Help shape future support for those with special educational needs in Sheffield

'Tell us what you think' poster

Families, schools and services are being asked to have their say on Sheffield’s new Inclusion Strategy.

Sheffield City Council, NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group and Sheffield’s Parent Carer Forum have worked together to draft the strategy to describe how we, as a city, improve how we meet the needs of our children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

They used feedback from more than 60 people who attended co-production sessions in October, the views of young people taking part in discussion groups, a strategy survey and the responses of more than 700 people who completed the Parent Carer Forum’s State of Sheffield survey.

The strategy will run for five years and set the priorities for how Sheffield supports its children and young people with additional needs.

The consultation, which asks people to give feedback on the draft strategy, runs from 11 November to 8 December. People can have their say online.

John Macilwraith, Executive Director of People Services at Sheffield City Council, said: “We all want the best for our children and to see them thrive and live happy and fulfilled lives. For children with special educational needs this is no different. It is important that they have the right support in place at school, and other health and care needs met. We hope as many people as possible have their say on the consultation for the strategy so they can help shape the valuable support needed for themselves and their families.”

Brian Hughes, Director of Commissioning and Performance at NHS Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We want to make sure that the priorities in our strategy are right and meet the needs of children with special education needs and disabilities. It is really important that people give their feedback on the draft strategy. We’re particularly keen to hear from families, schools and people who work in children and young people’s services as they are best placed to help us shape our priorities for children with SEND.”

The strategy will be finalised after the consultation and will support and drive our work to improve how Sheffield meets special educational needs and ensures inclusion.

In Sheffield more than 13,500 school aged children have special educational needs, which equates to just over 16% of the school population.