Ofsted
Agora
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www.gov.uk/ofsted
lasend.support@ofsted.gov.uk

3 December 2019
Steve Crocker
Director of Children’s Services
Isle of Wight Council
County Hall
High Street
Newport
PO30 1UD
Alison Smith, Managing Director, Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group
Tracey Sanders, Local Area Nominated Officer, Isle of Wight Council
Dear Mr Crocker and Ms Smith
Joint local area SEND inspection in Isle of Wight
Between 25 November 2019 and 29 November 2019, Ofsted and the Care Quality
Commission (CQC) conducted a joint inspection of the local area of the Isle of Wight
to judge the effectiveness of the area in implementing the disability and special
educational needs reforms as set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.
The inspection was led by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors from Ofsted, with a team
of inspectors including an Ofsted Inspector and a Children’s Services Inspector from
the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Inspectors spoke with children and young people with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND), parents and carers, and local authority and National
Health Service (NHS) officers. They visited a range of providers and spoke to
leaders, staff and governors about how they are implementing the SEND reforms.
Inspectors looked at a range of information about the performance of the local area,
including the local area’s self-evaluation. Inspectors met with leaders from the local
area for education, health and social care. They reviewed performance data and
evidence about the local offer and joint commissioning.
This letter outlines our findings from the inspection, including some areas of
strength and areas for further improvement.
Main findings
◼ Children and young people with SEND are getting an improving deal on the Isle
of Wight. Leaders across education, health and care are committed to tackling

 the historically poor support that these children have received. Fuelled by this
commitment, leaders are working together to ensure that children’s needs are
identified early and that they receive the support they need. These developments
are leading to better outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
◼ Leaders on the Isle of Wight are working well together. They have a good
understanding of what is going well for children and young people with SEND.
Leaders also know exactly what needs to get better. As a result, there is a shared
understanding of the things that need improvement across most services. Some
schools on the island are not as involved in the work of the area. This limits the
support on offer to the children and young people who attend these providers.
◼ Education, health and care leaders have a good understanding of the local area.
They are aware of the impact of previously weak services. This knowledge,
combined with effective self-evaluation, has produced a way of working that is
tailored to the needs and requirements of the Isle of Wight. The current review
of special school provision is a good example of this, as it recognises the
importance of educating children and young people close to their homes. This is
a challenge, as most other areas can take advantage of provision in neighbouring
localities.
◼ The inspection found three main areas that need to improve, all of which have
been identified by leaders:
− Area leaders are committed to putting the needs of the child at the heart of
their work. However, the area is not effectively communicating this directly to
parents and carers. This means that some parents are not confident that area
leaders are listening to them and have a genuine desire to get things right.
− Children and their parents are not always able to influence the support they
receive. While there are some very good examples of this process, known as
co-production, it is not a consistent experience for all.
− Education, health and care (EHC) plans have improved and now consistently
contain the information they need. However, the targets they include are often
too imprecise and older plans are not always kept up to date. In some cases,
this is leading to a lack of parental confidence that children and young people
are receiving the support they need.
The effectiveness of the local area in identifying children and young
people’s special educational needs and/or disabilities
Strengths
◼ The early identification of SEND in babies and young children is strong. This is
because the area delivers the full Healthy Child Programme. Regular contact with
health professionals means that children’s emerging needs are identified in a
timely way. Not only does the area provide a good service to these children and

