Tag Archives: SEND

Council couldn’t care less: Ombudsman upholds 7 complaints

Croydon Council had seven public complaints upheld against it by the Local Government Ombudsman in the first three months of 2019, research conducted for Inside Croydon can reveal. The rulings resulted in several apologies from the council, and hundreds of … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, SEND | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Our children deserve help to improve their life opportunities

CROYDON COMMENTARY: It is autism awareness week. There’s been events staged at the Town Hall, and tomorrow there’s a special meeting at which teens, young adults, parents, guardians and carers can discuss their situations with councillors and officials. SARAH BOWELL, … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Schools, SEND | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hear Autism meeting, The Cherry Hub, Apr 6

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Schools | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Flemming’s SEND strategy report gives much to live up to

The council cabinet meeting at the Town Hall on Monday saw Alisa Flemming present the council’s draft strategy for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities – SEND. Councillor Fleming is the council’s cabinet member for inadequate children’s services and failing schools. … Continue reading

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Schools, SEND | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Council’s SEND consultation coming to a close – but when?

There is just a week left to take part in the latest Croydon Council consultation. Or it might be that there’s just one day left to take part in the council’s under-publicised consultation over its services for young people with … Continue reading

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Consultation begins for borough’s SEND travel and services

The council has opened a consultation on its planned services for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities and their families and carers. Croydon’s draft SEND Strategy 2019-2022, and its Draft Post-16 Travel Assistance Policy for young … Continue reading

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Henderson’s ‘leaving present’: Kingston’s Ofsted failure

Another local authority has failed a visit by Ofsted inspectors, this time nearby Kingston for its poor delivery of services for children and young adults with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, or SEND. For parents and carers in Kingston, the … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Jo Negrini, Kingston, Outside Croydon, Robert Henderson | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National charity names Inside Croydon among autism heroes

Steven Downes, the editor of Inside Croydon, was honoured by a national charity last night when named Journalist of the Year at the Anna Kennedy Online Autism Hero Awards. According to the official citation, Downes was nominated for the award … Continue reading

Posted in Inside Croydon, Local media | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Talking With Schools, SEN event, Project B, Oct 10

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RightfulLives exhibit challenges lack of provision for autism

An exhibition launches online on Monday which say it is an attempt to explore the relationship between the Human Rights Act and people with autism or learning disabilities. Developed without a penny of Arts Council or local authority grants, the … Continue reading

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Local Offer website fails to meet standards under SEND laws

Parents and carers of children and young adults with SEND – Special Educational Needs and Disability – claim that the new, malfunctioning Local Offer website launched by the council last month is not only full of broken hyperlinks and broken … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Alisa Flemming, Andrew Rendle, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Jo Negrini | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Council’s SEND website and a quest for the missing links

Croydon’s latest ‘digital offering’ has left parents and carers of some of the borough’s most vulnerable youngsters angry at the way they have been fobbed off with yet more sub-standard service. KEN LEE reports Neil Williams, Croydon’s recently appointed chief … Continue reading

Posted in Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education, Jerry Fitzpatrick, Jo Negrini, Matthew Wallbridge, Neil Williams | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Crisis in Sutton after Ofsted fails council’s SEND service

EXCLUSIVE: After Croydon’s children’s services was rated “inadequate” last year, now Sutton’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities department has been found by Ofsted to be failing. And council attempts to suppress the report ahead of local elections have failed, as … Continue reading

Posted in 2018 council elections, Education, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Wendy Mathys | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Children’s services director responded to parents with threats

Ian Lewis, the council director for children’s services who left his job just before the publication of the critical Ofsted report into his department’s performance, has been accused of threatening worried parents who had turned to Croydon Council for help … Continue reading

Posted in Barbara Peacock, Children's Services, Croydon Council, Education | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our three-year battle to secure education for our SEND son

CROYDON COMMENTARY: In the past couple of weeks, Croydon Council’s press office has issued releases about a £1million grant for families of looked after children and a “virtual reality roadshow to let shoppers experience how autistic people can feel”. Yet … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Croydon Council, Education, Schools | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Council’s ‘Rottweiler behaviour’ sent carer to brink of suicide

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Last week, we reported how the Local Government Ombudsman had found “a catalogue of unacceptable failings by London Borough of Croydon, which has left a family stretched to breaking point”. Here, in a shocking criticism of the way … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Croydon Council, Education, Youth Services | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Croydon fined for abandoning autistic boy and his grandmother

Croydon Council has been ordered to pay £11,250 in compensation and has been sharply criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman for abandoning a grandmother with no help in caring for her disabled grandson for two years. The Local Government and … Continue reading

Posted in Adult Social Care, Croydon Council, Education, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

One-third of Croydon’s SEND budget is spent on tribunal work

Croydon Council staged a(nother) flag-raising at the Town Hall this morning, this time for World Autism Awareness Week. “Croydon Council is on a mission to increase understanding of what it means to be autistic and bust some of the most … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Education, Schools | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment