4 October 2024 weekly update

Dear Colleagues,

Apologies for missing last week’s bulletin, I am afraid I succumbed to flu.

EHCP completion data

I am pleased to share some very good news - September’s data shows we completed 64% of EHCPs within timescale (the last published national average was 50.3%) and no child or young person waited more that 29 weeks for their EHCP. Thanks to the SEN staff for their hard work on this, we are anticipating a further improvement next month.

Annual headteacher welcome event

This week I was really pleased to welcome new headteachers at our annual event. We very much encouraged them to reach out to their colleagues across Kent and to make good use of the well-established collaborations and support networks that are in place. I know you will all go out of your way to make sure they feel welcomed and supported.

SENCO conference

We are in the final stages of organising the sell-out SENCO conference taking place on Tuesday 8 October at Detling Showground with a fantastic programme of speakers including Dr Pooky Knightsmith and Ofsted, as well as opportunities to find out more about all the support available and to network. More about the conference next week.

Headteacher briefings

Assistant Regional Director and Senior HMI Lee Selby and his team will also be speaking at our upcoming headteacher briefing events. They will be talking about how Kent inspection outcomes compare to the national picture as well as updating us on the Big Listen and the direction of travel following the appointment of Sir Martyn Oliver in January 2024 and the election of a new government.

Big, Strategic Reset programme

A huge thank you to you all for your engagement with the various, inter-related consultations that together contribute to our Big, Strategic Reset programme. We very much appreciate not just the level of engagement, but also the thoughtful quality of the feedback which will help ensure higher quality final decisions. Having been directed by the Minister, the DfE and NHSE to keep up the pace of change, as well as recognising the contribution of £80 million of local taxpayers resources towards the High Needs Funding deficit (which equates to an additional council tax increase of nearly 10%) is a one off, we don’t have the luxury of further delay. As always, the response from Kent leaders of education has been brilliant. The response demonstrates the really strong commitment to looking beyond your individual organisation and taking responsibility as system leaders to collaborate on shaping the future.

Best wishes

Christine McInnes
Director of Education and SEN