 their families, but leaders also use what they learn to improve what they do. For
example, an awareness of children’s increasing speech and language difficulties
led to targeted training for all health visitors so that they can more effectively
support families. Another example can be seen in physiotherapy services, where
a screening process has been recently introduced for babies who are born early
or have a disability. This is resulting in much earlier diagnosis of needs and
enables therapy to start at the earliest opportunity.
◼ There is a well-established model of early help on offer to children and their
parents. This is developing its focus on the needs of children and young people
with SEND. The needs of the whole family are taken into account in this process
and there are clear pathways that take families on to greater levels of support,
should they need it. A feature of the early help work is the close relationships
between the professionals who are working with families. A successful example
of this support was seen in a school operating a monthly drop-in for parents to
meet informally with a range of professionals. Parents described this as a great
way to get the advice and information they need.
◼ Until recently, many schools on the Isle of Wight were underperforming. As a
result, the needs of many pupils with SEND were not picked up. This situation is
improving. Most schools now work in partnership with other services to make
sure they have the knowledge they need to quickly and accurately identify
children’s needs. A good example of this is the training offered to all schools to
help staff understand why some pupils behave in the way they do. School
leaders are clear that this training is improving the quality of education on offer
in their schools. This partnership approach is developing a proactive culture
where the needs of pupils with SEND are more likely to be given the
consideration they deserve.
◼ Services across education, health and care are improving the way that they work
to ensure the early identification of the needs of children and their families. This
is part of the area’s drive to make sure services fit the needs of children and their
families. For example:
− Practitioners work together, and with parents, to ensure a young child with a
disability gets the support they need without having too many adults involved.
− In response to the needs of children with cerebral palsy and other neurological
conditions, the physiotherapy team has organised training on postural
management, which had been accessed by a range of different professionals,
as well as by parents.
◼ The area is increasingly effective in identifying and supporting children and
young people who may have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Clear pathways
are now in place for diagnostic assessment and a good range of parental support
is beginning to be available. Family centres run specialist workshops and events
for parents and children. The range of training available to all schools, combined
with increasing support for children’s emotional health, is improving the way that
all services in education, health and care are meeting the needs of children with

 ASD and their families. However, there is more work to do to commission postdiagnostic support and reduce the time it takes for formal recommendations to
reach schools and parents.
◼ The improving early identification of needs is resulting in increasingly wellinformed EHC plans. Plans are consistently informed by contributions from
relevant professionals and take account of the views of children and their
parents. The number of children and young people who get the help they need
without an EHC plan is growing. This is a very positive indication of the
improvements taking place across the area.
Areas for development
◼ Leaders across the area are not routinely working with parents, carers, children
and young people to strategically co-produce services. Currently, there is an over
reliance on consultation and not enough working together. There is evidence of
some effective co-production, such as the inclusion of the parent carer forum in
the development of the Special Education Needs and Disabilities Place Strategy.
However, the lack of routine co-production means that services are developed
without contributions from the children and young people who will use them.
◼ Older EHC plans are not always kept up to date. Plans are not routinely updated
following annual reviews to ensure they accurately reflect the child or young
person’s current needs. Although this doesn’t mean that children and young
people are not getting the help they need, it does limit the confidence of some
parents and carers.
The effectiveness of the local area in meeting the needs of children and
young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities
Strengths
◼ Families who have a new baby with a lifelong disability are supported well
through a care and support package delivered by teams of professionals across
education, health and social care. Professionals work well together to ensure that
parents and carers are not overwhelmed by the number of appointments and
practitioners involved.
◼ Young children are effectively supported when they start in early years settings.
An individual approach is developed by a multi-disciplinary team that includes the
new setting’s special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). This ensures that
all arrangements are in place and that the child is given the support they need
from the start.
◼ A strong feature in early years provision on the Isle of Wight is the availability of
training for professionals working with young children with additional needs. For
example, the area has adapted a national programme to increase children’s

 attention and over 75% of early years settings have taken up this training.
Another example can be seen in the way that the portage service has changed
its approach to ensure that it is able to meet the needs of more families with
children who have additional needs. The quality of support and training on offer
to early years settings is increasing the ability of practitioners to offer good
support to children with SEND.
◼ Families with children who have additional needs can access support through the
family centres that operate across the island. In addition to the range of
workshops and programmes at the family centres, the parent carer forum has
organised training on ‘hot topics’ such as the EHC annual reviews, education
psychology, sex and relationships education, as well as funding the recent and
very popular neurodiversity conference.
◼ A good range of short breaks are on offer, accessed through the Gateway Card.
Parents and children are positive about opportunities such as the holiday lodges,
football clubs and tree climbing. However, many parents and carers are unaware
of the full range of activities available locally. A lack of co-production has resulted
in not all families feeling that their needs are met through the short break offer.
◼ Most education leaders work closely with other leaders in the area to ensure that
children and young people with SEND get the support they need. Those
education settings that engage with the local authority advisory team are very
positive about the advice and support they receive. Activities such as the regular
opportunities for school SENCos to share and discuss the challenges they face,
facilitated by the educational psychologists, support improvement in SEND
provision in schools. Mainstream schools value the outreach support provided by
special schools. Most school leaders value the area’s commitment to improving
the education all children and young people receive. This shared commitment is
enabling schools to be more inclusive. Where schools are not sufficiently
engaged with other leaders in the area, children’s needs are less likely to be met
well.
◼ Vulnerable children and young people with SEND are well supported in the area:
− The area is vigilant to the changing needs of looked after children,
commissioning new services to address their emerging needs. For example, a
new service has been introduced specifically to support those children who are
looked after and placed with their parents.
− The youth offending service has well-established links with the Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service
(SENDIASS) and all staff have completed training to help them better support
children and young people with social and communication difficulties.
− The siblings of children with SEND have their needs identified and met. The
impact of a sibling’s disability is part of the assessment made by children’s
social care. Sign language tuition is delivered at the weekend so that siblings
can attend.

 ◼ A good speech and language therapy service is offered on the island. The service
is provided jointly by the NHS and local authority. A strong core offer is available
to all schools that includes training to enable staff to be more effective in the
support of children with speech, language and communication needs. This core
offer also includes the provision of a parent workshop. However, many parents
are confused by the speech and language provision on offer and some do not
know what support their child is receiving. This is acknowledged by the team,
who recognise that there is still more work to do to improve communication with
parents and carers.
◼ Children and young people have good access to a wide range of emotional and
mental health services. A range of primary mental health care initiatives, such as
the ‘Think Ninja’ phone application, are helping to make sure that support is
available at an early stage. The child and adolescent mental health service
(CAMHS) is able to see people quickly and offer interventions where needed or
will signpost on to other services. Group work such as ‘Timid to Tiger’ and the
Self Esteem Group, run by CAMHS, is an effective way of meeting the needs of
children and is positively evaluated. Children in crisis can be seen by the inreach/outreach team and daily risk review meetings provide oversight of
decision-making to ensure that these children receive the most appropriate care.
The clinical commissioning group (CCG) recognises that there is a gap in CAMHS
cover over a 24-hour, seven-day week, as recognised as best practice, and is
currently exploring options.
◼ Most parents are happy with the current support their child receives in school.
However, many parents also describe previous poor provision. This reflects the
ongoing improvements taking place in schools on the island. One parent spoke
for many when describing how a change in a mainstream school placement had
resulted in a dramatic change in her child’s behaviour within a few weeks and
how this had a positive impact on the whole family.
◼ EHC plans are providing sufficient detail to enable children and young people’s
needs to be met. There is a high level of consistency in all parts of the plan. This
means that, for example, the views of children, young people and their parents
are reliable contributions to the plans. Good processes are in place for therapy
staff to provide advice, and practitioners are able to comment on draft plans
before they are finalised. In some cases, however, plans are weighted towards
education and lack sufficient detail about children and young people’s health and
care needs. This reduces the likelihood of plans effectively supporting young
people’s transition into adulthood.
Areas for development
◼ The way that children and young people move between different health providers
at points of transition needs to improve. There are some isolated helpful
examples but nothing strategic and consistent. We saw some good examples of
local services supporting transition into adult services. Young people with

 diabetes and cystic fibrosis are supported well through transition clinics. The
cystic fibrosis clinics are held on the island, which means they are more
accessible. The local hospice now employs a transition nurse. However, poor
access to GPs makes transition to adult health services for young people with
SEND more problematic.
◼ Leaders are aware that they have been slow to plan and deliver services in a
joined-up way, known as joint commissioning, for children and young people with
SEND across education, health and care. The newly formed Child Health Joint
Commissioning Group is making good progress across its three priorities. There is
also good progress being made in defining the needs of children’s emotional and
mental health, with evidence of a range of interventions being commissioned and
available as part of the area’s Transformation Plan. However, the lack of joint
commissioning has resulted in some services being limited for a number of years.
For example, the provision of occupational therapy support and wheelchair
services is still not meeting the needs of children, young people and families.
◼ Some parents of children and young people with SEND lack confidence in the
system because leaders do not ensure that all families are well informed about
how support for their children works. Parents report that there is too much
variability in provision. Some parents are not confident that, without an EHC
plan, their child’s needs will be met. Others are concerned that EHC plans are not
specific enough. In schools where the SENCo role is strong, parents have greater
confidence in the area’s ability to meet their children’s needs. However, some
parents are not confident that their children receive the support they need or
that school staff understand the needs of their child. Those parents who have
access to the right information have more confidence in the system.
The effectiveness of the local area in improving outcomes for children and
young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities
Strengths
◼ Most children and young people with SEND feel happy and are making progress.
Many told inspectors of the recent improvements they had experienced in the
quality of education they receive. One summed this up by saying that, ‘Because
school is now more interesting, behaviour and attendance had improved’. Pupils
have access to a range of social, cultural and education opportunities, including
theatre trips, visits to museums, sporting activities and art events. Older students
felt they were given the life skills they need, including cooking skills and
independent travel.
◼ Educational outcomes in primary and secondary schools on the island have been
lower than national averages for all pupils, including those with SEND, for some
time. Although academic results remain below average for most pupils with
SEND, they are steadily improving in all areas. Improvements have been
particularly strong for the youngest children. Effective early identification, strong

