We want to make sure that all children in Devon get the best possible education and start in life.
To help us to achieve that, we are looking at how we buy education placements within independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, and independent special post-16 settings to support children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans, (EHCPs).
We’re also reviewing how we buy packages of support that help children continue to learn at other locations – not at school – for a period of time, hopefully with the aim of them returning or reintegrating to school. These packages can support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND); children who have been excluded from school; or children who cannot attend school due to medical needs.
We are writing to two groups of parents to ask for their experience:
- Parents and carers of young people in independent education placements
- Parents and carers of young people supported while in temporary education away from school
We are hoping to engage and meet with up with around 100 parents and carers to find out what difference the services are making for their children and families; what the services are doing well and what could the services do differently to better support their children’s learning.
We will use the feedback to help inform our decisions about how we buy independent special school, non-maintained special school, and independent special post-16 placements, and how we buy packages of support to help children continue to learn at settings away from school in the future.
We will be asking parents and carers that we write to and who are interested in sharing their experience with us, to contact us by Monday 17 March. A response form will be included in the letter.
Please look out for the letters, which will be arriving by post or email to parents over the next two weeks. If you don’t receive a letter or email, but feel you have experiences which are relevant to these services and would like to express an interest in being part of either of the two groups, please email us, at childsc.sendimprovementprogramme-mailbox@devon.gov.uk