13 December 2024 weekly update

Dear Colleagues,

Due to staff leave this is the last bulletin of the term so please check the KELSI website for updates next week.

We'd like to make sure everyone is getting what they need from the KELSI website. To help us do that, please give us your feedback by completing this short feedback form.

The autumn term is always busy but this year more so than usual as we prepare to make a range of changes in the new financial year.

You all have responded magnificently to the numerous consultations and we are considering your feedback to inform the next steps in the various projects. We will be sharing plans with you, including how you have influenced draft proposals, in the new year.

One consultation is still running until Sunday 15th and that is the Education Strategy with the deadline having been extended by a few days. So have your say by clicking on this link Education Strategy consultation.

In addition to your response to the consultations a huge thank you to the many of you that have been working on drafting the detailed guidance related to the different types of SEND need included in the SEND Continuum of needs and provision. This exciting development, which is entirely practitioner led, is ground-breaking.  I have had an opportunity to see the work of the SEMH sub-group and I know it’s going to be invaluable to the education community.  I am really looking forward to seeing the work of the three other sub-groups and the final version of the whole document which will be available next term.

Yesterday the DfE announced they will not be defunding a range of post 16 qualifications in August 2025. This will come as very welcome news to many but particularly those working on the Pathways for All post 16 reform programme.

And finally…

2024 has been a very eventful year. Just to pick out two events-

Firstly, the reform of secondary education on the Isle of Sheppey where the offer to families has been broadened to include two very different secondary schools, temporary AP the Estuary Academy, a new annex of Snowfield Special School and the new SEMH school Nore Academy. This time last year, the strike by secondary teachers was being reported in the national media.

The second event was the removal of the SEND Improvement Notice in full, just 18 months after it was issued. Education leaders and members who attended the SEND Improvement and Assurance Board have seen the hundreds of pieces of evidence submitted to demonstrate progress and impact against the 116 projects. Completion of EHCPs within 20 weeks is not much short of being in the top quartile nationally. The year on year increase in expenditure we saw previously is levelling off. This demonstrates the work we are doing together is beginning to gain traction in moving the system towards sustainability and away from bankruptcy, so thank you for your various contributions to that.

I want to finish by paying tribute to and thanking my staff in the Education and SEN Division who have worked relentlessly to drive improvement, whatever their role. While I welcome challenges, as I believe our work should be evidence-based, able to withstand rigorous scrutiny, and always open to improvement, I hope these challenges remain professional. It has been concerning to see instances where this principle was not upheld, with my staff having experienced personal comments about their work and their SEN expertise. I'm sure you will agree that this is unacceptable and doesn't help us as we move forwards.
I am proud that we have a service staffed by individuals with extensive professional and lived SEND experience. In addition to my professional experience in SEND, which includes working in three special schools and managing SEND services in two previous Local Authorities, I also have personal family experience with ADHD, Down syndrome, elective mutism, short-term memory, and information processing deficits. Our Education and SEN staff include individuals who:
- Have left leadership positions in Kent special schools to join KCC SEN services,
- Have led SEN in mainstream schools,
- Have diagnosed SEND themselves, and
- Are parents to children with SEND support needs or EHCPs.
Additionally, we employ several staff with lived experiences to advise us, and the range of participation activities was outlined in November's Scrutiny report for those interested. We have further enhanced our expertise by recruiting Inclusion Champions, Kent leaders committed to and with established effective practices in SEN inclusion.

It is vital we all work together and use our collective experience and expertise to drive positive development of the Kent education community (the aim of the Education strategy) or the improvement of SEN services.

There is still much to be done, and my hope for 2025 is that we focus the debate on factual information and work collaboratively on the next steps.

May I wish you all a peaceful Christmas and start to 2025.

Best wishes

Christine McInnes
Director of Education and SEN