 support and well-thought-out transition arrangements are leading to more
children with SEND achieving a good level of development in the early years
foundation stage. In schools, outcomes are improving as a direct result of the
more effective support that pupils receive. Many children and young people are
positive about the additional support they receive, saying this helps them to stay
on track with their learning and make progress. The support and training
provided by the local authority are helping schools to develop their practice and
improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND. This support is
valued by many schools and is bringing about positive change in the way schools
meet needs and work with parents. Experienced SENCos could describe the
improvements in provision following, for example, the ‘SENCo circle’ activities.
School leaders describe the training for staff as having a direct impact on the
quality of care and support pupils in the school receive.
◼ Outcomes for older young people are strong. This is because they are well
supported and have access to a good range of vocational courses that closely
match the employment opportunities available. Many parents are positive about
this provision for young people. Almost all young people with SEND go into
education, employment or training as a result of the good support and advice
they receive. The local council is a big employer in the area and provides
opportunities for supported internships. There is an emphasis in college on
independent living skills. Supported accommodation has been identified as an
area that needs to improve and, as a result, 32 new places were created in 2019
with a further 23 planned for 2020. However, not all young people have
opportunities to develop friendship groups and participate in regular activities.
While a range of activities are on offer, the lack of co-production means that they
do not always meet children and young people’s needs. Limited communication
also means that young people and their families are not always aware of the
support that is available.
◼ The outcomes of vulnerable children and young people with SEND are improving.
This is through the combined efforts of schools and the local authority’s virtual
school. The virtual school works in partnership with schools to monitor the
progress pupils make and provides targeted training. The monitoring of these
pupils reveals that there is now less emphasis on recording challenging behaviour
and much more analysis of the possible causes. Examples of good practice
include the help school staff have received to better identify pupils’ strengths and
areas of difficulty when writing a support plan.
◼ Children and young people with SEND have good attendance at school. Rates of
attendance are higher than the average for similar areas. Rates of absence and
persistent absence for pupils with an EHC plan have been reducing and are now
lower than the national average.
◼ Parents value the independent advice and guidance they receive from the
SENDIASS. Leaders in the area work closely and cooperatively with SENDIASS to

 improve provision for children and young people. This is contributing to the
positive outcomes that they achieve.
Areas for improvement
◼ Targets in EHC plans are not always clear enough to focus the support a child or
young person receives. When targets are not specific enough, practitioners
struggle to evaluate the impact support has had. Also, targets often only focus
on educational outcomes. In these cases, not enough consideration is given to
children and young people’s outcomes in all areas of their development.
◼ Although fewer children and young people with SEND are being excluded from
school, rates are still too high. Increasing collaboration between leaders in the
area is beginning to improve this situation as most secondary schools are
working together to reduce the likelihood of exclusions for their pupils. These
leaders, aware of the limited availability of alternative provision, use a variety of
approaches to prevent exclusions. It is important that area leaders continue their
work to reduce the risk of exclusion for children with an EHC plan and those
receiving SEN support.
◼ Educational attainment for children and young people with SEND is getting better
but needs to continue to improve. Area leaders should continue their work to
reduce the variability in school provision that children and young people, and
their parents, experience.
◼ Previously, some parents have chosen to home educate their children because
they did not believe the correct provision was available to them in the area. This
situation was made worse by the limited communication and co-production.
While the situation is beginning to improve, through such things as the
‘education other than at school’ packages, the needs of all children and young
people must be considered when developing new education provision.
Yours sincerely

Phil Minns
Her Majesty’s Inspector
Ofsted

Care Quality Commission

Chris Russell

Ursula Gallagher

Regional Director

Deputy Chief Inspector, Primary Medical
Services, Children Health and Justice

 Phil Minns

Lea Pickerill

HMI Lead Inspector

CQC Inspector

Keith Tysoe
Ofsted Inspector

cc: Department for Education
Clinical commissioning group(s)
Director Public Health for the local area
Department of Health
NHS England