Strategic elements
Children's integrated commissioning strategy for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services across Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) are strategic partners that work together to improve support for children and young people with SEND and their families, across a wide range of education, health, and care services.
The integrated commissioning strategy for children and young people’s SEND services in Lincolnshire sets out our shared aims and objectives for working together to commission services that improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for children and young people with SEND in Lincolnshire.
SEND workforce development programme
The programme draws together resources and training opportunities for people in Lincolnshire who support children and young people with SEND.
It is written by schools for school communities, both mainstream and special, to ensure a culture of SEND awareness and inclusion is embedded in all aspects of school life. New training continues to be developed in response to areas of need within the school communities.
All the training can be accessed via the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP). As part of the coproduction with Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum (LPCF) it was identified that parent/carer access to elements of the training would support them to enhance their skills and knowledge with the aim of empowering them through expanding their expertise. Or in the words of LPCF, help parent or carers “become their own professionals”. Access to these aspects of the training is via the LPCF.
Better belonging: SEND sufficiency strategy
The better belonging: SEND sufficiency strategy provides an inclusive targeted framework of SEND and alternative provision across Lincolnshire, developed across all key phases of education and ensuring that new developments are responsive and equitable.
By embedding enhanced learning provisions, resource base provisions, and SEND and alternative provision hubs within mainstream schools, Lincolnshire is creating a tiered system of support that promotes inclusion, reduces segregation, and strengthens community ties.
With a strong emphasis on community developments that are informed by data intelligence, the strategy’s ambition is for child and young person with additional needs to have access to high quality tailored provision that enables them to thrive in local provision and continue to access education within mainstream settings.
Joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA)
Lincolnshire’s JSNA provides a picture of current and future health and care needs of the local population, by collating a range of evidence in one place.
This evidence informs and guides the planning and commissioning of health, well-being and social care services within Lincolnshire.
The Health and Wellbeing Board has a statutory responsibility to prepare a joint strategic needs assessment for Lincolnshire. It is compiled in partnership with local health and wellbeing providers and commissioners, including local authorities, NHS, Healthwatch and other community organisations.
It collates a range of evidence in one place that informs and guides the planning and commissioning of health, well-being and social care services within Lincolnshire.
The identified priorities are then used by the Health and Wellbeing Board to inform the Lincolnshire joint health and wellbeing strategy. By taking this collaborative approach, local partners are clear of the ways in which they can work together to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities in the local population.
Early childhood strategy
Lincolnshire’s early childhood strategy has been developed to capture our collective ambitions for our children and to outline our direction of travel for our improvement journey.
This will enable all stakeholders and professionals to consider how they invest time and resources to best prioritise the areas that will have greatest impact on improving educational outcomes for all children and their families.
The emphasis of the strategy is to establish a shared responsibility amongst all professionals to ensure they play a part in supporting all children to thrive. This will enable the key steps to be in place supporting positive experiences for both children and their parents. This will lead to a smooth transition into school in order that they are ready to learn and are able to reach their expected level of development at the end of their foundation stage.
All-age autism strategy
The All-age autism strategy sets out our objectives and strategic direction to support autistic people of all ages and their families, so that they have an equal opportunity to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.
It outlines our commitment in Lincolnshire to do more to help autistic people and how we intend to deliver at a local level on the objectives set out within the national autism strategy.
The Lincolnshire Autism Partnership Board (LAPB) is responsible for overseeing the delivery of this strategy. It consists of a range of representatives from partner organisations and stakeholders, who work in collaboration to drive this agenda forward and develop ways of improving services and support for autistic people.
Early help strategy
For children and young people that need additional support, the actions taken by professionals to meet these needs as early as possible can be critical.
Lincolnshire’s early help strategy identifies the need for timely support for children and their families as soon as difficulties start to emerge, or when there is a strong likelihood that difficulties will emerge in the future.
Lincolnshire’s early help offer is not just for young children, as problems may emerge at any point throughout childhood and adolescence.
The early help offer includes universal and targeted services designed to reduce or prevent specific difficulties from escalating or becoming entrenched.
School attendance strategy
Lincolnshire’s school attendance strategy puts a focus back onto school attendance and the importance of this to ensure the safety, wellbeing and achievement of all our children and young people.
Evidence suggests that children and young people who have good attendance are much more likely to achieve academically and go on to lead healthier, wealthier lives.
This strategy focusses on improving attendance for children of statutory age, starting in early education and continuing into post 16 education provision.