Work starts on the Norfolk Local SEND Reform Plan

Important work is starting in Norfolk to prepare for the first stage of the Government's SEND Reforms. Norfolk County Council is working with the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board to co-ordinate the county's response.  

As a Local Inclusion Partnership, we must produce a Local SEND Reform Plan by Friday 19 June. The plan needs to be drafted quickly, and we want as many people as possible to understand what it involves and how they can take part.  

The plan will focus on how Norfolk will use new national investment to improve support for children and young people with SEND. This includes developing an Experts at Hand offer, considering how we can collectively improve our universal provision, whilst also creating more specialist provision and support within mainstream schools.  

The plan will be reviewed and updated every year as the national reforms continue, so this is the starting point. It will become the main mechanism for accountability, improvement and investment.  

Over the next few weeks, we will be holding a series of workshops to help shape the plan; a letter has been sent to school leaders to invite them to attend sessions, which will look at different parts of the reforms, such as how support is offered in schools, how needs are identified earlier and how new investment will be used. Representatives from all part of Norfolk's system are being invited to join these workshops, including representatives from our Local Inclusion Partnership. 

Whilst we are running workshops for system representatives, we are aware that others will want to be able to contribute to our collective thinking, but we are limited in the approaches that we can take due to the short period of time that the Government has given all local areas to prepare their initial plan. Therefore, we will provide other ways to get involved, such as through online materials, so more families, carers and education settings can share their views.  

Additionally, we want all to know that this is the start of Norfolk's response to these reforms - after this initial plan, there will be further, wider opportunities to share views and to be part of developing futures phases. We will share more information soon, including how you can take part.  

Your experiences and ideas will be important in shaping the future of SEND support in Norfolk.