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Kirklees Local Offer

SEND The Big Plan - What we are doing next - 2025

Why do you need to read this?

Because we want to let you know what we’re doing - it’s important to all of us and together we can make even more of a difference.

How is this different to ‘the SEND Big Plan’?

Young people told us ‘don’t call it your strategy, it’s your big plan’. This paper sits underneath that
Big Plan and provides more detail about what we’re doing – particularly over the next year.

Who is this for?

This is important for everyone, but mainly young people and those who live or work with children and young people who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) from birth to 25 years old.

Why you?

Because you have the power to make a difference every day. We see so many great examples of that happening, and we know we can connect better.

How can people get involved?

We will be working with a range of people in Education, NHS - Health / Locala, C & K Careers, Voluntary Sector such as PCAN, and the council – we call these our partners. In addition, you can
get in touch with us using a simple form below and we’ll talk with you to see what might work best for you.

SEND The Big Plan "getting involved form" (opens link in new window)

Young person in a wheelchair gets a hug from someone
What are we doing?

We’re focusing on:

• Having enough of the right stuff (Sufficiency)
• Are we getting it right? (Quality & Compliance)
• Need (Demand)

This is all about ensuring everyone gets the right support at the right time. It’s moving away from ‘needing a diagnosis’ to being about support for challenges you face.

In doing this, we want to make sure that parents, carers, children, young people and staff across Health, Schools, and the Local Authority are involved, help shape things, and own the changes being made.

Our SEND Transformation Programme has lots of projects and below is a simple overview of what we are trying to achieve.

Friends in a park

Projects between January & December 2025

Having enough of the right stuff

What’s that then?

Sometimes children need a different place to learn instead of, or as well as, a regular school. We call these ‘alternative provisions’.

Alternative provisions are really important for ensuring that all children receive suitable education, regardless of their circumstances. This might be because they’re too sick to go to school for a while, or they need extra help and support with a different education offer based on their needs.

What difference will the work make?

It gives young people a chance to keep learning, even if they can’t go to a regular school.

This is about giving children and young people a good experience where they feel part of the group, cared for, understood, and supported. The aim is to help them improve and return to a regular school wherever possible with a strong and good quality learning program.

What’s that then?

The workforce will have a greater understanding of SEND and where to access information, advice and support.

What difference will the work make?

Children, young people experience a better service because staff have a better understanding of  SEND and can access information, advice and support more easily.

What’s that then?

Increase the number of special school places at Joseph Norton Academy and Woodley School & College, using satellite provision, before the new schools are rebuilt.

What difference will the work make?

Schools can work with the young people earlier, while the rebuilds are completed, and improve their transition experience.

What’s that then?

We are re-building the Woodley School & College and Joseph Norton Academy on new sites.

What difference will the work make?

Additional school places, across all key stages, so more children can be educated locally. Improved facilities to best meet pupil need and support their outcomes.

What’s that then?

Creating more specialist school places within a mainstream school for children
with additional needs who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

What difference will the work make?

Additional school places, across all key stages, so more children can be educated locally.

What’s that then?

Using technology better to support children, young people and their families at home and to support schools to help children learn.

What difference will the work make?

Children and young people can live more independently, helping them to learn and get jobs when they grow up.  Using technology helps children with SEND enjoy school better and achieve more. Technology also helps children to reduce anxiety, keep them in touch with friends and keep them safe.

What’s that then?

A short break is an activity outside of school, where children and young people can try new things, make new friends and their family can ‘take a break’.

What difference will the work make?

Families have a break from their caring responsibilities. More choice of interesting and fun activities.
Groups and activities are nearer to where people live.

What’s that then?

We are making sure we have enough Alternative Provision for the needs of our children, and we hope to create a new school for our learners in Kirklees. 

Enough Alternative Provision for children and young people who are unable to attend regular school is important, to support them, should they need some extra help for a time, to support their learning needs.

What difference will the work make?

In partnership with the government and a trusted provider, we hope to open a new, state-funded school to help children who need extra support to get back into a regular school. This will help to make sure we have enough high-quality education places that can focus on giving each child the
help they need to succeed, so they can return to mainstream school when they are ready.

What’s that then?

Families and schools are supported to better understand the needs of children who are neurodiverse and how to better support them.

What difference will the work make?

Families and schools are more confident in supporting children who are neurodiverse.

What’s that then?

Making the therapy services better. These are speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

What difference will the work make?

Children who need therapy services such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy can get the support they need. Assessments will be carried out at the earliest opportunity.

Are we getting it right?

What’s that then?

Improving processes within the EHCP system.

What difference will the work make?

