In response to “serious weaknesses” identified by Ofsted in Dorset’s SEND services inspection 2017 (and 2019), Dorset embarked on a transformative journey to place the voices of children and young people at the heart of its planning and service delivery. Under new leadership, the council adopted a culture of co-production, empowering children, young people and families to lead change, and fostered a sense of “belonging” amongst all stakeholders. The Covid-19 pandemic underscored the urgency of this shift, as Dorset recognised the importance of engaging its most vulnerable children and sending a message of hope and value.
The results of this cultural shift have been profound. Co-production is now embedded across all services, with children and young people actively shaping decisions and strategies. Ofsted’s 2024 inspection praised Dorset’s co-production model for improving lived experiences and fostering a shared language of belonging among stakeholders. Participation initiatives, such as Dorset Youth Voice programs and the upcoming Dorset Unstoppables group, further amplify the voices of children and young people, ensuring they lead service development and know their input drives meaningful change.
The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework considers that the “strength of evidence” of this case study is good – the work has been sustained for over four years and evaluated through a mixture of internal evaluation and external inspection. The “breadth of impact” of this case study is promising – there is evidence of impact in terms of lived experiences of children and young people with SEND1 and educational outcomes.2
[1] For ease of reading, we use the term ‘SEND’ to refer to disabled children and young people and children and young people with special educational needs.
[2] The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework uses two “signal strength” indicators to present the strength of evidence and the breadth of impact of a case study. Each indicator has four bars – emerging, promising, good and robust. The “strength of evidence” indicator is based on how the project has been evaluated and the length of time it has been sustained. The “breadth of impact” indicator is based on whether the case study can demonstrate impact in four broad areas – the more areas of impact, the higher the signal strength indicator.