Camden approves strategy to improve how we work with children who have special needs
Yesterday (Wednesday, 16 November), the Council’s Cabinet approved a new plan to improve services and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families in Camden.
The Camden Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Strategy aims to improve support and outcomes for children and young people aged up to 25 years old with SEND over the next five years.
In the summer, the Council published a draft Local Area SEND Strategy and began a 12-week public consultation with children and young people with SEND, their families, schools, and professionals so they could share their views and shape the final version, which has now been agreed* by the Cabinet.
Key priorities identified in the final strategy over the next five years include:
- Clearer communication and information sharing with families
- Developing a more inclusive borough
- More joined-up support for children and young people moving between phases of education and services
- Further developing routes into employment
- Creating more opportunities for independent living
- Starting the preparation for adulthood earlier.
We want all children and young people with special educational needs and / or disabilities in Camden to succeed in life, from early years, to school and in adolescence, so they can lead fulfilled lives as adults. We’re proud of the things we’ve achieved so far - together with parents, schools, health organisations and the voluntary sector - to support local children and young people with SEND, but we are always looking for ways to do things better.
For this final strategy, we spoke to as many children and young people with SEND, their parents, carers, and professionals as we could to gain the insight we needed to help us provide even better services and support. We wanted this new strategy to involve our communities, which is why we amended the plan to reflect feedback and make sure our families could shape this strategy into something meaningful that will make a real difference to outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
Other areas for development outlined in the final strategy include working on early intervention and prevention to put the appropriate support in place sooner, improving Camden’s mental health support offer and responding to the impacts Covid-19 has had on children and young people with SEND.
- More information on Camden’s SEND provision can be found at camden.gov.uk/special-educational-needs
- Read the final SEND strategy 2022-27
- Read a summary version of the strategy
- Read an EASY-READ version of the strategy
- Watch: a short video introduction to the strategy by Cllr Marcus Boyland (54 seconds long)
*Note: subject to a ‘call in’ period of five working days.