As Chief Executive of Devon County Council, I want to take this opportunity to update you on our continuing drive to improve services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and their families.
We had our quarterly Accelerated Progress Plan Monitoring Meeting earlier this month with officials from the Department for Education and NHS England. It was clear from that discussion that we are taking many steps to improve the SEND system in Devon, however we recognise that impact is yet to be felt by children and young people with SEND, and their families.
We will be picking up the pace over the summer to ensure we make a bigger difference and by the autumn term things will begin to look and feel different.
Last week the team started working on a new SEND Strategy for Devon. So far, they’ve gathered all the feedback received from parents and carers, young people and professionals over the past couple of years, alongside data and our SEND Transformation work to determine our public facing commitments.
Parents and carers suggested that we take a more ‘live’ approach to our strategy and not just create a document that sits on the website. I couldn’t agree more! We will be looking at how we can ensure our new strategy is dynamic and is embedded and reviewed through regular feedback and evaluation loops. The young people we’ve been talking to also said the same…“just get on and do stuff!” We’re hearing them loud and clear and will be focused on more action!
Respectfully,
Donna