- For residents
- Schools, learning and early years
- Adult courses and learning
- Subsites
- SEND Local Offer
Information on the Local Offer websites in neighbouring local authorities.
The SEND Local Offer website is a single place of information about services and support for children and young people from birth to 25 years old who have Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND), and for their families and carers.
Each Local Authority (Council) has a SEND Local Offer website.
You can use any of the Local Offer websites where you live, work or go to school in their area. Find your local council Go to https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council (opens new window) on GOV.UK
Local Offer websites in neighbouring local authorities
How we've used your feedback to develop the Local Offer website in 2018 to 2019.
In March 2019 we launched Bristol's Local Offer new website.
In 2019, we had 72 comments about Bristol's Local Offer website. These came from:
- feedback submitted through Bristol's Local Offer website
- Bristol Parent Carers
- January 2019 survey for parents, carers, children, young people and professionals
- December 2019 SEND Drop-in event
What you told us
You told us that you:
- haven't heard of Bristol's Local Offer or know what it is
- had issues with the accessibility of the site
- need less complicated information
- are more likely to use social media to find information
- want information aimed at young people
- liked the directory of information on the Findability site
- had issues using the search function
- want images that represent the community
- want to see videos explaining content on the site
- need information translated into more languages easily
What we're doing to improve Bristol's Local Offer
In 2019 we:
- launched the new Local Offer website
- changed the content from the Findability site to make it more user-friendly (Plain English)
- recruited a full-time Local Offer Co-ordinator who started in November 2019
- moved the accessibility page to the top to help people find it more easily
- consulted with parents, carers and professionals
- launched SENCO termly bulletin
- developed and implemented feedback form to ask for your comments on the Local Offer
- promoted the Local Offer through a range of events for professionals and families
In 2020 we are:
- developing a young person's section
- updating the look and feel
- continually reviewing the content to ensure its up-to-date
- raising the awareness of the Local Offer by developing links with professionals, community groups and schools
- developing on-going working groups with professionals, young people, parents and carers
- reviewing the current website to meet our community's needs
Give us your comments
You can give us feedback about our SEND Local Offer using our online form.
How we’ve used your feedback to develop the Local Offer in 2017 and 2018.
From August 2017 to August 2018, we had 65 comments on Bristol’s SEND Local Offer. These came from:
- our parent carer forum
- Bristol Parent Carers
- feedback submitted through the Findability website
What you told us
You told us that you:
- don’t know where to find information about support that’s available in the local area
- don’t know what the Local Offer is and you haven’t heard of the website Findability
- don’t use websites as much as social media and apps to get information
- need more information about short breaks
- had issues updating events and organisation details on the Findability website
- liked the Findability website and that it was quite easy to find information
What we’re doing to improve Bristol’s Local Offer
A new Bristol Local Offer website
In early 2018 we decided, with our partners, to build a new Local Offer website. The new website is:
- more closely linked to the main council website to help people find it more easily
- more accessible because the content is well organised and easily interpreted by screen readers
- designed with feedback from parents, carers, young people and professionals
- kept up to date by us, so organisations don’t have to log on to a database to tell us about changes to their services
We’ll carry on working with parents, carers, young people and professionals to get feedback on our new site.
Improving our engagement activity
We plan to increase engagement and publicity of our Bristol Local Offer site by recruiting a Local Offer Co-ordinator to promote it to parents, carers, young people and professionals.
You told us that you don’t use websites to find information, so we’re looking at how we could use different channels, such as social media, to tell parents, carers and young people about Local Offer information.
Reviewing short breaks information
We’re reviewing the information we have available about short breaks to make sure it tells families what they need to know.
Give us your comments
You can give us feedback about our SEND Local Offer using our online form.
How we’ve used your feedback to develop the Local Offer in 2020.
In 2020 we had 105 comments about the Bristol’s SEND Local Offer website. These came from:
Feedback through Bristol’s Local Offer website
- The Facebook page
- Bristol Parent Carers
- Drop in events
- February 2021 SEND Survey
- What you told us
You told us you:
- aren’t sure what the Local Offer is or how to find it
- are more likely to use social media
- would like better accessibility, including BSL and translation
- found the site difficult to navigate and couldn’t always find the information you wanted
- information isn’t always up to date
What we’re doing to improve Bristol’s Local Offer
In 2020 we:
- created a young person’s section with young people in our community
- redesigned the look and feel of the site for easier accessibility
- continued to review the content to make sure it’s up to date
- promoted the Local Offer by contacting professionals, community groups and schools
- continue to work with the community to make sure the website meets your needs
- sent leaflets to libraries, schools and GP surgeries to promote the website
- launched a Facebook page: Visits – 297 total followers. Last 28 days: 145 page views, 2942 people reached, 407 post engagements.
- launched an Ambassador program so that professionals, parents and carers can contribute to developing the website
- added a SEND News page to provide more information
In 2021 we are:
- Continuing to update and add the information you want
- Adding links to more video content to provide better accessibility
- Improving accessibility and translation options
- Creating a social media strategy to provide appropriate information tailored to your needs
- Working with young people to further develop the service we offer them
- Using the Ambassador program to train professionals, parents and carers in creating content for the website
- Promoting the Local Offer site through a wider range of social media, videos, newsletters and face to face meetings
- Establishing a more comprehensive directory of local resources and developing a Community Mapping tool to help you find services across Bristol
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