Our DS Achieve Co-Chairs, Kelly Harris and Michelle Bolton, were pleased to be invited to attend the Hertfordshire SEND Summit yesterday to represent the interests of our community to help shape plans for SEND reform across the county.
SEND leaders presented insights into the improvement work which has taken place since the Herts Ofsted inspection failure and it was clear that progress has been made in many areas, with positive intent that this will continue. However it was also acknowledged that there is still ‘much more to do’ with limited resources, and that parents are not yet consistently feeling the impact of improvements made.
We welcomed the opportunity to share our community’s views and discuss our childrens’ needs, and we’d encourage everyone to engage in the HCC consultation exercises which will be taking place across the county. Important upcoming events include the publication of a Government White Paper on SEND reform, and Hertfordshire’s own SEND Strategy (November 2025) and budget (February 2026).
We also took the opportunity to press leaders for more details on action plans (exactly what will happen and by when).
We look forward to seeing these questions answered in the new SEND strategy and we’ll be actively engaging in the consultation exercises as they progress. As always, we’re keen to hear your views so please do get in touch if there is anything you’d like to share.