Torbay has co-produced a vision for SEND within the local area:
SEND is everybody’s business – embedding the vision and values into the practice of everyone who works with children and families from 0-25
Identify and respond to needs early – in ways that value lived experience and expertise and offers personalised care and support.
Deliver in the right place at the right time – always asking ‘so what difference are we making in the life of children or young people’?
Our ambition is to create a prosperous and healthy Torbay. By focusing on this ambition, we are working towards ensuring that our communities thrive. Protecting children and giving them the best start in life is one of the key areas where we will target our actions as we strive to meet our ambition. As a whole system, we are committed to improving outcomes for children and families.
Our pledge is at the heart of providing high-quality services across our local area. This document has been created to describe the values and behaviours that our children, young people and families wish to experience in the delivery of SEND services and support across our local area. Regardless of role, employer or organisation, our pledge asks for everyone within the local area to work in the way that is important to our children, young people and families, turning this into the lived experience that we all deserve.
It has been designed to provide an easy reference and description of the values and behaviours required across our system.
The Torbay local area is working to adopt Restorative Practice, a strength-based approach that recognises that building a positive relationship with children, young people and families who need support is important.
The Torbay local area is working to adopt Restorative Practice, a strength-based approach that recognises that building a positive relationship with children, young people and families who need support is important.
We understand that life can sometimes be hard and what happens to us can affect how we think, feel, and behave. We know that how we work with families to talk about this and the ways in which we support families are important.
We recognise that listening to children, young people and families and working ‘with’ rather than doing things ‘for’ or ‘to’ people is the best way we can help support. This way of working is called restorative practice. It means our practitioners will focus on building positive relationships through respectful communication, collaboration and shared decision-making to help create positive change.
The benefits of working restoratively include:
Respectful conversations help to truly understand everyone’s life events
Encourages families to become more self-sufficient
Shared decision making and co-planning leads to better outcomes for children and families
Teamwork promotes successful multi agency working
Open and honest conversations help to build relationships and manage expectations
Reducing, preventing, and addressing harmful behaviour to keep everyone safe
Addresses conflict and seeks to repair harm when things go wrong
Trauma informed practice allow safe conversations to take place
Inclusive practice promotes working together with children, young people, and families, so they feel respected, listened to, and heard
Voices of children are key, so we hear their wishes and feelings and where possible act upon them
Encourages the building, maintaining, and repairing of all relationships
Last Update - 22/Nov/2024
Developing our pledge SEND Local Offer
We asked children, young people, families and carers to provide feedback on how our current systems and responses make you feel. We heard that how we communicate and conduct our business impacts children, young people and families in the following ways:
We asked children, young people, families and carers to provide feedback on how our current systems and responses make you feel. We heard that how we communicate and conduct our business impacts children, young people and families in the following ways:
Feeling dismissed and judged
“battle to be heard and get support”
“everything is a fight”
“I fear that I will not be believed or listened to”
Lack of trust
“I contacted professionals and didn’t get a response, I was left waiting and when information arrived it contained lots of inaccuracies, this made me feel there was a lack of respect and care”
False promises
“The promises that are made fade away”
“The actions don’t seem to be carried out as promised”
“Professionals are not always transparent about the plans in place for their children”
Not understanding us/me
The knowledge, skills and understanding of the workforce for SEND means that parents/carers and young people reported that they did not feel understood and their unique experiences were not built upon and supported.
In response to this, we asked children and young people to co-produce the behaviours and values that they would want everybody who comes into contact with them and their families to adopt and demonstrate.
Groups of children and young people in schools, voluntary and community groups and SEND focus groups identified six key values and behaviours that are important to be able to build trust and overcome the difficulties that currently exist within our system. This pledge explains these values and asks that every practitioner adopts these across our local area.
Last Update - 22/Nov/2024
Torbay SEND Strategy - 2023 SEND Local Offer
Torbay’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy sets out a vision ‘to create a healthy, happy Torbaywhere individuals and communities can thrive’.
Torbay’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy sets out a vision ‘to create a healthy, happy Torbay where individuals and communities can thrive’.
Children and young people are our future and our ambition of achieving this vision must start with them. Getting a good start in life and childhood, building resilience and getting maximum benefit from education are important markers for good health and wellbeing throughout life. Offering support to all children, young people and their families, as well as focusing on those who need help the most, reduces inequalities and improves health outcomes.
We know we must do better when it comes to delivering services for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families – and we are firmly committed to doing so. Placing children, young people, and their families at the heart of this work is key to achieving this and the principles of co-design and co-production will underpin everything we do.
Partners across the local area in Torbay are committed to working in partnership with SEND Family Voice Torbay as well as children, young people, parents, carers and partner organisations to radically improve support for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities within Torbay so they have the very best life chances.
This SEND Strategy sets out our ambitions and the priorities upon which we will focus to achieve them. As we measure our progress against our priorities, we will continually ask ourselves, as well as our children and young people, and their parents and carers, “what difference have we made?”
We are committed to:
Working determinedly for a child friendly Torbay where children and young people with SEND
and their families experience a well-planned continuum of provision from birth to 25 and
beyond.
Aiming high so that all children and young people with special educational needs and
disabilities can reach their full potential, receive the right support, at the right time, with choice
and control so that they can lead fulfilling lives.
Aligning our resources to drive sustained improvement.
We are determined to work together to ensure an improvement in the quality of outcomes for those children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
“We want to be told the truth, we want to know why things have happened and what is going to happen”
“We need to know what is happening in school and why these things are changing”
Our pledge to you
We will tell you the truth, we will listen and work with you to plan and explain what is possible and why things may need to change or happen.
