With YOU, WE can make a difference

We are all parent/carers of children or young people with additional needs (0-25 years) who are passionate about improving our children/young people’s lives.

OFSTED INSPECTION

Inspection of Darlington Borough Council local area’s effectiveness in identifying and meeting the needs of, and improving outcomes for, children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) from 24 January 2022 to 28 January 2022.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will carry out jointly, an inspection of your local area. The Children and Families Act 2014 places duties on the local health, social care and education services that provide for children and young people with SEND. The inspection will evaluate how effectively the local area:
identifies the needs of children and young people with SEND
meets the needs of these children and young people so that their outcomes and chances of participating fully in society improve.

The views of children and young people with SEND, and the views of their parents and carers will be gathered during visits to a number of early years settings, schools, colleges and specialist services. These views are critical to the inspection process. During the inspection, Ofsted and CQC inspectors will be keen to speak to as many children and young people and their parents and carers as possible.

1.The inspection will include a survey of parents and carers. The survey will be open from noon on 17 January 2022 until 11:59pm on 26 January 2022.

Parents and carers who would like to take part in this survey can follow this link:

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/DarlingtonBoroughCouncilLASENDInspection/

2. Parents and carers can email their contributions to Lasend.support@ofsted.gov.uk

3. Details about the local area SEND inspection will be available on your local authority’s website and distributed through the local area’s Clinical Commissioning Group/s (CCGs). Information about how children and young people with SEND can share their views about the local area’s effectiveness should be included in the local offer.

4. During this inspection, the inspectors will collect information about children and young people in the area. They will be looking at local area records, speaking to area officers and leaders at educational settings, and speaking to children, young people and parents or carers. No names will be recorded, but some of the information collected may be capable of identifying a particular child, young person or adult. Ofsted and CQC will use this information to prepare their report, and for the purposes set out in their privacy notices. No information will be published that identifies any individual in the inspection report

What is Darlington Parent Carer Forum?

A parent carer forum is a group of parents and carers

of children with additional needs and/ or disabilities who work with local authorities, education settings, health providers and other providers to make sure the services they plan and deliver meet the needs of children and families.

Get involved!

Parent carers can make a real difference by sharing their ideas and thoughts. It is always up to you how you want to participate in your forum- it may be just be by being a member, or you may want to get more actively involved and make sure those who are making decisions know what parent carers think.

The Forum is looking to engage with parents of young people (0-25 years) who can offer opinions and experiences of services