Inspectors are preparing to look at how children and young people with additional needs are catered for by Brighton and Hove City Council.
The council received a formal notification from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) yesterday (Monday 13 March).
It was notified that a local area inspection for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) will take place during the next three weeks.
The purpose of the joint inspection is to provide an independent external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local arrangements for children and young people with SEND living in Brighton and Hove.
Brighton and Hove Parent Carers’ Council, a parent-led forum which represents parents and carers of children and young people up to 25 with disabilities and additional needs who live in Brighton and Hove, will be involved in the inspection process.
PaCC will attend meetings with local partner groups in Brighton and Hove and the inspectors to represent families’ experiences and priorities.
They will use feedback received from parents and carers to ensure they can accurately represent key themes and issues and reflect the diverse needs of the SEND community.
An important part of the inspection process is a survey of parent carers of all children and young people with SEND up to 25 years old and of children and young people themselves.
These two surveys are now live and remain open for sixworking days only, so will close at 9am on Tuesday 21 March.
One parent said: “It is essential that the inspectors hear directly from families via these surveys about things that are going well and also where support needs to improve.
“There is no requirement to provide names or addresses, so information shared with the inspectors remains anonymous.
“This is to encourage young people and their parents and carers to speak frankly.
“The survey provides a very real opportunity for children and young people’s and parents and carers’ voices to be directly heard and the findings detailed in the final inspection report will inform the future priorities for education, health and care providers in the city.”
The survey is for parents and carers of children and young people with SEND aged 0-25.
https://ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10260481
This survey is for children and young people with SEND up to 25
https://ofsted.smartsurvey.co.uk/p/AreaSend/10260481
Anyone without internet access or who might struggle to complete a survey online can contact Amaze on 01273 772289 or email info@amazesussex.org.uk to receive a hard copy in the post.
But the survey needs to be returned by noon on Friday 17 March so that it can be forwarded.
Anyone who would like to share any additional feedback with PaCC, in addition to completing the survey can email admin@paccbrighton.org.uk.
Parents and carers can find more information about free membership of Brighton and Hove PaCC, including its work and how to join at https://paccbrighton.org.uk.
