Quality Commission which found not enough progress had been made implementing reforms introduced in 2014, including the transfer of children from statements of SEN to new education, health and care (EHC) plans.

A letter outlining the findings criticises council and health leaders for not ensuring an effective approach to jointly planning, commissioning and providing services for children and young people with SEND was in place.

"Too little has been done to implement this crucially important requirement of the 2014 disability and special educational needs reforms," it states.

The inspection found local area leaders did not have a clear or comprehensive understanding of the outcomes achieved by children and young people with SEND.

"This limits their ability to jointly plan, commission and provide the services that this group of children and young people and their families need," inspectors warned.

"Importantly, leaders do not have an effective way of evaluating the impact of the local area's arrangements for identifying, assessing and meeting the needs of children and young people who have SEN and or disabilities on the education, health and care outcomes they achieve," they added.

The report states that some families in the area felt their views were not sufficiently listened to with many saying they had not experienced a "tell it once" approach.

One parent told inspectors: "The whole process of EHC assessment is difficult, technical and owned by professionals."

The inspection highlighted a variation in the outcomes achieved by children and young people with SEND across early years, primary and secondary school level.

While younger children were making "strong progress" as a result of the support they had received, there was a "declining trend" in the outcomes achieved by children and young people with SEND in secondary schools.

Levels of absence and persistent absence were found to be too high, rates of fixed-term exclusion had increased and progress made by these children and young people by the end of Key Stage 4 was declining, inspectors said.

"The quality of some plans indicates that the impact of children and young people's SEN and/or disabilities on their learning and development is not well understood," they added.

It was also revealed too many young people were not in sustained education, employment or training at age 17 and "there are weaknesses and inconsistencies in the quality of independent careers information advice and guidance provided for young people who have SEN and/or disabilities in mainstream secondary schools".

The investigation concluded this had contributed to "an exceptionally high" level of young people with SEND who were not in sustained education, employment or training at age 17 as well as the low retention rates on courses in several post-16 settings.

However, inspectors praised arrangements for meeting the needs of children under five with SEND as "effective" and reported that children's needs in primary schools were generally identified accurately and in a timely way.

"From their different starting points, this group of children make progress, which is better than other children nationally," they said.

Frontline professionals working in education, health and social care services in Redcar and Cleveland were also recognised for their "deep and shared commitment" to make a positive difference to children and young people with SEND.