How we will do this
We will take time to build a relationship and talk with you in a place where you feel safe and your views can be heard.
We will be honest about what we can and cannot do for you and your family. Even when you might not agree with us, we will help you understand the reasons why and you can ask questions.
We will explain and give clear information about changes that may need to happen.
Where possible we will share what needs to alter in advance and talk through how we can best make these changes together.
We will take time to hear your views, plan things together and consider with you if these things are working.
If you disagree with what is proposed, we will explain how you challenge what is happening and who to speak to about your concerns.
We will make available all information to you and your family so that you can challenge decisions if needed.
“We want to feel like the people around us are supportive”
Our pledge to you
We will listen carefully and ensure that we build a plan of support around your aspirations, hopes and goals.
How we will do this
We will not underestimate you.
We will take time to prepare and get to know you and your family as well as possible before trying to help.
We will listen carefully and ensure that your views are heard and understood.
We will listen to you to ensure that we understand how you would like to be supported and build your support plans on your aspirations, hopes and goals.
We will take time to explain what support can be provided.
We will ensure that we make any reasonable adjustments (small changes) to services you might need, to help you to achieve.
We will use language that shows we care.
We will ensure that written and spoken communication is accurate and in the format you prefer.
Set out a clear plan and expectations from the start
Encourage ownership and equal power to influence and have an equal voice for all in shaping ideas and action
Be accountable and do what is promised
Communicate and listen
Partners will:
Listen with care
Respond with sensitivity, being open and transparent
Share information in ways that includes and is understood by all
Actively seek feedback and act upon
Value and include
Partners will:
Recognise and value the differences in every individual and family
Base our plans and proposals on lived expertise
Treat everyone with respect and consistently address barriers for inclusion
Partners may be silent but must still be valued
Trust
Partners will:
Create and protect safe spaces so children and young people can share their views and ideas
Ensure everybody has the opportunity to express their views and be heard
Ensure everyone’s contribution is equally valued
Our Charter for Co-production
Who are the Partners?
We are families, carers, children and young people and people who work with them.
In designing our Charter for Co-production, local people of Torbay were asked what was important to them. Consideration was also given to the Four Cornerstones of Co-production (Genuine Partnership 2019).
In line with the wider Torbay SEND strategy, the charter underpins our commitment to working together so that every child and young person has the very best opportunities now and in the future.
This is only a start of a journey, and everyone has a part to play in influencing, implementing and embedding Co-production.
Building Trust will be a first step and ‘We will do what we say we are going to do’.
Privacy, confidentiality and choice is respected in Co-production.
August 2022
Last Update - 04/Oct/2024
SEND Annual Survey
SEND 2023 Participation Survey - Overview "You said, We did" SEND Local Offer
We produced two surveys in 2023 to ask people what they thought of Torbay’s SEND services.
We produced two surveys in 2023 to ask people what they thought of Torbay’s SEND services.
The surveys were available during June and July – there was one for parents and carers and one for children and young people.
There were 77 responses to the young people’s survey, many of them carried out by face-to-face interviews with our participation officers. The rest were done online.
There were 89 respondents to the adults’ survey, all carried out online.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the surveys – your feedback is really important because it helps us to improve the services we offer to families.
Below you can see some of the main points raised by both adults and young people and what we’ve done in the past year to address those concerns.
Children and young people told us that good provision and positive relationships with the people that help them were important. They rated the professionals supporting them very highly.
We’ve created a Point of View service with young people to hear and act on their feedback. We’ve set up a SEND Youth Forum for 12-25 year olds and Torbay Hospital is running a youth forum pilot project for 13-20 year olds. A group of our SEND young people took part in two video projects – one produced a series of three videos explaining what Education, Health and Care Plans are; the other produced a video to explain the help available from our Graduated Response toolkits. Watch all the videos.
The majority of parents and carers said they didn’t feel heard and felt let down by some of the services supposed to support them. They report a lack of joined up thinking.
We’re reaching more parents than ever through our SEND newsletters – Torbay Council. We ran an engagement event for parents and carers of SEND children in April. SEND Family Voice Torbay (SFVT) has been engaging with parents to provide support for their children’s needs. We’ve collaborated with parent/carers and professionals to run Bridging the Gap workshops for parents whose children have speech needs or who are neurodiverse. We trialled an Autism and Us parent programme of events. Family Hubs have been co-produced with parent carer panels.
Parents and carers talked about the need to fight to get their children’s needs met, having to chase up appointments and provision.
The SEND Team has a new duty service responding to parental enquiries on the same day. They can be contacted on: 01803 208274. The Children and Family Health website (CFHD) has been relaunched. This provides information and links to services as well as providing contact details and information on how to refer, what to expect once referral is made, and early help and resources. All self-referral for support from social care will be processed within one working day. We’ve launched the Family Hubs website, a one-stop shop for children and families. We’ve launched a new Early Help webpage so parents and young people can access that first stage of help.
Many parents and carers felt it was difficult to get support unless their child has a diagnosis.
We’ve been working to transform services for children with Neurodiversity and Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN), to enable them to get the help they need without needing a diagnosis. The Autism in Schools project offered training to all secondary schools to improve staff knowledge and skills. SFVT is building better communication between families and schools and intends to establish three autism community networks across the Bay. The Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) project will help a small group of primary schools identify and address gaps in their knowledge/skills. NHS Devon is working with families to produce bitesize information videos in 2024. Social care has reviewed its complaints process to ensure that all formal complaints are responded to with the offer of a face-to-face or virtual meeting, as well as a written response.
