Dear Parent Carers

As chair of the neurodevelopmental pathway work stream I would like to provide an update of progress.

• A key work stream group has been formed and we are meeting monthly, this includes PACC, health professionals, CCG commissioners, Education representatives, sixth form, secondary and primary schools, AWM, Early Help leads and SEND leads, early years practitioners and SLTs. The outcomes from this group are feeding into the strategic board for SEND.

The first steps towards creating a new pathway has included:

• Consideration of the Coventry Model and Dimensions Tool. This has been created by Dr Heather Moran and is a model that the group believes will provide a good assessment and intervention pathway.
• A scoping exercise to map what is available to our families, CYP and schools. This has revealed the need to provide more visible and clear information for families about the support systems currently available.
• Training models for schools to increase their expertise and capacity to support our population within the educational settings.
• A focus on data gathering to find out how many referrals are made monthly for neurodevelopmental assessments so that we can make sure we build in the right capacity and systems to manage this need.
• Consider the steps we need to take to ensure we co produce the pathway alongside our parent carer forum.

The next work steam meeting will identify specific subgroups to consider a range of factors:

• Quality assurance of the neuro diagnostic process.
• Clear visible pathway for all to see and use on the local offer.
• How to inform the parent and child post diagnostic assessment about the outcomes and assist understanding.
• How to support the child and family through the pathway and make sure they have access to key professionals who can assist with managing and supporting the family and school.

We will also aim to develop a project plan with a time- line which we can then share with you and keep you all updated on our progress.

I have been impressed with the dedication of the professionals and parents’ commitment to this process and I am pleased we have had the opportunity to share our work so far.

Best wishes
Poppy Chandler
Principal Educational Psychologist, Shropshire Council