North Somerset’s improvement journey began in response to fractured relationships across the local SEND system, following the collapse of the previous Parent Carer Forum (PCF) and concerns raised in the 2018 Ofsted/CQC inspection. The area recognised the need to rebuild trust, repair communication and establish clearer, more collaborative ways of working to improve the experience of children and young people with SEND[1] and their families. This formed the basis for a systemwide cultural reset.
The work therefore set out to achieve three main aims:
- Reset and rebuild positive relationships between key stakeholders across the local SEND system: particularly between the Parent Carer Forum, SENDIAS service, the LA and health.
- Provide more coordinated support and transparency to parents and carers.
- Re-form a stable Parent Carer Forum for North Somerset.
The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework[2] considers that the “strength of evidence” of this case study is good – the work has been sustained for six years, embedded across the local SEND system, and supported by internal evaluation – with additional validation provided through external inspection. The “breadth of impact” of this case study is promising – there is evidence of impact in terms of the lived experience of families and positive feedback from professionals.
[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.