On behalf of Audrey Kingham, Executive Director of Children, Young People and Education
We have been notified today (26 January) that Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission will undertake an area-wide SEND inspection over the next 3 weeks. This is the same type of inspection we last had in March 2022 when we were a pilot for the new framework, and involves 2 weeks of preparation and 1 week of on site fieldwork.
Our preparation for the inspection starts now with the provision of data lists and documents for the inspectors before they come on site a fortnight today (9 February). A timetable will be finalised for the visits detailing which schools, settings, services and officers inspectors will be visiting when they are on site.
The inspectors and a senior HMI will be based at County Hall.
We always want to ensure that we give inspectors a clear, positive and accurate picture of the quality of our practice, and we always want to use the findings from any visit to contribute to our continuous improvement.
As part of this, Ofsted have asked that links to their surveys be circulated and I would be grateful if you could support this process by sharing the following letters with: practitioners, parents and carers, and children and young people with SEND.
If you could please distribute these to the appropriate groups we would be most grateful.
We would also appreciate your support in encouraging as much participation as possible by 9:00am on the 3rd February 2026.
We will ensure any schools/staff who are likely to be part of the inspection are prepared and supported and we appreciate all of your support over this period.
Kind regards
Audrey (Executive Director of Children, Young People and Education)
