Call for views on special educational needs and disabilities provision in Leeds

People in Leeds will be able to share their views on education provision for children and young people who have special educational needs or disabilities, as part of a new consultation launched this week.

Leeds City Council has been allocated just over £1 million of government funding per year for three years to support the need to have enough quality school places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Leeds.

In order to inform future SEND provision in Leeds schools, the council is now seeking the views of families and other interested parties on the current offer and their wishes and needs for the future.

The council is developing a new strategy for SEND provision in the city which will set out the council’s vision and priorities for the next four years to address the changing needs of children and families in Leeds.

The findings of the consultation will help shape how the allocated grant will be invested between 2018 and 2021. The available options for the investment includes creating new school places either in new provision or by expanding existing good or outstanding settings, including: schools or academies; specialist units; special schools and academies; early years settings; post 16 settings or; other provision for children and young people aged up to 25 with Education, Health and Care plans.

Councillor Lisa Mulherin, executive board member for children and families said:

“We have been working with families, education providers, health and social care to enable every child with special needs and disabilities access to good quality learning places in Leeds and to prepare them for adulthood.

“We are really keen to hear from as many people as possible about their views on the approach and the council’s priorities around SEND and their ideas for how it should develop, so we can create a vision which helps children and young people achieve their ambitions for the future.”

The consultation period will run over four weeks from Monday 6 November to Monday 4 December 2017.

The final proposals will be considered by the council’s executive board in early 2018.

Notes:

People who wish to take part in the consultation can submit their comments via the council’s website: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages/Currentschoolsconsultation.aspx, by email to: educ.school.organisation@leeds.gov.uk, or by writing to: Leeds City Council, Sufficiency and Participation Team, C/O Leeds Town Hall, PO Box 837, Leeds, LS1 9PZ.

The SEND review survey can be found here: www.leeds.gov.uk/SENDreview2017