Parents described difficulty accessing health services and experienced unacceptably long waiting times.
New neurodevelopmental key worker posts have been established to pilot providing direct support to children and young people waiting for an autism assessment. Community Paediatrics are working to streamline their referral pathway, increasing capacity for more clinics; they’ve reviewed and updated the First Steps guidance given to families when joining their waiting list and they’ve transferred this to an app.
Parents and carers said they experienced poor communication, having to repeat information and didn’t feel listened to.
CFHD has a new electronic patient record. It has integrated mental and physical health pathways which include joint working with paediatricians. This should mean that families and young people tell their story once and experience more joined-up health care. We will be introducing the ‘Tell It Once’ platform through the Family Hubs website to reduce the need for families to repeat information. There’s been more joint working between Torbay and South Devon’s Child Health Team and CFHD with the aim of providing a single point of access for all community referrals.
Families that received appropriate levels of health and social care praised individual providers.
Feedback from families is passed on to teams and discussed in regular meetings by all of our providers.
Some parents and carers described a lack of provision of social care even where funding was available.
We have established a Short Breaks Task and Finish group to focus on expanding the Short Breaks provision available in Torbay.
Less than half of parents and carers felt confident that their child’s educational setting could meet their child’s SEND needs. Parents and carers feel that more specialist provision is needed.
The SEND roadshow visited most of the mainstream schools in Torbay to talk about the new Graduated Response toolkits and supporting mainstream schools to meet need. There has been local engagement in the Dingley’s Promise training offer, designed to increase staff confidence in supporting Early Years children with SEND.
Trust appears to be low, with parents and carers stating that they feel unsupported. Many parents and carers felt shamed and blamed.
We’ve introduced our Language that cares policy to ensure our staff use plain English and compassionate language when writing about and to children and their parents. CFHD has created 17 YouTube videos explaining each of the interventions provided by the Mental Health in Schools teams.
You said, We did table.
Last Update - 05/Oct/2024
SEND 2023 Participation Survey - full report SEND Local Offer
We produced two surveys in 2023 to ask people what they thought of Torbay’s SEND services.
We produced two surveys in 2023 to ask people what they thought of Torbay’s SEND services.
The surveys were available during June and July – there was one for parents and carers and one for children and young people.
There were 77 responses to the young people’s survey, many of them carried out by face-to-face interviews with our participation officers. The rest were done online.
There were 89 respondents to the adults’ survey, all carried out online.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the surveys – your feedback is really important because it helps us to improve the services we offer to families.
We produced two surveys in 2023 to ask people what they thought of Torbay’s SEND services.
The surveys were available during June and July – there was one for parents and carers and one for children and young people.
There were 77 responses to the young people’s survey, many of them carried out by face-to-face interviews with our participation officers. The rest were done online.
There were 89 respondents to the adults’ survey, all carried out online.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the surveys – your feedback is really important because it helps us to improve the services we offer to families.
We are working in partnership with NHS Devon and SEND Family Voice Torbay to improve services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and their families.
We are working in partnership with NHS Devon and SEND Family Voice Torbay to improve services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and their families.
We want you to have the very best opportunities now and in the future.
We have produced an improvement plan – called a ‘written statement of action’ – which we are now putting into action. The plan sets out how we are going to make improvements in areas highlighted in an inspection of SEND services earlier this year. We have made an easy to read version of this plan.
Our vision is ‘to create a healthy, happy Torbay where individuals and communities can thrive’. This is from the Torbay Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
We will work in partnership with SEND Family Voice Torbay as well as children, young people, parents, carers and partners.
We want to improve support for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities within Torbay so they have the very best opportunities now and in the future.
Pillar 4 – Quality assurance and community engagement
Last Update - 28/Dec/2024
Our statement of commitment SEND Local Offer
We commit to working together, in partnership with you, to improve the support you receive. We want you to have the very best opportunities now and in the future.
We commit to working together, in partnership with you, to improve the support you receive. We want you to have the very best opportunities now and in the future.
We will make sure you can have your say in what happens to you, in a way that suits you. We will value what you say.
We will use what you tell us to help us make plans and decisions, as well as in our day-to-day work.
We want to work with as many local people, groups, organisations and experts as possible to make our services the best they can be. We will do our best to not leave anyone out.
We know we might not get it right every time, but we will learn from our mistakes and improve as we go along.
Nancy Meehan Torbay Council
Penny Smith NHS Devon
Rebecca Box and Karen Roofe SEND Family Voice Torbay
Last Update - 22/Nov/2024
Joint area SEND inspection report SEND Local Offer
In November 2021, a team of inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) spent five days in Torbay. They talked to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). They also talked to their parents and carers and education, social care and health partners.
In November 2021, a team of inspectors from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) spent five days in Torbay. They talked to children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). They also talked to their parents and carers and education, social care and health partners.
They found significant weaknesses in services.
The Joint area SEND inspection report specified eight areas for improvement.
As a result of the Joint area SEND inspection report Torbay Council and NHS Devon had to produce a plan explaining how we will improve services. It is called a ‘Written Statement of Action’.
As a result of the Joint area SEND inspection report Torbay Council and NHS Devon had to produce a plan explaining how we will improve services. It is called a ‘Written Statement of Action’.
