Local area SEND inspections

We are expecting that Camden might receive a local Area SEND Inspection from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

This page explains what will happen during the inspection and how families in Camden can be involved.

What is an Area SEND Inspection?

Ofsted inspects education services in England, like schools and nurseries. They also look at children’s social care and the support available for children and young people with SEND.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects health and adult social care services in England, like hospitals and care homes.

Together inspectors will review how effectively we work together as a partnership in Camden to improve the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND 0-25.

Our ‘local area partnership’ includes everyone in education, health and social care involved in arrangements and services for children and young people with SEND in Camden.

The inspection findings and outcomes will be published and recommendations will be made to the Camden Local Area Partnership about what we should do to improve the SEND arrangements and services we have in place for children and young people.

What happens during an Area SEND Inspection?

The inspection will last for 3 weeks in total. Inspectors will usually contact us on a Monday morning to announce the inspection. We will then have two weeks (ten working days) before the inspectors arrive on-site in Camden.

The inspection team will be led by an Inspector from Ofsted, and will include Children’s Services Inspectors from the CQC , and education and social care inspectors from Ofsted.

We will be asked to share a range of information about SEND in Camden and the children and young people who receive services. This will include children and young people who have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), children and young people who receive an Exceptional Needs Grant (ENG) and children and young people who receive SEN Support in school.

The inspection will also include:

Surveys for children and young people with SEND in Camden and their parents & carers.
Surveys for practitioners working with children and young people with SEND in Camden.
In-depth ‘tracking’ of children and young people including speaking to children and their families.
Sampling and reviewing children and young people’s case records, including discussing cases with practitioners.
Visits to providers and services across education, health and care to review the experiences of a wider group of children and young people.
Meetings with parent and carer groups in Camden.
Meetings with leaders across education, health and care in Camden.

What will inspectors look at?

Inspectors will use eleven ‘evaluative criteria’ to help them judge how services in Camden improve experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

They will assess:

Whether children and young people’s needs are identified accurately and assessed in a timely and effective way.
Whether children, young people and their families participate in decision-making about their individual plans and support.
Whether children and young people receive the right help and support at the right time.
Whether children and young people are well prepared for their next steps and achieve strong outcomes.
Whether children and young people with SEND are valued, visible and included in their communities.
Whether leaders are ambitious for children and young people with SEND
Whether leaders actively engage and work with children, young people and families.
Whether leaders have an accurate, shared understanding of the needs of children and young people in their local area.
Whether leaders commission services and provision to meet the needs and aspirations of children and young people.
Whether leaders evaluate services and make improvements.
Whether leaders create an environment for effective practice and multi-agency working to flourish.

How can families be involved?

Once we have been informed of an inspection we will notify children, young people and families. This will be done by:

Getting in contact with our education settings, early years providers, schools, colleges.
Providing updates on our social media accounts, websites and email bulletins.
Working with the Camden Special Parents Forum.

We will do our best to make sure that you have opportunities to share your views and experiences. You will be able to share your views in lots of different ways, including:

Surveys- children, young people and their families will be invited to complete surveys before inspectors visit us. The survey will ask about any support from education, health and care needs and preparation for adulthood.
Tracking meetings- inspectors will identify around 6 children and young people for tracking meetings. If your child is selected, you will be approached by a practitioner currently working with your family. You can ask not to be involved. The meetings allow inspectors to speak directly to children, young people, and their families to understand their experiences and outcomes.
Parent Carer Forum- inspectors will meet with our local parent carer forums. You can contact them with any issues you feel need raising with inspectors. You can find out about the Camden Special Parents Forum here: Camden Special Parents Forum - Kids
Inspectors will also visit providers across education, health and social care to get more feedback on family’s experiences. This will include schools, colleges and health services.

If you do get involved with the inspection by sharing your views, you will not be identified in the inspection report.

What happens after an inspection?

Inspectors will write a report evaluating the impact of our arrangements on the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND.

This report will include an inspection outcome. It will say what we are doing well and what we need to improve. The report will also give clear recommendations for us to act on, as well as giving the rough timing of the next inspection.

There are 3 possible inspection outcomes:

1. The local area partnership’s SEND arrangements typically lead to positive experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The local area partnership is taking action where improvements are needed. The area will be visited again for a full inspection within five years.

2. The local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The local area partnership must work jointly to make improvements. There will be regular engagement meeting to monitor progress and a full inspection within three years.

3. There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, which the local area partnership must address urgently. There will be engagement meetings, an action plan will have to be submitted, a monitoring inspection within 18 months and a full inspection within three years.

Previous inspections in Camden

SEND services in Camden were last inspected in 2019, you can find the inspection report here: Joint local area SEND inspection in Camden

Our Children’s Social Care services were last inspected in 2022 and you can find the report here: Inspection of Camden local authority children's services

You can find inspection reports for health services in Camden on the CQC Website: Care Quality Commission

Inspection reports for individual schools can be found through the Ofsted website: Find an Ofsted inspection report

More information

We will update this page with further details and links to the inspection surveys once we are notified that an Area SEND Inspection will be taking place in Camden.

Ofsted have produced some information for parents and carers so you can find out more about what will happen during the Inspection.

Ofsted have also published information for children and young people:

All the above links, along with British Sign Language videos and information about ongoing inspections, are available on the government’s SEND inspections web page.

You may also find it helpful to look at the online area  SEND inspections: framework and handbook published by Ofsted and CQC .

You can find out more about SEND in Camden including our Local Area SEND Strategy and what we are doing to improve services for children and young people with SEND here: services for children with disabilities.

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