Children and young people, and their families, receive a more timely and improved quality response to an EHC needs assessment and their annual review.

What’s that then?

The Locala 0-19 service provide health visiting and school nursing services to support families from before their baby is born up to the age 19 (25 SEND).

The health visiting staff must visit families five times from before their baby is born up to the age of two-and-a-half years old.

What difference will the work make?

More families are having contact with the health visiting team and children with SEND and their families are being supported earlier.

What’s that then?

Making sure we have the right support and services in place for children and young people with SEND and checking that they are working well. This includes speech and language therapy,  alternative provision and mental health support.

These plans help to make sure there are enough services for people who need help in Kirklees.

What difference will the work make?

All children get the support they need to learn and be healthy.

Need

What’s that then?

Helping young people with the challenges they face as they go through important changes in their lives.

What difference will the work make?

Helps young people take care of themselves, dream bigger, and learn skills to be more independent.

It also makes sure they are listened to, and their needs are met into their adult life.

What’s that then?

Project SEARCH provides young people with a learning disability and / or autism the opportunity to gain the skills needed in a real work environment and achieve paid employment.

What difference will the work make?

Providing young people with real-life work experience, training, employment and independent living skills.

What’s that then?

To have a clear and transparent funding model for all Kirklees special schools that works well and will last into the future.

What difference will the work make?

Help to ensure that we can meet the needs of our children within Kirklees wherever possible.

What’s that then?

A ‘cluster’ is a group of schools that work together. They share resources and knowledge and work with other people who have skills to help children as soon as they need it.

What difference will the work make?

This way of working helps us to work together to identify and put in place support flexibly to make sure that children can have their needs met in the most appropriate way and achieve their best.
Our cluster working does not affect your right to request an EHCP, nor the right to have one if needed.

What’s that then?

Using information to make sure children and young people have access to the right support at the right time.

What difference will the work make?

Help schools to fully use the resources available to support children access the right support at the right time.

What’s that then?

The Outreach service supports children and young people in school that have complex  communication and interaction (including autism); social, emotional and mental health; cognition and learning; visual impairment; hearing impairment and physical impairment.

What difference will the work make?

Children get the right help at the right time.

This video explains when we are expecting things to happen

You can also download  PDF copy of the Big Plan - What are we doing next here (downloads PDF file)

  • Driving Cultural Change: Cluster working review
  • Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) under 5’s pilot with University of Huddersfield and Locala went live
  • Healthy Child Programme: Engagement with parents, carers and partners on the experience of the 0-19 service and how this can shape the future offer
  • Healthy Child Programme: School workshops to capture young people's ideas on the future school nursing service
  • Preparation for Adulthood (PfA): Partners brought together to confirm what we are trying to achieve going forward
  • Publish Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), Joint Commissioning Strategy and SEND Sufficiency Strategy. These are the plans that make sure there are enough services for people who need help in Kirklees
  • Woodley School & College: Demolition of the new site starts
  • Healthy Child Programme: Organisations can bid online to deliver the 0 - 19 service from 1 April 2026
  • Launch of the Preparation for Adulthood (PfA) action plan which confirms what the work is and when we are going to do it
  • Joseph Norton Academy: Building of the new school starts
  • Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) celebration event
  • Workforce Development: Launch of SEND Awareness Level 2 training
  • Quality and Compliance: Updated Local Area SEND
  • Quality Assurance (QA) framework in place
  • Quality and Compliance: Review of annual EHCP reviews
  • Driving Cultural Change: Cluster working review
  • Alternative Provision (AP): Review of Inclusion Multi-Agency Panel (IMAP) to ensure schools are supported to put the right changes for children in place
  • Joseph Norton Academy: More schools places available in advance of the new school being ready by opening temporary satellite
  • Redesign of Short Breaks and Support: The right level of support is available at the right place, at the right time
  • Project SEARCH: New starters
  • Project SEARCH graduation: Cohort 2024
  • Additionally Resourced Provisions / Special School Satellite Provisions: Opening more places for pupils with an EHCP
  • Local Offer Live event
  • Special School funding Review informs budget setting
  • Woodley School & College: Building of the new school

This adds to the SEND The Big Plan published in October 2023, this can be found below:

SEND - The Big Plan! (opens link in new window)

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Last updated: 19/03/2025

Useful links

C+K Careers

C+K

PCAN

PCAN

Northorpe Hall

Northorpe Hall Child & Family Trust

Locala

Local Health & Wellbeing

Our Voice

Young People's voice

Kirklees Health & Care Partnership

KHCP

Our Kirklees Futures

OKF
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Kirklees Council

Kirklees Council