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- Local Offer Annual report 2023 - 2024
Local Offer Annual report 2023 - 2024
Local Offer Website
There were 95,480 page views on the Local Offer this year. Whilst this number is down from last year, we now have fewer actual pages on the website. This is in line with the wishes of our key partners, including Wakefield Parent Carer Forum.
There were 70,780 sessions this year, up 20% from last year. Sessions are views and interactions on the Local Offer website. The number of new users rose 32% from last year, to 61,617.
Local Offer Inbox
The total number of enquiries received via the Local Offer inbox and Facebook is 193. This is up 36% from last year. The majority of queries this year came from professionals. Most queries were appropriate for the Local Offer inbox, with 17% being inappropriate. These inappropriate queries were signposted to more relevant services or passed on to the WESAIL duty inbox. Feedback shows queries are dealt with in a timely manner.
The number of followers of the Wakefield WESAIL and Local Offer Facebook page is 756 this year. This represents an increase of 84%. The reach of the Facebook page is up 17% to 18,780.
Finally, our engagement on Facebook (likes, comments, shares and reactions) is 910 for the year 2023-24. This represents an increase of 483% from the previous year (from launch of new page November 2022 until end of year March 2023).
We held 59 events (such as meetings and consultations) this year, slightly up on last year. This has resulted in significantly higher numbers of parents, carers (107% increase) and professionals (161% increase). We have had 6 children and young people (CYP) participating this year, which is down on last year. Some of this is due to circumstances beyond our control. To mitigate this for the coming year, we are contacting a wider range of CYP groups and have established a contact with the SENCO forum.
During 2023 – 2024, we have worked in coproduction with a wide variety of teams including; Preparation for Adulthood, Short Breaks, Health Improvement Team, SENART, WISENDSS, SEND Project Team, Educational Psychologists, Complex Care Needs Team, Wakefield Libraries, Castles and Museums, CAMHS, WYICB, Children’s Continence Service, Wakefield 0 – 19, WPCF, WASP, SENDIASS, FDP, PPL, Outwood Grange Academy, RLON and various third sector services listed on the LO.
Our key coproduction themes are below.
We have worked with the Local Offer Strategic Group (LOSG) to discuss the suitability of information, auditing pages to establish what the group want to see moving forward. The group are involved every time a new service requests to be added to the Local Offer. They have supported with improving the postcode search function for service users wanting to find education settings
We have worked with Wakefield Council to update the Personal Budgets information, which is now broken down into smaller sections.
With our LO Champions, we have created new sections on SEND Documents and Resources, and SEND Strategies on the website to make these key documents easier to find.
We worked with the Wakefield Awareness Support Project (WASP) service to develop information about their service, including an Easy Read guide on how to find them on the Local Offer, published in the Autumn 2023 newsletter.
SEND-friendly activities
We have worked with key partners to develop and fully update the Things To Do section of the Local Offer website. More activities have been added in line with feedback received.
We involved service users in discussion about the requested topic of where to go with Max Cards. This yielded positive feedback and suggestions, which were shared as coproduction in all newsletters this year.
The influence of our service users continues to be seen on our Facebook page, where we have a weekly feature of Things To Do, shared from the website and service user suggestions.
We have worked with our key partners to make information on contacting and joining the LO more obvious. We have also worked with the website hosts, PPL, to move some of the accessibility functionality to the top of the page.
The Local Offer Strategy Group audited several accessibility videos and gained further feedback on other videos. These were also shared regionally, with positive feedback being received. The videos were completed, agreed, and can now be found on the Local Offer website.
We successfully completed all fixes that arose from the Government website accessibility monitoring, and they passed us as compliant.
We took on board the ideas of our key partners to make accessibility information easier to find. We have also used their ideas to rearrange contents on the Information and Guidance landing page.
LO Champions have also been involved in reviewing the newsletter and ensuring that it is produced to a high standard, with accessibility in mind.
CYP have been involved in producing an article and choosing images for the newsletter. The was on the topic of transition, focusing on top tips in moving from Y6 to Y7.
On Facebook, we have posted requested topics and shared suggestions from service users on mental health and safeguarding.
We have worked with other professionals, e.g., CAMHS, EP, to develop and share further information on mental health. We have also engaged with service users to gain ideas on anxiety tips that we have been able to share in our Spring newsletter.
We have been involved in the Local Offer Live Event Task and Finish group, creating and sending out a survey on what parents and carers would like to see in terms of workshops and presentations at the event. We have also gained ideas on this event from other professionals, including at a regional level, and will share these at the next meeting.
We have supported with ideas around accessibility and key services to invite. This was based on feedback that we gained from feedback from parents, carers, and professionals.
We have been involved in regional discussions about what documentation is legally required on the Local Offer. We showed the progress on our website to share good practice.
We also led a special regional meeting to share how we work collaboratively with our key partners in reviewing, updating, and auditing information for the Local Offer.
Read our You Said We Did for 2023 - 2024
CAMHS – Child Adolescent Mental Health Service
CYP – Children and Young People
EHCP – Education, Health and Care Plan
EP – Educational Psychologist
LO – Local Offer
LOSG – Local Offer Strategic Group
PPL – Public Partnerships Limited
PRU - Pupil Resources Unit
RLON – Regional Local Offer Network
SENART – Special Educational Needs Assessment and Review Team
SENCO – Special Educational Needs Coordinator
SEND – Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities
SENDIASS – Special Educational Needs and or Disabilities Information Advice Support Service
WASP – Wakefield Awareness Support Project
WESAIL – Wakefield Early Support Advice Information Liaison Service
WISENDSS – Wakefield Inclusion Special Education Needs and or Disabilities Support Service
WPCF – Wakefield Parent Carer Forum