HPCI Member update 19 December 2024

Welcome to the final HPCI update of 2024. It’s been a really busy term, and I know that many of our children and young people (and parents) are in need of the Christmas break.

HPCI started the autumn term by meeting with the Department for Education (DfE) in September, as they reviewed Hertfordshire’s progress following last year’s Ofsted/CQC Local Area SEND report. This term, HPCI has represented parent carers in over 100 meetings. We feel that there’s been a sustained focus on improving SEND services at all levels. However, we know (and told the DfE) that many families still haven’t seen a significant change in their child’s day to day experiences. As we head into the new year, we’re hopeful that the work and attention will start to make a real difference for families.

This update includes:

• Initial findings from our annual parent carer survey
• Health and Wellbeing survey for children and young people with SEND
• Local Offer webinar: Tuesday 14 January 8pm – 9pm
• New support group for parents, carers and young people (in years 7/8/9) who are finding attending school challenging

2024 Annual HPCI survey headlines 

When we attend meetings to represent parent carers, we rely a lot on the feedback we get from our annual survey. This year, we received an incredible 1,414 responses – our highest ever!  A big thank you to everyone who took the time to take part.
Here are some key findings so far. We’ll be sharing a fuller report in the new year.

• Families gave an average score of 3.5/10 when asked to rate their overall satisfaction with SEND services in Hertfordshire in the 23/24 school year. This is a slight improvement from last year’s score of 3.2/10.

• The top five service areas that families identified as services in need of improvement (from 1,220 response) are:

1. EHC Coordinator and / or Education, Health and Care Plan content, delivery and annual reviews
2. Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (this includes CAMHS and PALMS)
3. Community Paediatrician (including Neurodiversity assessment / diagnosis)
4. Educational Psychologist Service, including wait times
5. NHS Therapies (Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy etc.)

• A little over half (53%) of 653 responses felt that the different SEND services in Hertfordshire (such as schools, the council, and health services) don’t always work well together, rating their cooperation as “poor” or “very poor.”  Last year this figure was 64%.

• Only 14% of respondents found it “very easy” or “easy” to find information about how to get help.

Health and Wellbeing survey for children and young people with SEND 

It’s really important that children and young people also get to share their experiences. A new survey is being tested for young people in Hertfordshire who attend a special school or college, live in Hertfordshire but study outside the county, or are home educated with SEND.

If your child falls into one of these categories and hasn’t already completed the survey, there’s still time! The survey is open until 20 December 2024, and you can access it through this link. You can also watch a short introductory video about the survey here.

Local Offer webinar: Tuesday 14 January 8pm – 9pm 

Our annual survey shows that many families struggle to find information about how to access advice and support. In Hertfordshire, the Local Offer website is the go-to place for SEND information. The team behind the site hosts regular webinars to help families make the most of it.

The next webinar will be on Tuesday, 14 January, from 8pm to 9pm.  You can click on this link to register for the session.

The Bridge 

A new support group called The Bridge will be starting in January. This group is for parents and carers, as well as young people in years 7, 8, and 9, who are finding attending school challenging – whether they’re not attending at all or are on a very reduced timetable.

We know this is a huge issue for many, so we hope this will be an opportunity for families facing these challenges to connect and find the support they need. The group starts on Wednesday, January 15 at 1pm in Hatfield Hyde and you can contact alison.cowie@hertfordshire.gov.uk or ruth.coleman@hertfordshire.gov.uk for more information.