Stockton-on-Tees Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision Sufficiency Statement 2026 to 2029

Challenge 1

Need is being identified earlier and becoming more complex.

We will:

• expand the staffing capacity within our specialist nursery to provide outreach and support into mainstream early years settings to support inclusive practice
• increase the number of places available at our specialist nursery to provide 30 short to medium term places for children to have their individual needs assessed and support their transition into mainstream early years or primary education
• develop and embed our experts at hand model so that education settings have equitable access to training, advice and evidence-based intervention need at the earliest opportunity and provide swift access to specialist services when they are needed

Challenge 2

The number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is projected to rise over the coming years, while school rolls and the overall 0 to 25 year population are projected to reduce.

We will:

• work with our early years, primary, secondary and further education settings to embed our Inclusive Education Framework (mainstream practice) so that where it meets their needs, as many children and young people as possible with SEND can learn alongside their peers within mainstream settings
• develop and embed our experts at hand model so that education settings have equitable access to training, advice and evidence-based intervention to meet need at the earliest opportunity and provide swift access to specialist services when they are needed
• engage with our education settings who have falling rolls to identify opportunities to repurpose and adapt existing space to increase capacity to deliver specialist bases as part of our response to reforms

Challenge 3

We are placing more pupils in independent schools than our regional and statistical neighbours. Evidence suggests their needs could be met locally if the right provision was available.

We will:

• transition our current Additionally Resourced Provisions (ARP) and SEND unit model to a specialist base model to meet the requirements of the SEND reforms
• work with our secondary settings to increase the number of specialist bases delivered as part of secondary provision, focusing on Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) needs
• work with our local special schools to build on and expand existing specialist outreach and support into mainstream schools
• introduce transport impact assessments for every planned specialist base with the explicit aim of reducing journey distances and minimising long term transport costs
• refresh our pathway development centre pathway for children with needs related to SEMH or emotional school-based avoidance, increasing in reach to schools at key stage 3 and key stage 4 to reduce suspensions and exclusions (where day six provision is required, the pathway will enable the right placement to be found for a pupil which meets their needs and delivers high quality education)

Challenge 4

There is a limited range of further education options within the Borough.

We will diversify post-16 options for young people locally by:

• increasing the range of supported internship programmes available within the Borough, through partnerships with employers, further education colleges, and specialist providers
• increasing the range of alternative training pathways available to young people in the Borough through apprenticeships, vocational and work experience opportunities

Challenge 5

Pupils with Education Health and Care (EHC) and SEND support plans have consistently higher absence rates than those with no identified SEND.

We will:

• pilot an enhanced provision for children who are unable to attend school due to significant anxiety, ensuring high quality, inclusive education for all and full compliance with our Section 19 statutory duties (this initiative prioritises early identification, pastoral mental health support from appropriately skilled and trained teaching staff, with a focus on creating sustainable, long-term placements for up to 20 children with the most complex needs)
• strengthen early identification and graduated support for by embedding whole‑school approaches across mainstream settings, practitioner and parent carer training for emotional school-based avoidance to support early identification and support for children and young people to reduce barriers to school attendance
• work with providers through our refreshed commissioning framework for alternative provision (AP) to deliver high-quality, responsive education pathways for children and young people who are disengaged, at risk of exclusion, or require specialist support
• embed, as part of the SEND reforms, a multidisciplinary task force to improve outcomes for children and young people in alternative provision