Earlier in the week the Isle of Wight branch of Save Our Schools campaign shared details about a demonstration planned at the end of the month to raise awareness of the ‘SEND crisis’ on the Island.
Save our Schools stated that Isle of Wight SEND children experience the third longest delay in the country for receiving their finalised education, health and care plan (EHCP). Adding that “children here can wait over two and a half years, legally it should take no more than 20 weeks”.
IWC: We have responded well to these [SEND] reforms
In response to the article, an Isle of Wight council spokesperson told OnTheWight,
“Reforms were made in the 2014 Children with SEN and Disability Act to make processes around identification and securing support for children with special educational needs (SEN) quicker and more straightforward for parents.
“On the Isle of Wight we have responded well to these reforms and the latest figures for the Island show that 95.8 per cent of families are receiving their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) within the 20 weeks from the date of a request for assessment.”
No IW EHCP ‘delays beyond statutory timescales’
They went on to say,
“We have a range of support on offer for children with SEN both with and without EHCPs and are well equipped to ensure positive outcomes for all our children and young people.
“While it is the case that nationally families are waiting beyond the statutory timescales for the EHC process to be undertaken, this is certainly not the case on the Isle of Wight.”
Public demo
SEND parents will be demonstrating on the Island on 30th May – to coincide with National demos – from 12 noon until 2pm, St Thomas Square, Newport.
They argue there are fewer areas in the UK that have “felt the effects of the SEND crisis more than our Island”.
