The Commission received a presentation on the state of Children's Services and the local economy from Cllr Jasmine Ali, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Refugees. They noted the Work Programme for 2024-25. The commission also heard from Nicky Rolfe, Chair of the Parent Carer Forum on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and received a presentation from officers on early intervention for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Cabinet Member Interview

Councillor Ali began by giving an overview of the state of children's services in Southwark. She noted that

Challenges for children & families, refugees and young people; Children services leadership, scrutiny of Youth Justice Service Leadership

She went on to discuss the progress that has been made in recent years, including the introduction of free school meals for all secondary school children and the expansion of early years education.

She also highlighted some of the challenges that the council is facing, such as the rising cost of living and the impact of the pandemic on children's mental health.

Corporate parenting; one new care home; Lifelong links programme for children in care and care leavers.

She went on to talk about the council's work to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). She said that the council is investing an additional £700,000 in SEND services and that it is working to improve the timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments.

Radically improving SEND services in Southwark; SEND and Inclusion Partnership Board and challenges faced; £700k investment in SEND; 98% good and outstanding schools, GCSE/A level student results higher than inner London and national trends

She also discussed the council's work to support refugees. She said that Southwark is the borough in London that provides support to the highest number of asylum seekers and that the council is committed to making Southwark a Borough of Sanctuary.

Refugees- 2362 asylum seekers receiving support, 3 highest in London; Borough of Sanctuary status for Southwark

Parent Carer Forum

The commission then heard from Nicky Rolfe, Chair of the Parent Carer Forum (PCF). The PCF is a group of parents and carers of children and young people with SEND who work to improve the lives of children and young people with SEND in Southwark.

Ms Rolfe explained that the PCF has been working with the council on a number of issues, including the development of the council's new SEND strategy. She said that the PCF is pleased with the progress that has been made on the strategy, but that there are still some areas where more work needs to be done. She highlighted the need for earlier diagnosis of SEND issues.

Example of child in foster care, not being diagnosed early and then excluded in secondary school.

She also spoke about the need for greater resilience in schools when dealing with children with SEND and the challenges faced by parents in accessing health services for their children.

Early Intervention and SEND

The final presentation was from Anna Chiva, Assistant Director for SEND, who spoke about the importance of early intervention for children with SEND. She said that early intervention can help to improve children's outcomes and reduce the need for more specialist support later in life.

Research evidence tells us very clearly that early intervention to support young children with special educational needs and disabilities can fundamentally alter their developmental trajectory and reduce the gap in outcomes between them and their peers without additional needs.

Ms Chiva went on to outline some of the work that the council is doing to improve early intervention for children with SEND. This includes a new Communication and Social Interaction Pilot for Key Stage 1 pupils with speech, language and communication needs; a Specialist Resources Provision at The Grove Nursery for children with significant and complex social communication needs and/or learning needs; and a new multi-agency transition panel to promote earlier planning and wraparound support for children with additional needs moving from primary to secondary school. She also mentioned the council's use of the WellComm speech and language toolkit. This is a toolkit that can be used by early years practitioners to assess children's speech and language skills. The toolkit is designed to help practitioners identify children who may be at risk of developing speech, language and communication needs.

Ms Chiva also spoke about the SEND Inclusion Fund. This is a fund that provides financial support to early years settings to help them to include children with SEND.

She concluded by saying that the council is committed to working with parents, carers and partners to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND in Southwark.

The meeting ended with a discussion of the Education and Local Economy Scrutiny Commission's work programme for 2024-25.