Our SEND strategy

Our vision is for every child and young person with special educational needs and disabilities in Derby to live their best life.

We've developed a strategy in co-production with the whole local area to help us to come up with a series of priorities that we think will help to make this vision a reality. To help us put this strategy into place we are developing our local area action.

Our five priorities:

How we work together as a local area

• We are professionally generous and open.
• Children and young people come first.
• As a local area we work together to co-construct new policies and practices.
• Parents, carers and young people are respected as experts by experience.

Inclusive schools and settings

• All schools and settings thrive to inclusion.
• Any SEND is identified as early as possible and support is offered to meet needs in the mainstream school or setting.
• Any services work for the whole family close to home.
• Parents and carers are listened to which enables the child’s needs to be recognised early and being treated as individuals.
• There is evidence of continuous development of the graduated response, and we learn from best international practice in the education system.
• Excellent policy making contributes to the inclusion and outcomes of children and young people in settings.

Wider support for families

• We apply strength-based approaches, building resilience to new experiences.
• We support families through advocacy and with the focus of supporting the whole family, siblings' groups and friendship groups.
• We offer a choice of accessible communication for all.

Personalised pathways for a good life

• We identify any need that the child or young person may have at the earliest possible stage.
• We meet these identified needs via the graduated response and by the integration of education, health social care pathways, removing any barriers to learning.
• We know whether the children and young people, and their families, are having a good life through face to face and virtual selection of their choice, to bring us their feedback.

Successful lives - preparing for adulthood

• Employment - careers information and guidance to support young people with SEND.
• Good health – young people are supported to manage their own health as they move into adulthood.
• Independent lives – young people are prepared for living their lives independently and options are considered early on.
• Young people are supported with friends, relationships and community inclusion.
• Preparing for adulthood outcomes focus on person-centred reviews from year 9 onwards.