We worked with SEND Family Voice Torbay, led by local parents, to produce the plan. Local families had their say through Family Voice Torbay, group engagement sessions and a survey. Ofsted approved the plan in April and it has now been published.
The improvement work is being led by Torbay’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Strategic Board. This brings together social care, education, health and local families in Torbay.
The improvement plan explains the steps that we will take to improve services. As part of this, we will work together (or co-produce) an aspirational vision for SEND services. We will have a shared set of values and develop a Local Inclusion Plan.
Our improvement work was originally built on following four ‘pillars’, taken together to address the eight areas for improvement specified in the Joint area SEND inspection report.
Our improvement work was originally built on following four ‘pillars’, taken together to address the eight areas for improvement specified in the Joint area SEND inspection report.
Within each pillar are several Focus Areas broken down into the smaller actions. Each has a lead person, an agreed timescale and a description we will measure success.
We have now incorporated these into our 2023 SEND Strategy.
Pillar 1 – Joint commissioning
The report said the organisations that commission services were not working well together. Commissioning means planning, designing, paying for and monitoring services. For SEND services, this is mostly done by Torbay Council and NHS Devon.
The actions we will take include:
Using local data and intelligence to create a better ‘Joint Strategic Needs Assessment’ to bring together and detail local needs across social care, education and health.
Establishing a joint commissioning group, made up of all partners, to develop clear and strategic ways of working closely and effectively together.
Pillar 2 – Inclusion
The report said local organisations didn’t work well enough with each other, nor with local families. It said we did not involve families in decision-making about services or in monitoring how well they were working.
The report said there was too much difference between the levels of service that some people got compared to others in a similar position.
The actions we will take include:
Creating an ambitious SEND Strategy in partnership with local families
Designing effective ways of making sure the strategy is working, once it is being delivered
Improving the culture across all teams – from the people delivering services to senior leaders – by agreeing core values and then training and encouraging everyone to behave in ways that embody those values
Producing a report setting out how the lived experience of families will inform all work across the system
Improving communications between families and service providers and commissioners
Improving the way different parts of the system work together behind the scenes so that parents and families only have to ‘tell their story once’ when engaging with local agencies.
Transforming the way schools and early years settings assess, plan, carry out and review their provision for each child and young person with SEND to make sure they get the tailored support they need.
Using exclusion data to highlight which schools need support to reduce the number of students being excluded
Pillar 3 – Becoming an adult
The report said the range of opportunities and choices for children and young people with SEND when they reach 16 was poor and needed improving.
The actions we will take include:
Embedding traineeships, supporting internships, apprenticeships and school leaver schemes – and setting targets for the number of young people taking them up – to increase the number of young people with SEND in education, training or employment once they have left school or college
Seeking out Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans that have worked well to share and widen good practice.
Pillar 4 – Quality assurance and community engagement
The report said there was too much variation in the quality of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and that the views of parents were not treated seriously enough.
The actions we will take include:
Carrying out a full review of the way EHC plans are produced in partnership with Family Voice Torbay.
Making sure the process for seeking the views of parents, carers and children is fully accessible and is effective in gaining comprehensive information on a ‘tell your story once’ basis.
Improving quality checks on EHC plans and training teams to produce high quality, consistent and effective plans
Making sure EHCs contain a clear thread running through them that helps the young person achieve their personal goals, all the way through to adulthood.
Last Update - 14/Jan/2025
SEND Capital Funding
SEND Capital Funding SEND Local Offer
Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient good school places for all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities.
Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient good school places for all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities.
In April 2021, the Government committed £280 million of capital funding nationally (2021-2022) to support local authorities to create new places and improve existing provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or who require alternative provision (AP) via the High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA). This is in addition to the total of £365 million of SEND Special Provision capital funding nationally (2018-2020) to help local authorities create new school places and improve existing facilities for children and young people with SEN and disabilities, in consultation with parents and providers.
The High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) (2021-2022) for Torbay is £530,150. The funding is intended to address the need for places for academic year 2022/23 but it is not time-bound, and is up to the local authority to determine how to best use this funding, in line with national guidence, to meet local priorities.
The Local Authority has been allocated an additional £2,670,554 for 2022 – 2024 and work is currently underway to identify the need and scope of potential projects. It has been agreed, as in previous years that a portion of the funding be utilised to give schools the opportunity to think creatively as to what could be done to support the children and young people to access provisions locally and help us to relieve some of the pressures on the High Needs Block, by meeting needs without recourse to Out of Area placements.
The SEND Special Provision allocation for Torbay (2018-2020) was a total of £848,837, which was split into 3 equal payments for each of the years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21. (£500,000 initially allocated plus £116,279 allocated in May 2018 and £232,558 allocated in December 2018).
This funding was:
intended for the children and young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans for whom the local authority is responsible.
to support local authorities to invest in provision for children and young people with SEN and disabilities aged 0-25 to improve the quality and range of provision available to the local authority.
Torbay aspires to create a well-planned continuum of provision from birth to age 25 that meets the needs of children and young people with Special Educational needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families as set out in our SEND Strategy.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
SEND Provision and Accessibility SEND Local Offer
Children and young people in Torbay may attend mainstream early years settings, schools or colleges or specialist provision such as mainstream schools with enhanced resource provision or special schools. In a diverse provider landscape the local area must exercise a range of roles and remain committed to the inclusion of children and young people.
Children and young people in Torbay may attend mainstream early years settings, schools or colleges or specialist provision such as mainstream schools with enhanced resource provision or special schools. In a diverse provider landscape the local area must exercise a range of roles and remain committed to the inclusion of children and young people.
In addition to mainstream provision the LA has developed a number of enhanced resource provisions that are delivered by mainstream providers. These include the following:-
Barton Academy (Speech & Language Therapy)
Preston Primary School (Autistic Spectrum Condition)
St Margaret’s Academy (Hearing Impairment)
The Spires College (Hearing Impairment)
The Spires College (Autistic Spectrum Condition – newly created via SEN Capital Funding 2018)
Brixham College (Autistic Spectrum Condition)
Paignton Acadamy (Social, Emotional and Mental Health (anxiety) – newly created via SEN Capital Funding 2018)
The number of children presenting with additional needs is increasing both locally and nationally. Torbay has taken action to commission additional placements with existing schools, colleges and special schools within the local area. The current capacity of providers to expand the offer further is limited; this is compounded by the demographical demand to create more provision at all phases.
The SEND reforms have required Post 16 provision to be developed further. Additional needs which require enhanced provisions are around students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Emotional, Socialand Mental Health difficulties (SEMH).
The SEND Strategy provides the framework within which services can develop in an affordable and sustainable manner in the interests of Torbay children.
Participation is a key theme within the SEND Strategy, which also identifies Co-Production as a Priority area. We will ensure that parents, children and young people are involved in discussions and decisions about every aspect of planning, including making provision to meet local needs.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
Torbay's Special Provision Plan (2018-2021) SEND Local Offer
Local authorities must update and republish their plan to show what they have spent on so far, and any changes/updates to their plan or consultation. This should cover as much detail as is known on how they will spend the additional funding.
Expressions of interest were sought from schools prior to allocations being awarded for these accessibility funds.
For 2023 a total of £100,000 was available for schools to bid for, with a focus on projects that incorporate Torbay’s new local area Graduated Response Framework to enable the continued improvement of existing provision for pupils and students with high needs.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
Successful applicants for Accessibility Funding to improve inclusion in Mainstream Schools 2018-19 SEND Local Offer
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful in improving inclusion within mainstream via the Accessibility Funding in 2018-19. Where supplied by schools, there are also comments from the successful schools with images of the work completed.
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful in improving inclusion within mainstream via the Accessibility Funding in 2018-19. Where supplied by schools, there are also comments from the successful schools with images of the work completed.
Torre C of E Academy
Creation of sensory area within the Reception Unit – safe, calming and sensory stimulating room within the Reception Unit to allow SEN children to develop and engage in sensory experiences without feeling frightened or overwhelmed. Resourced with lights, projections, cushions, tactile toys, calming music, soft play equipment and safety items e.g. plug covers etc.
“The money we received to go towards setting up the sensory room had provided the children of Torre Academy C of E with a fully equipped indoor sensory room with strobes, sensory mats, soft areas and plenty of resources to meet the needs of several children.In our outdoor area, we were able to develop it with a range of outdoor equipment to enhance their learning.The impact this has on our SEN children is evident for all that visit to see. Our children with sensory needs often self-regulate using this room and it has become a fantastic safe space to allow them to meet sensory seeking needs”
St Cuthbert Mayne
The provision of blinds to improve access to the learning environment for those with visual impairment.
Muddy Wellies Nursery (YMCA)
Creation of a sensory room for children to access, to include specialist sensory walls, flooring, lighting, projectors, bubble tubes, seating, bean bags, sounds and textures. All children benefit from having a secure and safe space to relax and engage emotional thinking to help promote learning, but naturally, for children with additional needs and disabilities it can play a crucial part in their development and progress.
“The children absolutely love the new sensory room, we have found that all of them are benefitting from the holistic, calming atmosphere it is providing, it is particularly helpful for our 1:1 children too.Thank you so much for the funding, we couldn’t have achieved this without it!”
Churston Ferrers Grammar School
Conversion of a functional room into a calm, sensory room with soft chairs, weighted blankets, lowered ceiling, soft lighting with carpet and calming wall coverings. Provision of a safe and calming room will accelerate the process of helping young persons to re-engage with school life and their learning It is hoped that the room will play a significant role in helping to reduce school and/or lesson absence due to anxiety and that the room will enable the school to work towards significantly improved life chances for their most vulnerable students.
“The old storage/nurses room now has a much lower ceiling, making it feel a much cosier room. The colour on the wall and the dimmable lighting has helped create a soothing space and removing the large sink and shelves give much more sitting space. The new smaller sink placed in the toilet makes the toilet still useable.In the mornings before school and during breaks and lunches up to 3 students at any one time use the room. Most of these are EHCP students but other highly anxious autistic students also use the room on a daily basis. The room is also used frequently during the day for students to spend time regulating themselves, or during their dropped lessons to complete work. We keep some lego, puzzles and calming items in the room so that it much more of the student’s room, rather than a multi-use meeting room and they feel very much that it is their space. They have named it the ‘chill out room’ and created a sign for the door.At present the walls are bare to create a calm space with no distractions, but we will liaise with the key students to discuss if they would like anything else in there.It has been a much needed addition to enable us to cater for our higher needs students who require 1:1 TAs at all times, particularly for 2 of our new yr 7 EHCP students and a highly anxious yr 9 student who has recently been diagnosed with autism.”
Our Lady Of The Angels
Creation of a level path with suitable surface, wide enough for an electric wheelchair. The outcome would be increased inclusivity in PE and sports for wheelchair users.
“The camber on this entrance meant that our child who uses a wheelchair felt very unsafe accessing the playing field. The child now gets down there in safety and, weather permitting, plays on the field and joins in with sporting events with the other children”.
Paignton Community & Sports Academy
Alterations required to accommodate two students moving from the Waterleat Road Site to the Borough Road Site. To include altered access on site for powered wheelchairs. Improve physical access to classrooms and specialist equipment.
Sherwell Valley Primary School
Works to extend current pastoral room to create a large, more open and dedicated area for all social, emotional and mental health interventions. The space will be redecorated and equipped with calming resources and comfortable seating.
Churston Ferrers Grammar School
The conversion of an internal filing space in the Sixth form student study area into a calm sensory room with soft chairs, weighted blankets, soft lighting with carpet and calming wall coverings.
The room is next to the Sixth form office and allows for easy access by pastoral staff to the students who will be using the room. Installation of good quality recessed speakers and a wifi audio unit to enable acoustic isolation of the room from outside distractions. CFGS experience significant success with pastoral and SEND services post 16, but are very short of the appropriate space necessary to support their most vulnerable students. The premium on space is often felt at free association times and it is these times that can be the most challenging for students who have particular needs around anxiety and social interaction.
Watcombe Primary School
Creation of a forest school area to allow specific children to develop and manage their SEMH in a different environment beyond the classroom.
Building a wooden bridge to gain access
Site a storage shed for equipment
Purchase equipment
Roselands Primary School
Development of nurture provision. This provision will provide an additional learning, calming and sensory space for children who are struggling to access the curriculum in a classroom environment. It will provide a calming, free environment that will allow adults to meet children’s sensory, emotional and social needs as well as allowing them to access the curriculum in a style that is more appropriate to their needs.
Quote from Hannah Dillon – Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo) – “This year we have had a higher number of children with more complex needs join the school. Our new nurture provision has provided many more inclusive opportunities for these children that allows them to access additional resources, a calming space to learn, explore and share experiences with others. It has also been a wonderful resource for children within the school that would benefit from sensory activities, messy play and quiet time to explore and understand their emotions. The new provision has been a fantastic addition to the school and we are very thankful for the capital bid funding we received”.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
Successful applicants for Accessibility Funding to improve inclusion in Mainstream Schools 2019-20 SEND Local Offer
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful in improving inclusion within mainstream via the Accessibility Funding in 2019-20.
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful in improving inclusion within mainstream via the Accessibility Funding in 2019-20.
Torquay Boys Grammar School
Conversion of existing SEND meeting room into a calm sensory room with resources.
Galmpton Primary
Creation of enhanced provision unit.
Torquay Girls Grammar School
Provision of a dedicated, purpose built cabin for use with ASD students including those awaiting diagnosis and those who are transitioning back into school life. Providing a calm and private environment away from the hustle and bustle of everyday school life and provide a sanctuary for those students who can experience social isolation at break times.
Student feedback – “It came at the perfect time for me. I was getting quite introverted and can now start talking to people.” (Year 9 student)
Quote from Zoe Beard – Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo) – “Students and staff at Torquay Girls’ Grammar School are thrilled with their new ASD ‘Garden Room’. It was built as a transitional space for those returning to school after a period of absence and could potentially be used for tutoring happening elsewhere to encourage ASD students back into school. In addition, it is being used as a space for ASD students both with a diagnosis and those on the waiting list, which is currently 2+ years. The school recognised the need for these students to have dedicated space to use. Many of these students are vulnerable and most are at a loss during break times to know where to go or what to do. The ‘Garden Room’ has provided them with a safe space. It is only just up and running but in due course will be filled with games, puzzles, books, arts and crafts and other items for students to interact with. It is also manned during the majority of lessons so students can use this as a quiet zone if they feel they cannot stay in a mainstream classroom. It will also be utilised for meetings with health or care professionals and parents of ASD students. The calming experience should prove popular and with only a limited number of students being able to use the space – a real lifeline for those who are able to use it”.
Our Lady of the Angels
Creation of outdoor sensory safe space away from the busy nature of the playground. Provision to increase inclusivity for those children who struggle at break times, enhance Thrive provision and allow the children to access the curriculum in a meaningful way.
“Our Sensory Garden was opened to the children a few weeks ago. They have really appreciated the space. Children who really struggle during the un-timetabled parts of the day such as break times and lunchtime now have the opportunity to use our lunch club which now opens up to this beautiful space meaning they do not have to enter the large playground at all if they do not feel able to. It also means that those children do not have to be inside the whole time but can be outdoors which is even better for their mental health and well-being.”
St Margarets Academy
Development of Speech and Language Therapy room.
Quote from Marie-Claire Christie – Speech & Language Therapy Teaching Assistant – “With the increase of children with speech and language needs, our temporary SALT room has made a world of difference to our setting. We now have a quiet, space which aids the communication potential for the children at St. Margaret’s Academy.Children are seen individually or in small groups and the setting is used for formal assessment procedures, for certain interventions that are difficult to manage in a classroom setting. Most of these students need an environment that is quieter and contains less distraction than their normal classroom.Our temporary SALT room now offers an attractive, accessible environment which promotes a sense of belonging. However, although the room is accessible on 1st floor level to children with SEN and disabilities, staff and visitors and outside agencies, it is very small and we feel that the children would benefit from a larger working/meeting area with additional storage for a wide range of teaching resources. We are extremely pleased to have secured this space on a temporary basis and the benefits are already apparent”.
Eden Park Academy
Creation of Sensory Room. The designated sensory space will allow pupils to access the movement and sensory breaks necessary to enable them to engage in learning when in the classroom.
Quote from Charlotte Griffin – Assistant SEND Co-ordinator – “Eden Park have turned a large cupboard into a sensory room using the SEND accessibility funding. It is being enjoyed by children aged 2-11, who need sensory breaks in the day, to enable them to focus better in class. Children can use the large dark tent equipped with light- up toys to relax in a calm environment. Some children find a trip through the squeeze machine or a jump on the small trampoline helps them to feel better in themselves. Other children like to watch the bubble lamp change colours or like to listen to relaxing CD’s. The room is usually used for just one or two children at a time with adult supervision, but it has also worked well for a small group of children lying or sitting still and listening to a children’s meditation CD. Children and staff report that it has helped children to sustain their concentration in class and remain calm and happy throughout the day”.
Watcombe Primary School
Creation of safe, defined areas for 3 x EHCP children in KS1 and KS2.
Hayes Primary School
Redesign and install gradual slope to reception entrance, level corner of field, resurface playground part astro/part tarmac for wheelchair user. This new ramp outside the reception class and pathway alongside the school field will allow children with disabilities and wheelchair users to be able to access the bottom playground and dinner hall.
Quote from Allison Grant – School Business Manager – “Our school received funding from Torbay Council via the SEN and Disability Grant. This paid for a new ramp outside our reception class and pathway alongside our school field to allow children with disabilities and wheelchair users to be able to access the bottom playground and dinner hall. One pupil in reception has benefited massively from the new ramp which allows her to access the main reception playground independently. She has a great time playing with her friends and can get in and out of the classroom freely. Previously she had to go around the building and through other classrooms and this sometimes meant she missed some of her playtime. The access ramp along the side of the field has also made a great difference and this is used every day by pupils with disabilities, to get to the dinner hall. Before this was installed, pupils had to walk through the whole school to get there using two stair-lifts and this took up a considerable amount of pupils’ lunch break and staff time. We are really pleased with the work that has been done. It is great quality and has made a real positive difference to our pupils’ mobility and independence”.
Hayes Primary School
Creation of nurture base. Bean bags and games, benching, body socks for sensory areas, equipment for sensory area.
Quote from Allison Grant – School Business Manager – “We also received funding to develop a nurture room for children to feel safe and secure to develop their individual needs. The funding paid for sofas, cushions, beanbags, weighted blankets, lamps and a selection of developmental toys so the children can play games and work collaboratively”.
Sherwell Valley Primary School
Creation of large nurture unit. Two areas to be refurbished to develop a small classroom area for up to 20 pupils with small designated outdoor play space. The newly created unit will allow children to receive the care and education specifically tailored to their individual needs in an environment with a significantly higher staff per child ratio than is possible in their own classroom. The school funded over half the Capital needed to complete the project.
Sacred Heart Primary
Develop outdoor sensory area/garden.
Cockington Primary
Creation of nurture unit.
Barton Hill Academy
Conversion of existing rooms to create 2 enhanced pastoral rooms and a sensory/thrive area.
St Cuthbert Mayne
Creation of nurture base for pupils with high SEMH needs. Development of a nurture base from an existing office space, priority use given to EHCP and nurture group students in Y7 and Y8.
Quote from Sam Banks – Lead Practitioner for MFL and Differentiation/SEND – The Nurture Classroom is where our Y7 Nurture Group students have all their lessons that do not require specialist rooming (English, Maths, History, Geography and R.E.). This has given them vastly greater consistency and continuity in their experience as they transition from Primary to Secondary, as they spend a majority of their learning time in the same classroom with the same seating plan, expectations and resources. We used the money to clear and renovate a redundant classroom, fitting it out with state-of-the-art I.T. equipment and furniture chosen to give the feel of a Primary classroom. This provision has also allowed us to make other innovative additions to their curriculum, such as using their teachers’ changeover time between certain lessons to do a dynamic MFL input that gives them their entitlement to the experience of a foreign language. As well as settling in more successfully to life at STCM than has been the case for previous high-needs students, we have been really impressed with the quality of work this group is producing and the fantastic progress they have made so far this year has been really encouraging”.
St Cuthbert Mayne
St Marychurch Primary School
Enhancement of our Nurture style provision, particularly the breakout room; creating a safe, calming and sensory regulating room within the Nurture provision to allow children who are dysregulated to have a space that they can go to without feeling frightened or overwhelmed. Resourced with lights, blinds/window covers, projections, cushions/soft mats, tactile toys, calming music, soft play equipment and safety items e.g. plug covers etc.
St Marychurch Primary School
Redevelopment and enhancement of our currently underused environmental area into a dedicated area for specific children to develop and manage their SEMH needs in a different environment beyond the classroom.
Brixham College
Development of enhanced provision for students on the Autistic Spectrum.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
Successful applicants for Accessibility Funding to improve inclusion in Mainstream Schools 2020-21 SEND Local Offer
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful in improving inclusion within mainstream via the Accessibility Funding in 2020-21.
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful in improving inclusion within mainstream via the Accessibility Funding in 2020-21.
All Saints Babbacombe Primary
Creation of sensory room with calming bubble wall and sensory equipment.
Brixham C of E Primary
Creation of sensory room and garden.
Homelands Primary
Creation of sensory room with resources.
Kings Ash Academy
Creation of sensory garden
Oldway Primary
Creation of sensory room.
Our Lady of The Angels Primary
Creation of communication ‘chat shack’.
Preston Primary
Creation of purpose built communication pods outside year 5/6 classrooms.
Priory Primary
Development of sensory garden/outdoor space.
Sacred Heart Primary
Creation of SEN room – sensory provision & speech and language support.
Shiphay Learning Academy
Creation of nurture/sensory room with resources.
St Margaret’s Academy
Enhancement of SEND facilities.
Preston Community Pre-School
Creation of outdoor (undercover) sensory area.
Watcombe Primary
Classroom partition to allow flexibility to manage the classroom environment for children with EHCP.
Watcombe Primary
Creation of 2 sensory areas.
White Rock Primary
‘We very much appreciate receiving this funding – it has made a big impact on SEND children settling into our school and are very grateful to have such an amazing space at White Rock for our children’
Statement from our SENCO Cathy MacPherson,
We are delighted to have received funding to develop a Sensory Room at White Rock Primary School. We have been using it since the beginning of the academic year primarily with four autistic children who have very little language and came into our Reception Classes with EHCPs. We have used the room to settle children when they come into school in the morning and to provide sensory breaks throughout the school day.
We took advice from our EP when buying resources for the room and he provided training for staff working with children accessing the room.
Unfortunately at this time only one other child has been able to access the room on a daily basis due to Covid restrictions. In the future we will ensure the room is used by a wide range of children within the school as we know they will benefit greatly from the environment.
Brixham College
Creation of dedicated sensory and intervention space.
St Cuthbert Mayne
Provision of outdoor gym equipment and alternative PE equipment to support an inclusive and differentiated PE curriculum.
Torquay Academy
Creation of area for visually impaired students.
Torquay Academy
Creation of sensory room.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
Successful High Needs Provision Capital projects 2022 SEND Local Offer
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful. Where supplied by schools, there are also comments from the successful schools with images of the work completed.
Below are summary details of the projects that were successful. Where supplied by schools, there are also comments from the successful schools with images of the work completed.
Chestnut at Mayfield
Re-purposed space to create new sensory room to meet needs of pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.
Torquay Academy
Re-purposed space to create new changing/feeding/therapy room to meet pupils’ physical needs.
Warberry Academy
Creating a new nurture provision to support inclusive practice for pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs.
Preston Primary
New lift to meet pupils’ physical needs.
St Margaret’s Academy
New provision of a cabin within Forest school outdoor area for small group interventions throughout the day.
Our lovely unit is now in place and works are very nearly finished. I have attached a few photos to show you what a wonderful learning space this has created – Karen Colmer.
Watcombe Primary
Re-purposed space to create a nurture provision to improve existing provision for pupils with high needs.
Paignton Academy
Re-purpose space to create new wellbeing/sensory rooms on both school sites to support sensory and SEMH needs – to provide calming space to help alleviate anxiety and escalate intervention and therapeutic work as needed.
Paignton Academy
Disabled toilet at the Waterleat Road site to meet physical needs.
Kings Ash Academy
Re-purpose space to create new wellbeing/sensory rooms to support sensory and SEMH needs.
The children have benefited greatly from having a designated sensory area where they can go, or be taken to, to help to reduce their anxieties and regulate emotions. We have a number of pupils with Autism who access these spaces as part of their daily timetable. Other children, especially those in the Foundation Stage and in the Nurture provision have enjoyed using this space when they are feeling emotionally upset or dysregulated.
Curledge St Academy
Re-purpose space to create new wellbeing/sensory rooms to support sensory and SEMH needs.
The funding has been used to install two sensory rooms at CSA. One is based on the Early Years site and one is based on the main site for years 1-6 to access. This has provided much needed intervention spaces for children to use to get the sensory feedback/ input they need during the school day.
STEPS enhanced provision at Paignton Academy
Re-purpose space to create new wellbeing/sensory rooms to support sensory and SEMH needs.
Sherewell Valley Primary
Upgrade lifts on site to meet pupils’ physical needs.
Torbay Boys Grammar
Upgrade 6 external doors to have automatic openers to meet physical needs.
Eden Park Primary
Re-purpose space to create a new sensory area to support sensory and SEMH needs.
The project was to turn a room available in school into a Respite Space, a room that we can use with some o the most high needs children who find full time in a mainstream classroom sometimes a challenge. The money allocated was used to create a wonderful space that is light and inviting, but also purposeful and safe. It included the fitting of doors that allow the children to be kept safe, cupboards that can be locked, improved IT capability, a sink area for cleaning up creative projects and the construction of a purpose build changing area for handling intimate care discretely. Some money was also used to create a hugely successful outside space and a gazebo so that the children using the space are kept dry during inclement weather. All round, we are now able to have a much more useful space, safe and clean and attached to a pre-existing sensory room that supports these children more comprehensively than was previously being managed, but providing a base for the children when not in their allocated classroom.
South Devon College
Re-purpose space to create a nurture area.
This provision has become invaluable within the Learning Opportunities department for our learners. It is a warm, supportive and calming area for all of our learners, especially those with SEMH needs, to talk, practice Mindful Craft and Art, share problems and achievements and seek guidance and sign posting to many matters. The impact this provision has had, has been quantifiable as our learners have all responded so positively to being able to access this extra and consistent support that helps them to strive and achieve.
What some of our learners have to say about having this provision available to them –
“ it helps me to regulate my behaviour and emotions”
“ it’s a great place to talk things over”
“ It helps to keep me calm”
“ It helps me to process things that have happened in the past”
Shiphay Learning Academy
Re-purpose space to create a new nurture room to support sensory and SEMH needs.
Last Update - 13/Jan/2025
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