Norfolk SEND Joint Strategic Needs Assessment

We are already doing the following to address what the SEND JSNA reports.

Creating new tools to support schools 

Norfolk County Council has developed new tools for schools to help better understand and support children and young people with SEND. One of these is the Identification of Needs Descriptors in Education Settings (INDES) index, introduced in 2022. 

What Is INDES? 

Instead of focusing on just one main need, INDES looks at eight areas of need using a scale from 1 to 7. These areas include: 

• Speech, language and communication (SLCN) 
• Social communication and interaction 
• Cognition and learning 
• Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) 
• Physical and sensory needs 

This gives a fuller picture of each child's needs, helping schools and services offer better support. 

What INDES is showing us 

• Individualised profiles of 21,400 children. 
• INDES now covers:  
  • 97% of children with EHCPs 
  • 90% of children receiving SEN Support 
• 32% of children show needs in all four major areas. 
• 34% show a common cluster of:  
  • Cognition and learning 
  • SEMH 
  • Social communication and interaction 

This shows that many children have complex, overlapping needs, not just one single issue. 

How INDES helps schools 

INDES works alongside two other tools: 

• Inclusion and Provision Self-Evaluation Frameworks (IPSEF) 
• Graduated Provision Maps (GPMs) 

Together, these three approaches help schools to: 

• Understand the needs of their pupils more clearly 
• Plan support more accurately 
• Make better decisions about resources 
• Apply for funding more effectively 

Why this matters 

These tools mean the county council and schools: 

• Know more about what children need 
• Understand what support schools are already offering 
• Can make smarter decisions to improve SEND provision across the county 

Strengthening inclusion in mainstream schools 

Norfolk is working hard to make sure children with SEND can flourish in mainstream schools. The council's Local First Inclusion (LFI) programme is a key part of this work, and it's already making a big difference. 

What is LFI? 

LFI is part of Norfolk's wider SEND improvement strategy Norfolk Area SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy (NASAPS). In 2025, the programme launched its new SEND and Inclusion Support Model across all 15 school zones, designed together with school leaders. 

How it works 

At the heart of the support model is the Team Around the School (TAS) approach. This means: 

• A multi-disciplinary team including teachers, council SEND advisers, early help workers, and other professionals meets regularly with schools to review children's needs and develop support plans 
• They work together to create strategies for individual children, groups, and whole schools 
• The goal is to improve inclusion and ensure children receive the help they need, in partnership with the school and other local services.  
• The Team Around the School is used to discuss and signpost support for children with complex SEND and starts referrals to expertise from the Specialist Outreach Advisory Service, School and Community Teams and Educational Psychology and Specialist Support (EPSS).
• Over 300 TAS meetings have taken place 

What's changing in schools 

All mainstream schools in Norfolk have worked with the council to: 

• Review and improve their SEND provision 
• Strengthen the quality of SEN Support Plans 
• Improve how they identify children's needs 

Recent data shows strong engagement and real progress in making schools more inclusive. 

Strengthening support and infrastructure 

To reduce exclusions and keep children in mainstream education, Local Planning Partnerships (LPPs) are being rolled out to all secondary schools. 19 new bases and centres will be established to support this work over the coming years.

The SEND and Inclusion Support Line, launched in autumn 2024, has already handled over 5,200 calls, resolving 93% of queries and providing direct support to families and professionals. 

Collaboration with health partners continues, with a focus on neurodiversity and expanding mental health support in schools. 

Norfolk has also expanded its specialist infrastructure significantly over the past five years. This includes: 

• 343 Specialist Resource Base (SRB) places in mainstream schools, enabling more children to access support closer to home and where possible be supported to reintegrate back into mainstream classes. 
• Expansion of 23 existing SRBs and creation of 17 new ones, with 11 more in development. 
• 670 new special school places through three new schools and expansions of existing provision, with further growth planned. 

Strengthening the wider system to support children with SEND 

Building a stronger, more inclusive system for children and families in Norfolk 

Norfolk Children's Services is reshaping how it works to create a more joined up, inclusive, and responsive system for children and families.  

Central to this is the provision of early help, agencies working together, and flexible support that follows the child, which is especially vital for those with SEND. 

At the heart of this transformation is the Norfolk Learning Ambition, which is a shared goal for all children and young people to flourish, reach their full potential, and be well-prepared for life. 

This ambition is led by the Norfolk Learning Collaborative (NLC), which is a partnership of leaders from: 

• Schools and colleges 
• Early Years and SEND services 
• Alternative provision 
• Norfolk County Council and the Department for Education 

Together, they're building a self-improving education system based on shared expertise and collective responsibility. 

This is happening through: 

• Place-based planning where education leaders in each area work together to create inclusive, sustainable solutions tailored to local needs. 
• The Self-Improving Education System programme, which is aligning support across: Early Years, schools and Post-16 education to make sure schools are in the right places with the right resources to meet changing needs. 
• The Vulnerable Children in Education programme helps children with SEND thrive in mainstream schools by ensuring high-quality alternative provision is available, with a focus on reintegration. 
• The System Collaborative with Health is improving early help and focusing on better support for neurodiverse children and reducing long assessment wait times 
• The Best Start Family Hubs and Start for Life programme offers support from conception to age 25 for those with SEND. It provides families with access to online help, help in their local community and help in family hubs. 

These programmes work together to create a stronger, more inclusive system where: 

• Children with SEND are supported early and consistently 
• Families can access help close to home 
• Schools and services collaborate to improve outcomes for all 

Green shoots of early success 

Our green shoots of early success which show our work is starting to have an impact are: 

• A pilot of our new Alternative Provision Strategy with three secondary schools in one area reduced permanent exclusions from 12 in 2023-24 to only 2 in 2024-25 
• A trial with 23 mainstream primary and secondary schools of small group provisions called Enhanced SEND Provisions (ESPs) supported 472 children enabling 90 of them to successfully transition back into their mainstream classrooms. We are now exploring support more schools to adapt existing small group provision to this model. 
• Requests for EHCP assessments has fallen for the first year ever from 2,559 in 2023-24 to 2,336 in 2024-25. As SEN Support improves and confidence in SEN Support improves, we expected to see a natural decline in reliance on EHCPs for appropriate support.