Happy Summer! Support for children doesn’t stop when schools close and I know many of you are preparing for different kinds of programmes over the break. But hopefully everyone is expecting some proper time off as well. Everyone working with and caring for vulnerable children and those with additional needs has a big job and deserves real time to recover and refresh.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of our big push to identify children whose cases were stuck in the system and find a resolution. We started with 140 children we knew needed attention and by last week had resolved cases for 230. In the process, however, we have identified hundreds more who need focused time and attention to get them progressing strongly. When we return in September, we will be focusing on identifying as many children as possible who need something more from a wider group of professionals. We might be a bit daunted by how many we find, but we can’t get a solution without knowing the name of each and every one of them. So that will be a big priority, with all your help.

We have also been talking to colleagues about the critical role that SENCOs play in delivering better solutions for children. SENCO roles can be found in many different context, with very different capacities to hear, engage, co-produce or lead. Providing bite-size updates for SENCOs who wear lots of hats and are pressed for time is something we are thinking about, as well as timely, online briefings about key issues, and opportunities for those with dedicated roles or more capacity to shape things that are in development. If you have views about what this could look like, please do get in touch at sendcomms@somerset.gov.uk

Finally, we have been discussing the principle of consulting on fair funding for mainstream schools so that they receive comparable funding as special schools based on a child’s banding. This has been approved to progress to formal consultation in the autumn so we will be promoting this and providing briefings when we reach the new term. In the meantime, enjoy the summer and the sun!