The Royal Borough of Greenwich in conjunction with partners, parents and young people has today launched a new five-year partnership strategy aimed at enhancing the lives of children and young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

This comprehensive strategy, reflecting the voices of children, young people, parents, carers, and professionals across education, health, and social care, outlines five key priorities for the next five years.

These priorities have been written with local children and young people with SEND:

We want to be a part of our local community and go to inclusive fun activities like everyone else
We want schools and nurseries to support us better and have enough places so we can go to the right school for us
We want to be independent and ready for work and/or college when we leave school
We want to be as safe and healthy as we can be
We want ourselves, our families and friends to understand our needs and be able to support us well
All organisations and agencies involved, including the NHS and local schools, have specific plans in place to implement the ambitions in the strategy. These have been pulled together in an overarching Local Area SEND and Inclusion Improvement Plan.

Support for children with SEND and their families remains a key priority for the Council. Local data has shown a 47% increase in the need for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in schools to support children with SEND in mainstream education. This trend has continued: since 2022, the number of EHCPs has increased from 2,228 (in 2022) to 2,891 as of June 2024.

Children from Royal Greenwich’s ACE Young People’s Participation Network said:

“We want Greenwich to be a safe place where we have a feeling of belonging, where we won’t be judged and where everyone is important no matter who they are.”

Parents from the Greenwich Parents Carers Participation Forum, the representative body of families of children with SEND in Greenwich, said:

“We strongly believe that families know their children and young people best. We thus hope that this new strategy empowers parents / carers to best support their children and young people with SEND.”

Councillor Adel Khaireh, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People said:

“Every child, including those with special educational needs deserve the best education and support to enable them to excel and live fulfilling lives.

“It is important to ensure that every child is empowered, receives the right support, is enabled to be included and thrive in a nurturing environment. We are grateful for the input from children and their families, schools, health professionals and the community in developing this strategy.

“It is important now that we keep listening and learning from them, continuously improving the services we provide, so that every child and young person with SEND in our borough can be great in Greenwich.”