Feedback received

Feedback from parents

The Sheffield Parent Carer Forum collects most of this information. Sheffield City Council must say what it will do about the comments it has received. You can download You said, We did documents and Local Offer annual reports from the sections below.

More than 500 parents gave feedback in the State of Sheffield survey. The Sheffield Parent Carer Forum (SPCF) collected this between March and April 2023. You can read either a summary, or the full report on their website:

State of Sheffield: Executive Summary 2023

State of Sheffield: Full Report 2023

5 cartoon figures of people of different ethnic origins. one is in a wheelchair, one is wearing glasses

Feedback from young people

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities have given their feedback in different ways. In groups they have spoken about their wishes and feelings. They have completed questionnaires.

They have told the local authority how they like to spend their time and about their goals. They have said how they like to be communicated and consulted with.

Sheffield City Council will work with young people to make sure that they put their recommendations in place.

Feedback from the Preparation For Adulthood Event at Lowedges in March 2024

I learned a lot of useful information about my son's condition. Thanks to lovely and helpful people I know what to do and where to go in the future with my son.

The event was super organised, I got answers to all my questions.

Feedback from Parent Carer Coffee Morning at Sharrow Community Forum in December 2023 and March 2024

It was good to meet others in same boat and talk through issues and finding that others felt the same.

It was good to meet the Post-16 Team - they are friendly and brilliant.

It was helpful to hear the guest speakers from SENDIAS and transport. Was also good to hear others parent’s views. I liked how everyone was in the same boat as me, similar aged kids, similar special needs, same post 16 worries.

You Said We Did

See what changes we have made based on the feedback we have received.

We received feedback that it would be good to make better links with the Family Hubs and Parenting Hub as a number of the parenting programmes are SEND specific. Family Hubs and Parenting Hub are part of the Sheffield Directory. A tile in our Help with Caring section has been created. Help with caring
On our SEND Facebook Group, a member made us aware of the National Digital Inclusion Network. They signpost to local services so people can access digital skills training, refurbished devices and free mobile data. A link has been added under Education and Learning and Transition into Adulthood.
We were made aware that the Local Offer does not have a link to the Sheffield All Ages Autism Strategy. A link has now been added to the sections:
- About the Local Offer and other information (Useful links and information)
- Education and Learning (Useful information)
- Transition into Adulthood (Useful information)
- Health and Wellbeing (ADHD, Autism and Sensory Processing Difficulties)

Because of this we have also added the Autism Partnership Board to our Opportunities to join in and get involved page. Signposting how to join this Board to help improve outcomes for autistic people in Sheffield.

We have been told about parent/carer concerns about suitability of a school place allocated, especially if parents had requested a special school place but were allocated mainstream.

In April 2024, we got together to make a plan for how schools can help children with special educational needs. We are calling this the Specialist Approaches in Mainstream Schools. The working group includes Commissiong managers, Service managers and school leaders. This will bring lots of different work that is happening in the city together. We want to make sure all schools can meet the needs of children in the same way.

We have been told that students need help with exam stress. We have added links to Young Minds and the NHS that provide advice. These are on our Education and Training, Transition into Adulthood and Health and Wellbeing pages.
We were asked by a school when transition annual reviews should take place for children with an annual review. We have added this information to the Annual review of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan advice page.
A parent informed us that City Taxis have changed their name to Veezu. This has now been updated Accessible taxis.

We were asked what transition support was available from the Sheffield SEND Advisory Services. We have now added the information to the Local Offer page for each service. It is under a pink drop down banner on each page:
We were given feedback that text wholly in captial letters cannot always be easily read. We changed our SEND Newsletter branding in time for our February 2024 issue.
A parent advised that there was not a link to the Family Hubs sensory rooms/spaces on the Local Offer section. This has now been added to our Sensory rooms and spaces in Sheffield page.
We were asked on our SEND Facebook group what dental services were available for those with additional needs. A link to the Community & Special Care Dentistry page on the Sheffield Teaching Hospital website has been added to the Health and Wellbeing section.
We were asked how a compliment can be shared. A page has been created explaining how to do this. It also shows some compliments we have received. Want to give a compliment?
We were told through our Feedback on this Page function that documents were not opening on the page Autism and Social Communication Team - transition packs. All documents now open.
We were told when children move to Sheffield from other Local Authorities, this can lead to significant changes being made to their EHCPs, including the removal of important provision. We have created an advice page about moving to Sheffield with an EHC plan and how the annual review process should be followed. Transferring an EHC Plan from another Local Authority
We were told that several parents were unaware that they could request a meeting to discuss the draft plan. We have updated the annual review advice page. Annual review of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan

We were advised our Health information pages were out of date. These have now been refreshed. How to access Health Services.
We created an advice page for Children's Continuing Care.
We were told that there is a lack of transparency about funding allocated by 0-5 SEND Team to nursery, with parents not informed about the amount or the provision put in place. We have included information about the Early Years Inclusion Fund on the advice page Childcare funding for children with SEND. It explains what it is and how nurseries apply for it.
We were told that there is insufficient support and lack of staff training / understanding in schools that can lead to behaviour problems and ultimately exclusion, e.g. teachers asserting their dominance can exacerbate students’ behaviour. We have put together a Sheffield Early Help Workforce training offer Early Help Workforce Training | Sheffield (sheffielddirectory.org.uk). This includes training through Learn Sheffield and Sheffield City Council.

A parent (and Director of Strategy at Sheffield Parent Carer Forum) advised their daughter was wanting to start driving lessons but struggled to find information. An advice page was researched and created called Learning to Drive.
Following on from feedback from employment forums we created a page on Disability Confident Employer.
We were told there is a lack of support for families whose children are struggling to attend school, both from school staff and attendance officers. We reviewed the information and published an improved advice page on the Local Offer webpages on Anxiety and Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance.

We were told by young people that we didn't have any information on LGBTQ+ and sexuality. We created an advice page that you can view here.
A parent advised they struggled to find a taxi company that would be able to take a motorised wheelchair. We liaised with Transport Services and created an advice page on Accessible Taxis.
As part of looking at opportunities for young adults and increasing the options, we created a Starting Your own Business advice page.
We were told that there wasn't enough information about preparing for adulthood for those leaving school. Working with the Sheffield Parent Carer Forum and the SEND Partnership, we developed a Preparing for Adulthood Transition Guide which was published in May 2023.

We were told by parent/carers and young people that the subject areas on the Local Offer website needed another click to then view the information available. We changed this based on this feedback.
Parents and carers said that a page with some useful links would be good to feature. A page has been created with useful links.