Families given 'equal voice' in plans for SEND support

Article date: November 21 2024

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Strategy 2024-27 has been devised by giving an 'equal voice' to families and the services they work with to provide the right support that someone with SEND needs to flourish. This means that the strategy belongs to everyone involved in supporting children and young people across St Helens Borough no matter what their need for support is.

Leslee Basaga, Chair of the Listen4Change Parent Carer Forum who were one of the many groups involved with St Helens Borough Council in the design of the strategy, welcomed the new strategy that was approved at Cabinet.

Leslee said: "Working together with services as an equal voice from the very beginning to the end of any project makes a real difference in ensuring local services best meet the needs of children and young people with SEND and their families."

The theme is Visible, Valued and Included as the key aspirations drawn up by the countless children, young people, parents and carers who played an active role in the creation of the document.

One participant explained: "We dream of a St Helens that celebrates diversity, where every young person feels valued and proud of who they are. Our SEND Strategy should be a beacon of hope, showing that difference is not just accepted, but embraced."

The new strategy focuses on five priorities that St Helens Borough Council and its partners will look to deliver. These are:

Five priorities

1.    Managing transition for life

2.    Developing a curriculum for success

3.    Building a community of support

4.    Meeting multiple and complex needs

5.    Ensuring timely assessment and effective support

These five priorities will then help to bring about four key outcomes that young people told the council they wanted support with which are:

Four outcomes

1.    I am heard

2.    I am safe and secure

3.    I am healthy

4.    I am aspirational and successful

The work by the council and partners will follow three key principles which are:

1.    Listening to children, young people and families

2.    Strengthening communications

3.    Building a great workforce

Mark Palethorpe, Executive Director for People's Services at St Helens Borough Council, said: "This is a strategy that everyone is rightly proud of and it is great testament to the work of so many families involved that they see it just as much their strategy as it is a strategy for services. This is a document that is being lived out every day by those who supported its journey and with 20 per cent of children and young people in our borough part of the SEND community it will play a pivotal role in making sure they can get personalised support. This strategy will make sure it meets their individual needs, provides them safety, supports their mental wellbeing and ultimately empowers them and their families to reach their full potential."