Useful Information & Documents

Halton SEND Improvement Plan (Priority Action Plan)

Between the 6 November 2023 and 24 November 2023, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) undertook a joint inspection of the Halton local area.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspected the Halton local area to assess how effective the local education, health and care services are at identifying, and meeting the needs of, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 0 to 25.  The purpose of inspection was to:

  • provide an independent, external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local area partnership’s arrangements for children and young people with SEND
  • where appropriate, recommend what the local area partnership should do to improve the arrangements.

The findings have been published on Ofsted’s website in the Area SEND Inspection of Halton Local Area Partnership report

To respond to this, the local area partnership, including the council, the integrated care partnership, parents/carers, and wider partners, came together to coproduce a Priority Action Plan, which details the actions that the local area will take to address the five priority actions identified by the inspection.  DfE, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have now approved the local area’s SEND improvement plan (Priority Action Plan).

Areas for priority action Responsible Body
Priority 1 – Strategic Oversight and Governance  
Leaders at Halton local authority and the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB should cooperate at pace to improve the shared strategic oversight, governance, support and challenge to drive improvements to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND in Halton. Halton Borough Council and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB)
   
Priority 2 – Cohesive communication / joined up systems  
Leaders in the local authority, ICB and education, health and social care providers should improve the efficiency and quality of their information gathering and sharing processes to ensure that children’s and young people’s needs are understood accurately and met more swiftly and effectively through coordinated approaches. Halton Borough Council and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB)
   
Priority 3 – Joint Commissioning  
Leaders across education, health and social care should improve the joint commissioning of services to ensure that children, young people and their families receive sufficient support to have their needs met effectively. Halton Borough Council and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB)
   
Priority 4 – Early identification of need and access  
Leaders across education, health and social care should urgently improve the early identification of needs and access to specialist health pathways, including the neurodevelopmental assessment pathway and speech and language therapy and the support available, while children and young people wait. Halton Borough Council and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB)
   
Priority 5 – Education Health and Care Plans  
Leaders across education, health and social care should improve the timeliness of new EHC plans and updates to EHC plans following the annual review process, so that, if appropriate, children and young people receive an effective EHC plan within statutory timescales. Halton Borough Council and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB)

Halton SEND Strategic Improvement Board (HSSIB) spans a broad range of partners, services and stakeholders and has been set up to oversee SEND improvement activity in Halton and the supporting Priority Action Plan and will take forward the learning from the Ofsted and CQC inspection process and the areas for improvement identified through the inspection. To deliver positive change, it is essential that areas for improvement, improvement activity and accountability is shared across this complex partnership.

HSSIB meeting updates:

 

Strategy Documents

Halton SEND Strategy 2021-2025 Revised February 2024

As the Halton Local Area SEND Partnership we strive to work collaboratively and in a co-productive way to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people that live in Halton.  The Halton SEND Strategy 2021 – 2025 has focused the areas of priority for the partnership.  However, between 20-24 November 2023, Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) undertook a joint area send inspection of the Halton partnership. The Local Area Partnership Report outcome published on 18 January 2024 identified widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), which the local area partnership must address urgently.

Therefore, as a partnership we need to focus in the short to medium term on working to address the priority actions and development areas identified in the inspection report, all of which are aligned to our Halton SEND Strategy 2021 – 2025 Priority Areas.  This interim refreshed SEND Strategy will provide strategic direction across SEND Services with the intention to coproduce a new Halton SEND Strategy with partners, children and young people, their family and carers which we aim to publish in Autumn 2024.

Halton SEND Children’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)

Joint Commissioning Strategy

A multi-agency event is scheduled for September 2024 to co-produce our new Strategy, including governance arrangements and will be published when it is available

Education Accessibility Strategy 2023-25

Halton Education Inclusion Charter

Nurture Strategy and Guides

 

Emotionally Based School Non Attendance (EBSNA)

Emotionally Based School Non Attendance (EBSNA) is a term used to describe children and young people (CYP) who experience challenges in attending school due to negative feelings (such as anxiety). EBSNA is commonly associated with emotional and physical distress, and a reluctance to attend school, which can lead to reduced attendance and further anxiety regarding school.

 

Nurture Key Resources

Checklists-Questionnaire-Crib Sheet

Case Studies

Educated Other Than At School/college (EOTAS) Policy for children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan

This policy provides details of Education Other Than At School/College with an EHCP, it gives information about what an EOTAS package might look like, including the process involved.

