Improving Doncaster's SEND Offer - latest news and updates

City of Doncaster Council is working on a programme to change our approach to improve lives and opportunities of local children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Here, you'll find the latest updates, changes and projects taking place to improve Doncaster's SEND offer.

We will update these as they progress and if you want to be involved in shaping these projects as a young person or parent/carer, see how you can 'get involved' below!

Complete our Parent/Carer survey!
Much of our work is rooted in the voices from our SEND community and we would love to hear your feedback and thoughts.
You can access our SEND parent/carer survey below, which will be live until the 13th December 2023.
SEND Parent/Carer Survey

As of December 2023, our recent projects in this space have involved:

Identifying Children's Needs in the Same Way
We are helping schools and agencies to make sure that they all identify children’s needs in the same way and at the right time

An Online Handbook and Toolkit
We are creating a brand new online resource in the form of a 'Handbook and Toolkit' to help parents and people who work with children to provide the best support

Providing Training and Support
We are providing training to support all professionals who work with children and young people with SEND

Launching Doncaster's Inclusion Charter
We are working closely with special educational needs co-ordinators in schools to launch a charter aimed at improving time spent and focus on this important role, which will benefit children in their care

Launching our New Education, Health and Care Plan System
We are launching our brand new, online system which will make it much easier for parents, carers, schools, and other professionals to contribute towards and update Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs)

Growing our Specialist Offer
We are continuing to support work to grow our specialist offer within Doncaster through the creation of the new post-16 offer at Stone Hill School and an additional class at Coppice School. We are also creating four Enhanced Resource Centres located within mainstream schools enabling children with social, emotional, and mental health issues, to remain in education locally

Increasing our Alternative Provision
We are continuing to explore ways to increase and expand our alternative provision offer in Doncaster

Redesigning the 'Children and Young People Neurodiversity Pathway' with Partners
We are supporting work to redesign the Children Young People Neurodiversity pathway through the Integrated Care Board (ICB), working alongside both Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDASH) and Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust (DBTHFT).

Get Involved!

At the core of our improvement is your voice - whether that is as a child or young person in Doncaster with a Special Educational Need or Disability, a family or wider support network member supporting a young person or a professional working within our SEND community in Doncaster. Here's a few ways we would love you to get involved to further develop this work:

Join our SEND Shadow Board

This is made up of children and young people who meet on a 6-weekly basis. Members of the group have set their own priorities which helped shape the work the SEND Transformation Programme is delivering. The group is made up of children of all ages from special and mainstream schools. Members are really engaged and provide lots of positive feedback as well as sharing their views on how we can shape the system better, following their own lived experiences. If you would like your children to be a part of this, please contact us via email: transformation.send@doncaster.gov.uk

Join our 'Make a Difference' Parent Sessions

This group is made up of parents who meet on a termly basis and has allowed us to provide updates on the work which we are implementing. It has also provided a forum to support parents in feeding back to us the positive things which have happened to their child’s journey as well as sharing areas in need of development and change. If you would like to be part of this group, please contact us via email: transformation.send@doncaster.gov.uk

Complete our Parent / Carer Survey

If you would like to provide feedback and share your views on SEND Services in Doncaster, please take the time to complete this short survey: https://forms.office.com/e/idKZiCZjj1?origin=lprLink

Join us at our Senior Leadership Parent/Carer Surgeries

If you would like to discuss any of this work further with a member of the Senior Leadership team, we are looking to arrange a number of parent / carer surgeries in the near future. Please provide your details via transformation.send@doncaster.gov.uk so that we can contact you with further details of these in due course.

Doncaster SEND's Local Offer

The Local Offer is on the Council’s website which provides advice, guidance and information for children, young people, and families with additional needs. This can be found on the website at the following link:

Local Offer - Special Educational Needs / Disabilities (SEND) - Homepage - City of Doncaster Council