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You Said, We Did

Six parents with three children all sat on chairs around a desk.

Overview

This page shows a summary of actions taken by Education East Sussex SEND services. These were in response to the views of children and families.

To find out how you can contribute towards the future of Education East Sussex services, visit our Have Your Say web page.

Please note, Education East Sussex is formed of ISEND (Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) and SLES (Schools Standards, Learning and Effectiveness Service). These services joined together in September 2023. The views displayed on this page were prior to September 2023, so they may still reference ISEND.

Communication, Learning, Autism Support Service (CLASS)

You Said

We Did

CLASS were one of ISEND services to trial a new online evaluation platform. This has resulted in a large increase in parental response to service evaluations. In 2020, CLASS received 24 evaluations from parents. In 2021, this has increased to 75. This represents more than a 300% increase in response rates from parents.

A key service target on the 2021/2022 service improvement plan (SIP) is as follows:

“To involve parents & carers in the planning, communication, and review of CLASS support.”

We reinforced to staff the importance of regular and timely communication with parents. We did this in the following ways:

In 2021,16.4% more parents than in 2020 reported that we had 'definitely' kept them informed of the support.

Find out more about Communication, Learning, Autism Support Service (CLASS).

Early Years Service (EYS)

You said

We did

Following a trial period with CLASS, EYS piloted a new online evaluation platform. In 2020, EYS received 55 evaluations from parents. In 2021, this decreased to 45. This represents an approximate 22% decrease in response rates from parents*.

*Mitigating Factor - due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cases remain open to EYS for longer periods of time. This means fewer cases close, and we send fewer evaluations out to parents.

We have reinforced to staff the importance of sharing information with parents. This should be on a timely basis. The 2021/2022 service improvement plan (SIP) has a key service target:

"Identify more opportunities to develop SEN support within settings and schools. These should have a specific focus on parent/carer voice."

We further reinforced to staff the importance of regular communication with parents. We did this by:

Find out more about Early Years Service (EYS).

East Sussex Local Offer

You Said

We Did

Educational Psychology Service (EPS)

You said

We did

The EPS has developed a system to quality assure their reports. There is an emphasis on accessibility with checklist items being:

Educational Psychologists discuss and adapt their reports where necessary following parent carer feedback. We also make it clear when we have coproduced outcomes with parent carers.

We have established a new electronic system of evaluation. This ensures feedback about EP involvement is meaningful, whenever completed. We are using the new version of the EPS evaluation form across the service. We have deleted previous versions.

Find out more about Educational Psychology Service (EPS).

English as an Additional Language Service (EALS)

You said

We did

Find out more about English as an Additional Language Service (EALS).

Interim Provision Service (IPS)

You said

We did

IPS have reviewed the evaluation forms to make them more service specific. We now have four specific questions to ask parent and pupils. These are about their experiences of engaging with IPS interim education. This will help us gain more service specific feedback. We have also used symbols and visuals, to make them more user friendly. We continue to review service user feedback including in team meetings.

IPS worked remotely during the pandemic, including parts of 2021. This affected the number of evaluations received. Teachers were unable to support completion of them at review meetings. They were also unable to leave them with families to collect during the next visit. IPS are now moving to the ISEND online platform for evaluations. We are confident this will result in an increase in response rates.

IPS helps prepare students for their next placement. As a service, we continue to ensure students understand this. (IPS do not have a peer cohort available for paired or group work but deliver teaching in a 1:1 format). With an agreed placement, IPS teachers prepare and support transitions into a school. IPS collaborates with the children and young people, parents, and the school. They best support this process using bespoke transition plans.

In relation to progress, IPS continue to develop a baseline assessment and tracking. This ensures students and their parents/carers can see evidence of their progress. They can see it over time from their starting point. Baseline assessment isn't appropriate for some children and young people. In these cases, this year we have implemented an engagement tracker. We share both progress assessments at reviews with parents every six weeks. Parents and children and young people can see their progress from the starting point. We send this out as an appendix together with the child and young person's report. We hold review meetings. IPS ask and record:

To find out more about this service, you can visit this websites' section on:

Sensory Needs Service (SNS)

You said

We did

Find out more about Sensory Needs Service (SNS).

Short Breaks

A short breaks consultation survey was sent out to parents, carers, children, young people and their siblings. Below shows some of the most popular suggestions and our response to them.

These responses are in relation to universal and targeted short breaks.

You said

We did

Find out more about Short Breaks.

Teaching and Learning Provision (TLP)

You said

Some parents reported they wanted:

There was little pupil feedback, so it was difficult to identify areas of improvement.

We did

Two meetings have taken place with CAMHS managers. There is now an onward co-produced plan in place to:

We have created a joint plan so that children in schools receive onward support after a period of TLP. These children have Mental Health Emotional Wellbeing teams.

The plan includes training Mental Health Emotional Wellbeing teams to ensure:

Training for staff:

We have also reviewed the evaluations. There are more service specific questions. These are helping us identify more specific areas of improvement from pupil feedback.

Find out more about Teaching and Learning Provision (TLP).


Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms

Some of the terms used on this website are explained on our page, Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms.

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