Halton Family Hubs

We’re working with partners in Halton to develop Family Hubs across the borough by March 2025.
This work is being funded by the Department for Education from the government’s Family Hubs Transformation Fund.

Click here find out more

Family Hubs 0-5 years Guide one page

Open/Current Consultations

STATUTORY PROPOSAL FOR PRESCRIBED ALTERATIONS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PLACES IN A SPECIAL SCHOOL

Increase in the number of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) places at Ashley School in Widnes, from 112 to 152, through a proposal to build four additional classrooms at the school (subject to planning permission)

In March 2024, the Council received notification from the Department for Education that it would receive a further allocation of £2.1M High Needs Provision Capital funding over a two-year period to support the provision of new places and/or to expand existing provision for pupils and students with high needs.

Having previously consulted with schools on the opportunity to expand their existing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) offer, or offer new SEND provision, Ashley School expressed an interest to provide an additional forty places for KS3 and 4 pupils.

On the 12 September 2024, the Executive Board at Halton Borough Council approved progression of this proposal to a statutory consultation, which was held from 23 September 2024 – 21 October 2024.

Following closure of the consultation, the Local Authority have reviewed the responses and will report back to the Executive Board on the 12 December 2024 with a recommendation to approve the proposed works at Ashley School and approve any further capital works required to meet demand for SEND places at other schools in Halton as appropriate.

Charlotte Finch
Acting Director SEND and Inclusion

SEN Support Plan, Review Sheet and Example
School uniform grant/costs

Unfortunately, Halton Borough Council does not provide financial support or a grant for these costs.

Support may be available from one of the following:

  1. Check with your local Family Hub, as they may have items available
  2. Check with your local housing provider/association, as they may have support available, also see the news page on the website, for example, Halton Housing
  3. Most supermarkets have non-branded school clothing available for purchase at a very low-cost
  4. Your child’s school may be able to provide support with the school uniform – you should contact them in the first instance
  5. Check the school website to access their School Uniform Policy for information on how they can help
  6. You could contact the school by phone or email to seek their help
  7. During school holidays, staff may still be available in school for you to contact them for advice by email
  8. If you don’t manage to get in touch with the school before the start of the new term, the Council’s Education Welfare Service advise that you don’t keep your child off school if you don’t have the correct school uniform.  Keeping your child off school without their permission would be classed as an unauthorised school absence
  9. You should dress your child for school in appropriate clothing i.e. plain trousers/skirt, plain polo t-shirt and/or a plain jumper
  10. As soon as possible on the first day of term, contact the school to seek their advice and ask for support (if you have been unable to contact school before this date)
Policy Statement about Out of Borough Provision

The Code of Practice advises of the duty on local authorities to include in their Local Offer any provision outside the local area, that the local authority expects to be used by children and young people with special educational needs and disability, for which they are responsible.  This includes provision in a further education college in a neighbouring area or other support services that are provided jointly by local authorities. It should include relevant regional and national specialist provision, such as provision for children and young people with more complex needs.

We must include the lists of non-maintained special schools and independent schools catering wholly or mainly for children with SEND, and Independent Specialist Colleges in England (National Association of Independent Schools & Non-Maintained Special Schools List (NASS List).  This also includes the Section 41 List (institutions approved by the Secretary of State).  Parents and young people have a statutory right to request that they are named on an EHC Plan.

The Local Authority must consider any request but is not under the same conditional duty to name that provider on the EHC Plan.  However they must have regard to the fact that children should be educated in accordance with parents’ wishes. This must be compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and training and where it does not incur unreasonable expenditure.

Halton’s Approach

We always aim to educate a child or young person within their local community. If it is agreed that other provision should be considered, then we would consider those providers close by that can meet the needs of the individual.  Within the local area, we have used and would expect to continue using the following schools, where appropriate:

Other relevant providers for Halton include those within reasonable travelling distance, where young people have been placed before, for example:

Halton would approach other providers further away, only where the needs could not be met locally or within neighbouring authorities, for example Wings, Cumbria.  If other providers are to be named on an EHC Plan, there would need to be considerable discussion beforehand, as they are not subject to the duty to admit a child or young person, even if named in a Plan.

Based on the information above, we have complied with our duty to promote other provision, where we both “expect” to use it and where it is considered to be “relevant.”

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