About our Local Offer.
The City of London’s Local Offer shows what services are available in the borough for children, young people and adults (aged 0-25) who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It includes up-to-date information on opportunities and services that you can access across education, health and social care and leisure.
We aim to:
- provide clarity for parents and enable them to make informed choices
- support earlier intervention and reduce the need for assessments by giving families better access to services
- enable the City of London to identify need and gaps in provision
- provide an evidence base for improving progress and securing better outcomes for children and young people with SEND at school and local level
The Local Offer is available to those who do not have access to the internet by emailing us.
Special educational needs can affect a child or young person’s:
- ability to learn
- behaviour or ability to socialise and make friends
- reading and writing
- ability to understand things
- concentration levels
- physical ability.
SEN provision is the help and advice you can get from the local authority, and other organisations, to help with these needs. SEND is the wider term used for Special educational needs and disabilities.
SEND City Together: ‘Going the extra Square Mile’
Our vision is that we want the City of London (the City) to be the best possible place for children and young people to grow up.
We will work in partnership to provide a safe, inclusive and supportive environment where all our children and young people, regardless of background and circumstance, feel they belong.
We will provide high quality services, world class education and excellent opportunities that enable children and young people to be healthy, develop resilience, achieve their potential and thrive.
In order to achieve our vision, we have three key outcomes for 2024:
- We have a robust and inclusive multi-agency approach to identifying, assessing and meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND.
- All children and young people with SEND are well-prepared for and have successful transitions to adulthood.
- Children and young people with SEND are integral and valued members of the City of London community.
Background
1. The duties on local areas regarding provision for children and young people with SEND are contained in the Children and Families Act 2014. The Ofsted/CQC Inspection Framework sets out the legal basis and the principles of inspection.
2. The SEND Strategy 2017–20 has been the overarching driver to develop the SEND services in the City since it was launched in 2017. The three-year development plan was reviewed annually, and a self-evaluation development plan has underpinned the delivery of services. The City now has a Parent Carer Forum and an independent information and advice services for families of children with SEND. The SEND co-production group established a set of core values, and a co-production workshop in October 2019 generated the ambitions for the future for the City SEND community.
3. The Ofsted/CQC Local Area SEND Inspection in March 2018 concluded that: “leaders and professionals have a detailed understanding of the needs of children, young people and their families. Professionals involved in meeting the needs of children and young people work well together, sharing information and communicating effectively. Strong support is also provided to parents and carers where needed.”
At the bottom of this page, you can download the full version of our SEND strategy. There is a also an 'easy-to-read' version of the strategy for you to download.
Working with parent, carers and young people is at the heart of our Local Offer.
Parents and carers have been involved in the design and layout of the website through focus group meetings, an online survey, user testing, discussions at coffee mornings and parent carer events. Our Parent Carer forum also gathered parent carer views.
You can provide feedback about the Local Offer by using the 'Contact us' link.
New inspection framework -Easy Read Info
Ofsted has published easy-read versions of the two consultation outcome reports.
New Inspection Framework (an easy read version)
For a British Sign Language version please click here: