The families of autistic children said that Ofsted inspectors failed to reflect their concerns about provision for children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) in Brighton and Hove in a report.
Local organisation Mascot, which supports families with autistic children and young people, said that the voluntary sector in the city was “on its knees” trying to cope with demand for support.
Mascot’s research shows 77 per cent of parents were either very dissatisfied or moderately dissatisfied with the health care provided for their autistic child or young person.
After a joint inspection by a team of seven from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in late March, the city’s SEND provision was rated as good in a report published on Wednesday 31 May.
A Brighton mother of two autistic children, Claire, said: “Reading the Ofsted report was a gut-wrenching kick in the teeth.
“Brighton and Hove local authority continues to apply unlawful discriminatory policies that prevent children from accessing critical support when it is most needed.
“Self-harm, OCD, anxiety, violence – these are the complex issues that we have had to navigate over the years with virtually no practical support.
“My 10-year-old autistic daughter has missed years of education already and has been let down repeatedly by the Brighton and Hove SEND department.
“Nobody that can effect change is listening and yet the lack of foresight is astonishing.
“”Effective support delivered at the earliest opportunity is the only way to give our children the greatest chance of thriving as independent adults.
“Why is nobody listening? Why doesn’t anybody care?”
Mascot director and founder Sam Bayley said: “In the voluntary sector we are on our knees trying to support and cope with the demand of parents whose children are being let down at every turn by the local authority.
“So we were devastated by this report which fails to listen to our concerns.
“The inspection results from Ofsted have shocked Mascot as our own survey, done at the same time, shows that Brighton and Hove is failing some of its most vulnerable families and children.
“Mascot has been campaigning on these issues for more than a decade but very little has changed.
“We need more suitable school places; we need timely assessments and we urgently need respite and social care for our families with autistic children without learning disabilities.
“We strongly urge Brighton and Hove local authority to look closely at how and why this section of the community is being failed.”
Mascot’s survey of more than 470 members in March showed that 82 per cent of Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCPs) were taking more than the legal limit of 20 weeks to complete in a way that accurately reflects a child’s needs.
The survey also said that around 57 per cent of parents said that Brighton and Hove’s EHCP process was “traumatic”.
The joint report mentioned several areas of improvement, including the early identification of young people at risk of not being in education, employment or training.
It mentioned a lack of personal assistants, that the quality of EHCPs have not been monitored well enough and that some children and young people were waiting too long to find a specialist school place.
Brighton and Hove City Council and NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board were contacted for comment.
The idea that the LEA is currently doing a “good” job is a work of fantasy fiction. To say that some young people are having to wait too long for appropriate settings is not only inaccurate- many children are simply being abandoned by the LEA and are completely out of education or in very inappropriate education- by also probably the largest understatement I have ever heard. The local authority has no accountability and SEN families were so hopeful that this Ofsted report would highlight the many injustices and illegal actions befalling SEN families. The fact that they did not take the opinions of nearly 500 families being served by the LEA SEN team in this report speaks volumes.
I agree with you 100 percent!
It’s terrible the way children are being ignored and families are left to fend with no help or support at all.
To say OFSTED’s report was gutwrenching doesn’t begin to describe it: When you have to keep chasing your assigned caseworker for a follow up on your child’s lack of school placement; when you have to contact the schools directly to see whether or not they can provide the education your child desperately needs because your caseworker is not doing so; when you have to keep fighting for changes and updates to your chid’s EHCP because it has been two years since it was issued and it no longer reflects your child as they are now (it should be reviewed yearly) and your caseworker tells you that it will be reviewed once the child is back in education (after two years out of a school setting, thanks for your support finding a placement LEA) but no school will take your child as the EHCP reads like they are a walking disaster area… Yes, the Local Education Authority really is not doing their job, they are failing the children in their care and their families, but Ofsted has chosen to ignore the elephant in the room, no surprise there…
Absolutely 💯
Please read the full mASCot report here https://asc-mascot.com/mascot-ofsted-report
mASCot is a wonderful community of families with autistic children and young adults, we run many clubs, projects, groups and support forums and are a lifeline for many families. We want to try provide many of the things the statutory services don’t and we should be the icing on the cake for the fun, community activities families need while the services meet the rest of our vulnerable families provisions. Instead a lot of our time is taken up fighting for what families need and picking up the support where services fail.
mASCot work closely with all the statutory services and we have a strong voice in the city but changes are too slow, not enough and never adequate for what our families need 😞
I’m astounded by Ofsted’s conclusion of ‘good’ for Brighton and Hove LA and SEN provision. Not one of the many SEN families I have spoken with agree. Their assessment of the experience they and their children have endured range from ‘non-existent’ to ‘damaging’ to ‘gaslighting’ and ‘devastating’.
Children are routinely denied assessments, suitable education, and their parents have almost always been lied to, bullied, blamed and sent away, multiple times before assessments and/or any support is given.
Children are out of education, and parents are leaving jobs to support them, frequently.
Ofsted’s report compounds the whole experience our families and children are put through by ignoring parental views, ignoring the many children currently out of education due to lack of suitable provision and denied access to what there is, and ignoring the vast amounts of evidence that the LA is currently not fit for purpose.
Not sure why anyone is surprised. Nothing seems to work well in B&H. My advice: move to East or West Sussex.
They are no better sadly
Sadly we are in West Sussex and it’s the same. EHCP took from July to May (far outside the statutory timeline) and that was without any appeals and them sub contracting the Ed Pysch to someone up North. Our son out of education since Feb 2022 and has only just started EOTAS in the last two months twice a week and he’s 15.
Our neurodivergent community are being failed. Everyone can see that the LA need to do better and be held accountable.
My daughter who has ASC, Dyslexia and she has Dysphasia isn’t getting the help she needs from SENCO and LEA being told one thing one minute and then it changes or doesn’t happen. Why is it that you have to chase everything and I’m continually chasing via email, phones and leaving messages. There needs to be more TA or INA’s in the classrooms as the children aren’t getting the help and support that they need. I feel like my concerns are ignored and or they agree and nothing changes. It’s not just our children it effects it’s the whole family and it’s not good enough it needs to change NOW!
Why do we have to fight so hard to get our children a suitable education they have every right to. Having to always chase up emails and phone calls, endless waiting lists for basic help in dire situations. Also why do our children have to get to breaking point before they are given the right support. Most of us are shouting for help. One of the only places we can rely on for support is mASCot who always go above and beyond to help whatever way they can.
B&H LA are awful if you have children with SEN. My child was out of school for ages because the school couldn’t provide, and the LA were so slow to do anything. This needs looking into again as it’s an insult to families who are struggling.
If it wasn’t for mascot and the support they give, I’d have felt completely alone and not known what to do.
I was gobsmacked when I saw the “Good” rating on the recent Ofsted report. As others have said, it really does not reflect our experience. Timely assessments?? Then how come we’ve been waiting 3.5 years for my son’s ADHD assessment. We have no way of finding out how much longer we’ll be waiting as all attempts to contact CAMHS seem to end at a brick wall.
We’ve just reached the 20 week statutory limit for issuing an EHCP, yet we’ve still not received the draft that was due at 16 weeks. Each time I contact our case worker I get an out of office message. I’ve heard nothing for over 3 months since it was agreed my son would be assessed for an EHCP.
The service is shambolic and in dire need of improvement. If I behaved the way I see LA workers doing, I would be placed on disciplinary.
And not to mention the constant data breeches they break by copy and pasting other kids EHCPs with different names and information about another child. I hear of this constantly. They should be fully investigated for that as it’s a stackable and fineable offence yet they keep doing it!
We are so lucky to have a community and organisation like mASCot to shine truth on things like the Ofsted report, which is clearly not representative of the reality of SEN provision in Brighton and Hove. We are obviously a lot less lucky to have a Local Authority that is so ill-equipped to provide for our children and young people. We desperately need to see change and call people and organisations to account.
Absolute farce that this report can conclude the current service as anything but woefully shambolic.
It is failing our children, and to whitewash over it is a shameful and/or grossly incompetent act.
Without Mascot’s help and support I genuinely don’t know how our family would cope.
They are an invaluable service with tons of experience, advice and support.
Nothing is too much trouble, they are an absolute lifeline for so many people.
I am so grateful that Mascot exists as a community of parents who are trying to help their children and help support others going through a similar journey. We had to go private to get a diagnosis of autism in my 15year old daughter. The school have done what they can but are overloaded and can’t provide the support needed. On enquiring about EHCP and we were told not to bother. I think that sums up the system in that one sentence – resignation that there is nothing that can help you and your child and don’t bother to even try. The system is broken and we are failing our children, the next generation.
The contents of Ofsted’s report does not reflect the experiences of our family at all! Within the SEN community there is widespread shock and disbelief since it’s publication. How could our comments and factual accounts be so completely ignored? How could the voices of our vulnerable children be discarded as irrelevant when they continue to be so badly let down by the very ‘professionals’ who are paid with public money to support and ensure sufficient provision for them? Charities like Mascot and Amaze are filling the gaps created by the constant inadequacy in service from BHCC. Mascot offers so much support and understanding, propping up demoralised, desperate and exhausted parents who are desperately fighting for their child’s legal right and entitlement to education and social care provision. As a charity, Mascot is run on very limited funding, and is so overstretched as a result of the failures of BHCC. How can this report have got things so wrong?
There are catastrophic failings across the board with B & H ‘s SEN provision. The statutory provision just isn’t there and cannot be relied upon to meet our children’s needs.
Charities like mascot provide a life line to SEN families and work so hard to plug all the gaps that the LA fall short on.
These systems need a total overhaul.
The ofsted report was a complete joke.
I really don’t understand how these conclusions were made after so many failings were highlighted.
I totally agree. MASCOT do incredible work and are indeed a lifeline for so many, but the council need to be providing services that are being eroded constantly.
Our daughter was routinely failed for many years in B&H. There is simply inadequate funding across the board and children and their families are suffering because of it. The repercussions on the mental health, education and the future prospects of ND children and the ripple effect on the rest of the families is known by all of us going through it, yet somehow denied by those writing the reports. The systems here are broken. Things have only begun to improve for us since we secured an EHCP and moved to a specialist school outside of the city.
It is baffling that Ofsted should assess B&H LA SEN services as good. I am not sure if they listened to a selected number of people. What I do know is that the everyday experience of the majority of autistic children and young people is not good. Families have to challenge and fight with services to try and ensure the needs of their children are met. We are lucky that mASCot can truly listen to our voices.
Mascot have been a life line for lots of families especially mine always there when you need them b&h have let my son down can’t give my son an EHCP keep making excuses when he has struggled his whole life in school with learning now it’s got to the point he don’t want to go school it’s disgusting to be honest
Charities like mascot has helped children like my son Leo who has got ASD and found all the activities very helpful and enjoyed engaging with other children in a safe environment. Parents like myself would benefit if this type of charities continue to offer services for children with learning difficulties the work they do is very much appreciated and valuable to the kids And parents
My family are just at the start of our SEN journey and this frightens the life out of me, but does not surprise me. B&H LA seems to have all of their priorities mixed up! Is there a petition to sign?
I have two children one currently 14. Who is SEND and BHCC local authority could not meet his needs at school and caused school related trauma on top of all his other issues. My eight year old is currently being failed and is currently in a mental health crisis and I am going through an EHCP process again. The local authority is only getting worse. They often parent shame and blame parents for their own failings. Instead of working with the parents. The local authority should be held to account and this farce of an ofstead report needs to be investigated. Mascot and Amaze have been supporting parents for years due to BHCC failings. Why are us the people and the families of SEND not being listened to or indeed heard. Children should not be in crisis before support is implemented. We are standing and fighting together for responsibility to be taken and for change to happen. An overhaul is needed.
Good?!?! Absolutely not! Our children are being failed! Hope that Ofsted would shine a huge light on how bad things are for SEN families but they’ve failed us too. Horrendous.
I read the report and did not recognise much of the description of the service provided to parents of children with SEN. The system is broken and Brighton and Hove is no different.
I would urge the inspectors to explain why the mASCot report was essentially ignored as it contained “real” voices from families dealing with the “real” system. Without organisations such as mASCot and Amaze families like mine would be simply cast adrift without any support
I can not believe Ofsteds report!!! To all the families that are living with Autism every day it’s a huge Kick in the teeth!! It absolutely is NOTHING like this. I have 3 neurodivergent children and all of them are suffering in this current system. My 15 year old is still in counselling over what he went through in Primary school, and we are still fighting to get him into a specialist placement within his current setting. It took us a whole year to get his ADHD medication from CAMHS in which time he had attacked me with a hammer, pushed his Dad down the stairs, smacked his sisters head of a wall and thrown our youngest against the fire guard!! He also jumped out of a car travelling at 30 miles and hour!!! Now he has his medicine we see none of that!! A whole year between diagnosis and medication!!! NO OTHER MEDICAL CONDITION IS TREATED LIKE THIS.
My 13 year olds case is currently with the tribunal Courts as we are fighting to even get the LA to agree to assess her in school! She was so behind when she came up from Primary school she couldn’t even be in a classroom learning environment and yet STILL they are refusing to assess her. We ended up having to pay for her inattentive adhd assessment as CAMHS told us 4 years wait!!! She would have been out of school with noting as the LA were still refusing to assess.
My 8 year old is out of class every day as he can not cope with the pressures of a mainstream environment and he’s school are left to deal whilst they have to gather enough evidence that this is what he needs. I can’t get him out of this situation as no evidence means no assessment!!
The level of distress he goes through whilst trying to get him in to school and keep him there is unparalleled.
Brighton and Hove are FAILING their young people. They are no specialist placements for Autistic children without learning disabilities and assessments for EHCP are just absolutely ridiculous!! The fight you have to go through to even to get them to agree to assess in the first place is absolutely soul destroying. My mental health has suffered hugely because of this stress and I’m now having to take anti anxiety medicine where I never had a problem with this before.
Shocking performance by OFSTED. This report is a complete sham.
In addition to my previous comment – I just want to say if it wasn’t for mASCot I literally don’t know where we would be!! Absolutely amazing charity. I can’t express the value of them in our lives for both parent and child.
“It mentioned a lack of personal assistants, that the quality of EHCPs have not been monitored well enough and that some children and young people were waiting too long to find a specialist school place.”
In what world does this equal ‘good’. Brighton and Hove deserves much, much better – your move Bella Sankey!
The future of my son being provided an education scares me massively.
He is just about coping at primary with a lot of guidance now they have started to listen to us as parents however they still wont apply for an EHCP cause he isnt ‘bad’ enough!!
Imagine with the right support or provision how much he could thrive.
Secondary is fast approaching and im terrified for him as i cant see him coping and then a new constant fight/battle starts.
Groups like Mascot have been a massive help and support even if its just reading through a group chat to realise you arent alone.
This report is a travesty. It makes me wonder who on earth they could have spoken to – sadly not any parent of SEN children I know. As parent of 2 autistic boys I echo the comments above. Over the years we have struggled with diagnosis, EHCPs, school placement, getting respite, behavioural support. But I see it is now much much worse for families with under 18s. Families are at breaking point and services being removed apace such as the sad loss of Extratime the SEN holiday provision. My eldest is now out of education and luckily has a few hours of work, but I am effectively his full time support worker, probably until I die. The stress on families is enormous and sadly so many parent carers become ill because of this. The council support for families is certainly NOT ‘GOOD’. Parents and voluntary groups like Mascot are at absolute breaking point.
Our children have been and are still being let down by the LA and CAMHS. My son has had no education for over two years. We have had to fight to get him one hour of tutoring a day. He still hasn’t seen anyone from CAMHS. We were lucky to be able to scrape together the money for a diagnosis of Autism privately, otherwise we would still be waiting another two years. The OFSTED report I read was unbelievable, and doesn’t reflect the experience we have had. I’m glad some people are getting the help they need, but this should be for all.
It’s enough that parents with children that have additional needs have the extra tasks of navigating through life with needing extra energy to help our children. We are mentally and physically drained. On top we have the constant repetitive cycle of paperwork to complete. Juggling life and work with little to no support or sometimes zero empathy from the check box blanket email responses feeling that we are not listened too. Including the long delays in processes. Only for them to be rejected when there is a clear need for support. The mental health and physical well being of parents having to go through this forever ongoing cycle is exhausting. When government money is constantly supporting failing projects with little to no support for our children due to “funding” issues it makes you wonder why there is a mental health crisis. The whole system is broken!
I’m not really sure what planet the Ofsted inspectors are on, when they deemed the SEN provision as ‘Good’ in Brighton and Hove. This result is as inaccurate as it could be and by no means paints a true picture of what is actually going on in our city with the SEN provision for Autistic children and young people.
This sector of our community has left parents stressed beyond belief, exasperated and on their knees with having to find a suitable educational setting and the right support for their autistic young people. There are so, so many children and young people lost in the system as our city has well and truly failed them…. they have been out of education for so long and it is at the point when they have an autistic burnout and crisis point hits that there is no other solution but to withdraw them from school. Then you find that there is nothing available for them as there are not enough spaces or enough specialist settings for autistic students. It is a total shambles and this community has been pushed deep into the ground and ignored. Even when my daughter was in secondary school and we asked for a quiet space where she could reduce her sensory overload, this was denied and so she gradually declined before our very eyes and in the end we had no choice but to de-register her. My experience of two SEN departments is that it is like an impenetrable wall that you cannot easily get through to and when you do get through, you find that there is little they can do for your young person…utterly dismal to say the least.
Let me tell you that Mascot is a HUGE lifeline for autistic families in Brighton and Hove and beyond. I don’t know how we would manage without them. We are so lucky to have them as our sounding board and advocates. They work so hard for us, for which we are grateful. The council needs to listen to them and hear what they have to say, more than they are doing now. There is still much work to be done to get the support that autistic families are entitled to – it shouldn’t have to be a fight, but sadly it is.
Ofsted – please take note – you got it so, so very wrong for us. You need to revise your report and provide an accurate account of the HUGE lack of support in Brighton and Hove and take note of how the majority of us are being failed.
I gave my opinions to this survey and was expecting a serious report, what a joke it turned out to be. My 17 year old would no doubt appear on the official record as having been well catered for by the LEA and now Elective Home Educated. The reality is that they are now NEET after many years with no education whatsoever despite the best efforts of tutors and a specialist brought in by an unresourced small private school that was paid for by their EHCP.
It took a lot of effort bypassing on my part to even get assessed due to LA attempts to block and refuse- and that is with a diagnosis of autism already.
It would not have been necessary to try and fail like that if there was a school for kids with higher care needs that could have adapted to their requirements and had the trained staff. They are far from the only child locally reaching adulthood uneducated, purely because of systemic failure. What a waste, despite them being intelligent and creative we were left with the realisation that our only hope for a different outcome would have been to fight in court to have the LA send them away to a specialist boarding school or move elsewhere in the country (Sussex isn’t a great place for autistic kids generally). Instead we are now having to fight for crumbs of substandard mental health support and praying they find the will to carry on living.
How can they receive a rating of ‘good’ when there are so many of our children out of education and so many families struggling to receive the support they need and deserve? We have to fight for every little thing and it’s exhausting. You can not fully understand unless you live this life but you would expect a professional body such as OFSTED to at least take into consideration the survey and opinions of people who deal with the system day in day out.
Without mASCot, we would have no where to turn, it has been an absolute life-line to not only my family but hundreds of others. There support has been invaluable. When our son was diagnosed 17 years ago, mASCot were the first people who supported us and have ever since. It does not matter whether the problem is big or small there is always someone who will be by your side with advice. They are a charity but they fight harder for our children than the so called professionals. Thank you mASCot for everything you do, you’re all amazing.
The most awful experience ever. I have never heard so much discriminatory language used again my son in the LEA schools. He has been demonised labelled and ultimately excluded from accessing mainstream schools because he has a neuro development disorder. Nobody listens. There is no timely response there is little to no support and little understanding.
The Ofsted report appears unfortunately to be a political whitewash trying to gloss over obvious failings in local authorities or not looking for them in order for the government not to be seen to be presiding over national failure of SEND children and families. Nearly 500 parental responses were submitted to the mASCot survey and they were all pretty devastating, but shockingly (or not) this was not represented in the Ofsted report.
The report congratulates the LA on opening a new provision for 30 autistic children without learning disabilities ‘The Hive’ when five years ago they closed an Ofsted rated “good” school for this group of children “Patcham House” saying there was no demand for it! During the intervening 5 years those children who would have been at Patcham house have been suffering in unsuitable schools, often pushed out and left unable to attend with no alternative education put in place, their parents have had to give up jobs to take care of them, pick up the pieces of their mental health and also provide an education as there is also an illegally set threshold to even achieve meagre tuition at home. My child was denied this for 2 years over what was essentially a paperwork error on the LAs part. Absolute shambles and no accountability and apology to these families. My child has received NO secondary school education from the LA except what was put online during covid. They are expected to take GCSEs next year. I am almost speechless at what a mess it’s been.
Thank goodness for the solidarity and sanity of mASCot informing, caring and fighting for families. It was them pushing for the New provision which the LA will now take credit for, it is them holding us together. Us parents holding each other together where the LA leave us broken and move on.
My experience of Brighton and Hove SEND has been absolutely dreadful from day 1.
We arrived in B&H with a solid EHCP for my daughter who had been in a special school for the previous 7 years.
However, nothing on it was provided. I had to make all arrangements with the college as the SEND dept did nothing.
After the first term I asked for an annual review as it was overdue. The case worker that came along knew nothing about my daughter. I asked for the support on the EHCP and she insisted that it was irrelevant in B&H as they do their own EHCP’s. I challenged her on this as is simply not accurate. I couldn’t believe they were telling me this. She just kept insisting that she was right. So I asked why they hadn’t created thier own if that was true. I knew she was not telling the truth. That or she was completely clueless. Most likely both. She said she would arrange some reports. Months went by and nothing was done. Finally 2 terms later I was contacted by the OT for an assessment who had only just been instructed.
B&H SEND seem to make things up, maybe hoping that they will not be challenged. They also seem to try anything they can that will delay in order to avoid providing the support for as long as possible.
This was the first year wasted. Support was still not provided and during the pandemic she had to drop out completely. B&H did nothing. Another year wasted.
The EHCP they eventually came up with was not right and the targets not SMART so I then took them to tribunal. Luckily my daughter is over 18 so was entitled to legal aid and I got a solicitor to help. The tribunal agreed the new EHCP and she started at Brighton MET after a year at home in her room.
Myself and her PA made numerous contact with the SEND and college but found it impossible to get hold of anyone. Eventually close to start date we managed to get hold of someone to plan transition.
The first day she arrived none of the plans we had made were put into place and she spent the first day in a melt down which set the tone for the rest of the year. B&H completely hands off and I threatened legal action again. Then for a few months they provided some of the support until the end of the year. We had a wonderful OT but she was not provided for many months so by the time they developed a good relationship it was the end of the year.
B&H then refused her next placement (The Sand Project) who we had found in West Sussex. SAND is a bespoke small college who wanted to help my daughter find a way to make money from her artistic talent as she did not need any more qualifications. The barriers to employment are not academic like many young autistic students. However, B&H insisted she was able to go to university or work which she was not able to.
They did not know SAND, and made no attempt to find out what they do. However, they still claimed it was not progress. Luckily SAND offered her a scholarship as they wanted to show B&H what they can do for students that have a talent but cannot access mainstream work environments or university. B&H have refused to fund every applicant so far. West Sussex have no issue funding students like my daughter and they make great progress.
However, B&H took out most of the support from her EHCP. I challenged this of course. But I was told she could not go to SAND with the support on her EHCP as SAND could not provide it. I was tired of fighting and just relieved that she had somewhere that met her needs so didn’t fight them on this. I regret this now as I think they did this to avoid funding any other provision going forward.
At the recent annual review the case worker agreed that my daughter did not fit into Cafe Dominica and was unable to get a job. She also said that SAND were doing a great job. However, the panel will not allow her to have the 2nd and last year. They are withdrawing her EHCP.
Of course I said I will fight this but they told me that by the time I have the Tribunal she will be 25 so it is pointless. Then more time wasting to ensure that the Tribunal will be delayed. They previously told me they would send the final decision to end the EHCP in May. It didn’t arrive so I chased them and they then said they will send end July.
I suggested that they were deliberately time wasting.
I am going to tribunal and I am thinking of suing them for failing my daughter over the last 5 years. It won’t help her but I cannot let them get away with how they treat their SEN students and their families.
It shouldn’t have to be this hard.
I am shocked that this seems to be typical of this LA and they somehow have succeeded in getting a good OFSTED report. How can this have happened?!
I was expecting some differences of opinion on the Ofsted inspection and report but apparently Ofsted have found NIVARNA in Brighton and Hove, they have found the ONLY place in the world that was not affected by a global pandemic and continue to provide and I quote “timely and effective service right from the start”. Ofsted has found the ONLY place in the world with no waiting list, or waiting list to the waiting list called expression of interest in council services. Ofsted has identified the ONLY council in the world that provides might I add “from the start”, “bespoke” services for every SEND individual identified and maybe about to be identified.
Now either the reporting panel have cracked a cosmic paradox and where in an actual parallel dimension or someone or persons should be fired least Ofsted be discredited as a governing body
This is an absolute joke. The SEN team clearly don’t know whether they’re coming or going. The support is horrendous, they have spoken to me like I should have some sort of inbuilt knowledge into this system. I don’t have a clue, they are so hard to get hold of and when I do they do a terrible job of explaining anything. It is difficult enough being a parent carer for a disabled child, and the treatment we get from the SEN team and the LEA is appalling really. So far unimpressed, and the answers we get are – there’s no specialist provision suitable so just let you child go to mainstream and see what happens.
I was shocked when I read this report. Absolute opposite of our experience. Feels like gaslighting and fraud from Ofsted and the LEA. ‘Bespoke interventions whilst waiting for neurodevelopmental assessments’. Really? Not in my experience. Both Camhs and BHISS have told me we can’t access any help whilst waiting for assessment – what are these bespoke interventions? Ofsted won’t provide the management info to back these claims of being ‘good’. I’m sure B&H LEA are failing on even the basic statutory requirements, it would be pretty easy to demonstrate this if this information was made available. What an absolute sham, it’s disgraceful.
In the two years that my son has been at school I have experienced the opposite of the report that Ofsted published. Everything feels like an uphill battle and I feel completely unsupported. Having been promised a school application for an echp for 18 months and now realising it won’t happen for a good while yet I’ve had to start the process myself and pay someone independently. The stress and financial stress it is causing me is shocking.
The Ofsted was a work of absolute fiction, there was little to no real reflection of the struggles endured by long suffering families as a direct result of the sheer lack of support and service in B&H. To say this was a whitewash is an understatement, having to absolutly and catagolrically fight for the service and support which is their legal right is hard enough a pill to swallow, but to then read this absolute fantasy report is insulting, enfuriating and wholy misrepresents the equity that SEND children and young people have in society, its damaging to say the least.
Do any of these inspectors realise that by providing a ‘Good’ Ofsted they are actually being part of the problem? These are our adults of the future and if not supported in their youth will have a devastating impact on their adulthood and therefore on adult mental health services and unemployment in the future? As it is, many of the family members dealing with the educational failures of their children deal with the knock on effect of leaving their jobs or having to work reduced hours just to deal with the telephone calls, emails, reports, meetings, research in order to fight for their children’s education? This in turn impacts family life, relationships, income and so much more. West Sussex is no different. How come you take a child out of school for a family holiday and you are fined but a child not being able to access education for 18 months is perfectly acceptable and marked as authorised absence?
It’s like Ofsted took a wrong turn and inspected an entirely different city (albeit a relatively magical one in in the context of these days)! Absolutely appalling. And hugely insulting for them to disregard the mASCot feedback report. Do they really have such little respect for those they are meant to be looking out for?
I can only mirror all the comments above. I’ve just had to give up my job to care for my son full time while he waits at home for a suitable alternative to mainstream school. I’m a driven, literate person, able to fight for my son and complete all the appropriate paperwork, navigating an absolutely farcical system. If I did not do this, my son would have fallen through the cracks and be at home long term with no one taking responsibility for his education.