What you told us at feedback events and what we've done.
SEND survey 2021
Earlier this year we did a survey of over 200 parent carers with SEND And You (SAY) and the Bristol Parent Carers forum.
The aim was to gain insight into the experience of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in education, and their families' experience with the overall Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan process.
This was the second annual survey and is used to help shape the new SEND Partnership Plan and help us continue to improve SEND services in Bristol.
We've written a report of the findings and a statement of what we're going to do.
pdf Read the Parent and Carer consultation report 2021 (818 KB) .
pdf Read the SEND Partnership response to survey findings 2021 (184 KB) .
Your feedback
Listed below is the feedback you gave us and our responses.
We want to know how the Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment process works
To support you in the Needs Assessment process, we are working to allocate families to an Assessment Coordinator early on.
However, because of the number of requests it's not always possible to allocate at the start of the process.
The Assessment Coordinator will:
- explain the process
- talk you through the next steps
- coordinate the assessment process with all professionals
- keep you updated on the progress being made
If you have any questions or concerns at any time, contact your Assessment Coordinator.
If you haven't been assigned an Assessment Coordinator, contact the SEND team:
- email: SEN@bristol.gov.uk
- phone: 0117 922 3700
Find out more about the EHC needs assessment process.
We want to know how the Annual Review process works
Every school, post-16 education provider and child or young person with an EHC plan will be allocated with a Senior Inclusion Officer.
A Senior Inclusion Office is your long-term case worker. You can contact them with any concerns or questions you have about your EHC plan.
This year, Senior Inclusion Officers haven't been able to meet every family face-to-face because of the Covid-19 restrictions in place.
However, they are available to support you over the phone, or via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
The Senior Inclusion Officers are working with education providers and SENDCOs to make sure:
- annual reviews are held in time
- reports are requested from the professionals named in the EHC plan in advance of the meeting
- professional reports are shared by the school with families at least two weeks before the review
The Senior Inclusion Officer will work with you to make sure a decision and final plan is sent to you within statutory timescales.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact your Senior Inclusion Officer or the main SEND Team:
- phone: 0117 922 3700
- email: SEN@bristol.gov.uk
Find out more about annual reviews.
We want to find out who our statutory SEND team case worker is
Every child with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and school in Bristol have an assigned case worker.
You can find which case worker has been assigned to your school by contacting your school, or the SEND team:
- phone: 0117 922 3700
- email: SEN@bristol.gov.uk
If you've requested an EHC Needs Assessment, you will be allocated an Assessment Coordinator during the process.
If an EHC plan is issued, you will receive an email to confirm who your Senior Inclusion Officer is, with their email address and telephone number.
We want timeliness of EHC Needs Assessments improved
Bristol's SEND team have been working with families, schools and other professionals to improve the timeliness of processing EHC Needs Assessments.
We have improved our processes so that we work closely now with health, social care and education services.
While we aim to complete assessments within 20 weeks we are also, at the same time, working on legacy cases, which are over the 20 week process timescale.
We want an alternative to Proofpoint
We use Proofpoint to protect your data and information when we email you.
However, we are aware of the issues it can cause you in accessing emails.
We're introducing a new email protection system called Encrypt.
Your case worker will ask if you prefer to be emailed with either:
- Proofpoint
- Encrypt
- password protection on attached documents
If you choose password protection, you will receive a second email to confirm the password.
This will make sure the emails we send you are easily accessible but also secure.
Independent help and support service
Find free, independent information, advice and support from SEND And You (SAY).
- website: SEND And You (SAY)
- email: support@sendandyou.org.uk
- phone: 0117 989 7725
