Strategic Planning
Strategic review of support for young people with high needs in Derbyshire
‘The way you have worked in an iterative way to share findings and co-produce solutions with colleagues has been a real strength of the work. It has been a real pleasure working with you and your team.’
— Mark Emly, Assistant Director, Learning, Access & Inclusion
The brief
In the autumn of 2018, Isos Partnership was commissioned by Derbyshire County Council, working with partners and members of the County’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategic Board, to undertake a strategic review of the support, services and provision for children and young people with high needs in Derbyshire. The aim of the review was to provide an objective and evidence-informed perspective on how the current continuum of support, services and provision for young people with high needs in Derbyshire was working, and work co-productively with partners to help to shape an overarching strategy for supporting young people with high needs in the future.
What did we do?
We formed a small team with expertise in
good practice within local areas around effective strategies and practices for supporting young people with SEND and high needs;
carrying out fast-paced, in-depth reviews;
analysing large amounts of evidence and synthesising key messages; and
working co-productively with professionals, parents and carers, and young people to gather feedback and co-produce solutions.
We approached the work in three phases.
The first phase focused on building up the evidence base for how the local system was operating, what were the keys strengths and where there were areas that required strengthening, drawing on data and feedback from young people, parents and carers, and professionals across education, health and care services.
The second phase focused on testing this evidence base and identifying what was needed to build on the strengths and address the challenges the review had identified.
The final phase then focused on what was needed to put the review’s findings and recommendations into practice.
In each phase, we worked co-productively with young people, parents, practitioners and partners to share our early findings, shape recommendations and co-develop what would become the overall messages from the review. The work was carried out during the academic year 2018/19, with the review concluding in the spring of 2019.
What difference did we make?
Through the review, we found a great deal of willingness to work together across the county to strengthen the existing system for supporting young people with SEND and high needs, and to make the best use of the collective expertise and combined resources of all partners. As such, in the final stages of the review, alongside a report that set out our key findings and recommendations, we worked with partners to co-develop a framework through which the review could be turned into a shared strategy. We worked with partners and members of Derbyshire’s SEND Strategic Board to develop a clear set of practical actions that would enable leaders and partners across the county to work together to put the key messages from the review into practice. Through this process, we sought not only to help colleagues in Derbyshire to articulate a shared strategic direction of travel, but also to build the capacity of the local system to engage in effective, strategic co-productive work that will be crucial in successfully building on what is working well in Derbyshire and implementing the review’s recommendations successfully.
What did the client say about the work?
‘I just wanted to say thank you again for the great work on our review. We had a really positive and productive development session with the SEND Strategic Board and are pulling this together into a plan. There are lots of opportunities for co-production which we will maximise and a lot of energy to ensure it makes a difference. So thanks again for all your hard and thoughtful work that has provided the platform for us to move forward.’
— Kathryn Boulton, Service Director, Schools & Learning
‘We are really pleased with how this work has gone. You have led some really productive engagements with key partners and stakeholders across the county. The way you have worked in an iterative way to share findings and co-produce solutions with colleagues has been a real strength of the work. It has been a real pleasure working with you and your team and the report provides a really strong context and foundation to move forward.’
— Mark Emly, Assistant Director, Learning, Access & Inclusion
