An inspection of Sefton 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 is taking place from 21 November to 25 November 2016.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will jointly carry out the inspection and will evaluate how effectively the local area:

identifies the needs of children and young people who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
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 who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, 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. Inspectors will select a range of settings to visit and will work with the local authority and its partners to inform children and young people who attend those settings, and their parents and carers, in advance so that they are able to contribute their views.

The inspection will also include an online webinar to allow other parents and carer to contribute. The webinar will take place at 6.30pm on Tuesday 22 November 2016. It will led by Ian Hardman, Her Majesty’s Inspector, and will ask parents and carers about their views and experiences on how effectively Sefton is fulfilling the above responsibilities.

While it is understood that many parents and carers may have views on their experience that extend before the implementation of the reforms in September 2014, it is important that this date is used as the start for gathering evidence about the impact of the reforms as part of the new inspections.

Ofsted and CQC will not be able to follow up or comment upon individual cases.

If you would like to take part in this webinar then please visit http://bit.ly/LASENDSefton

Instructions for webinar

Step 1 – use the link above to register for the webinar. To register you need an email address.

Step 2 - Once you have registered you will receive a ‘joining link’. This will be sent to the email address you have used to register.

Step 3 – Click on the ‘joining link’ to join the webinar. This can sometimes take a few minutes, depending on the quality of your internet connection – so try and join the session 10 minutes before the webinar is due to start

What is a webinar?

A webinar is an online meeting. You can access the meeting through a PC, laptop or any smart phone or device. You will listen to a presentation from Ian Hardman HMI. If you have a headset please use it. If you are dialling into the webinar using a telephone remember to enter the ‘pin code’ that the system sends you. During the presentation you will be asked to complete short survey questions or polls and send in comments via a text box. Your microphones will be muted and you won’t be asked to speak or comment about your experiences. Your comments are only visible to the Ofsted inspector and supporting staff.

Information on local area duties toward children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities can be found on the Department for Education’s website: https://www.gov.uk/government/public...nts-and-carers.

whats up with a telephone ?? , I am sure this setup is too stop people bothering them with stories ?? , we did joke at home about letting the solicitor we used ring them up !