You Said, We Did (SEND)

The SEND Local Offer must develop and respond to feedback from you, its users. On this page we will publish summaries of the thoughts and comments that you've shared with us. We'll also provide details of what Nottinghamshire is doing in response to this feedback.

On an annual basis we publish a report, which outlines the work that has taken place on the SEND Local Offer during the year, including work as direct result of user comments, and also outlines plans for future work. These reports can be viewed under 'downloads' on this page.

Remember if you want to comment on the SEND Local Offer there are a number of ways you can do this:

1) By completing the “SEND Local Offer Survey”, which can be found under the 'Feedback' tab on the right side of the page. You can let us know how easy you've found using the site. Was it easy to search and navigate? Was information presented in a clear and helpful way? Etc. The survey should take no more than a few minutes to complete.

2) Alternatively you can email local.offer@nottscc.gov.uk to let the team know your thoughts on the SEND Local Offer. It could be that you have noticed a gap in services that you have been looking for. Please provide as much information as you can.

3) By using the Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum meetings in your area to highlight any gaps or to advise on what is or isn't working well with the SEND Local Offer. You can find out more on the Notts Parent/Carer Forum website

4) If you are a young person, and are interested in representing and enabling young people with a disability to have a voice and be heard, you can join the Nottinghamshire Pioneers Youth Forum 

 

Thoughts and Comments 2023

March 16th 2023 - SEND Local Offer Development Group

YOU SAID: The Frequently Asked Pages on the site were often out of date or duplicated existing information in the main body of the site. The number of existing FAQ questions was making this unsustainable to maintain therefore had to be reduced to ensure user confidence in the information on the site. 

WE DID: Reviewed all of the FAQ pages on the site including gaining statistics from the Corporate Communications Team on the most visited pages. Where the information already existed in the main body of the site the FAQ information was removed to avoid duplication. If the information did not exist in the main body of the site it was incorporated into this and keywords were added into the adminstrative side of the system to aid searches for this information. New pages were created where the statistics highlighted this information was particularly popular with users including 'Children not in School', which has now been added as a sub-content tile in the main education section.

This piece of work has now made the task of ensuring information is accurate and up to date much more sustainable. It will more importantly help to install more user confidence in the information that is contained on the site. 

February 8th 2023 - Comment from take the survey

You said: I was unable to tick any of the boxes to indentify myself to enter the survey. I am a family friend supporting someone. 

We Did: Changed the first question on the take the survey form to include a 'relative or friend' option. 

Thoughts and Comments 2022

September 2022 - Comment from Nottinghamshire County Council Intern

YOU SAID: Post 16, Further and Higher Education information needs to be revised to make the information on higher education clearer and the support for students information realistic and reflective of real life experience.

WE DID: Updated the Post 16, Further and Higher Education and Support for Students with Disabilities, in the Preparing for Adulthood section of the website, with revised text and supporting infographics from an intern with additional needs who had recently attended university.

This information will also be added to the Young People’s Zone to ensure it is consistent.

July 2022 - Comment from SEND Local Offer Development Group

YOU SAID: Add information on the statutory duty and process for health professionals to notify the Local Authority where a child under school age has or is likely to have SEND when they start school.

WE DID: Created a ‘Early Health Notification’ tile under the Health and Social Care section with information and guidance, and an Early Notification Request for Involvement form for health professionals to download and complete.

May 10th 2022 - Comment from Take the Survey

YOU SAID: Couldn't find the information I required. 

WE DID:  The Notts Help Yourself is currently undergoing the process of a wireframe upgrade to improve the general accessibility to the site. At the same time there is going to be a refresh of the site design, which will include the SEND Local Offer pages. This should help to improve the navigation of the site to enable users to find the information they need more easily. This work is taking place through the Notts Help Yourself working group and will involve user engagement to ensure that the re-designed site will meet the needs of local residents. It is anticipated this work should be completed by Autumn 2022. 

March 2022 - Comment from SEND Local Offer Development Group

YOU SAID: Make school admissions information easier to find, including for those children and young people moving into Nottinghamshire.

WE DID: Created a new school admissions service record with information on applying for a school in Nottinghamshire, including links to the Nottinghamshire County Council schools admissions hub, a video on applying for a school place in Nottinghamshire, special educational needs support and moving from another Local Authority to Nottinghamshire for children with or without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

March 2022 - Comment from Integrated Children's Disability Service (ICDS) professional

YOU SAID: Add information to support the preparing for adulthood process and Nottinghamshire County Council Preparing for Adulthood Events.

WE DID: Created a new sub-content section within Post 16, Further and Higher Education, which contains a Preparing for Adulthood service directory with local organisations who can offer young people support. We also posted information on upcoming events and added information from previous events including webinar presentation information and recordings for those young people who could not attend the events. 

January 24th 2022 - Comment from Take the Survey

YOU SAID: The website is a bit convoluted and confusing - it seems you have to go on a wild goose chase to find what you are looking for. It needs to be more clear, simple and less confusing. 

WE DID:  The Notts Help Yourself is currently undergoing the process of a wireframe upgrade to improve the general accessibility to the site. At the same time there is going to be a refresh of the site design, which will include the SEND Local Offer pages. This should help to improve the navigation of the site to enable users to find the information they need more easily. This work is taking place through the Notts Help Yourself working group and will involve user engagement to ensure that the re-designed site will meet the needs of local residents. It is anticipated this work should be completed by Autumn 2022. 

January 18th 2022 - Comment from Take the Survey

YOU SAID: Couldn't find the information I required. 

WE DID:  The Notts Help Yourself is currently undergoing the process of a wireframe upgrade to improve the general accessibility to the site. At the same time there is going to be a refresh of the site design, which will include the SEND Local Offer pages. This should help to improve the navigation of the site to enable users to find the information they need more easily. This work is taking place through the Notts Help Yourself working group and will involve user engagement to ensure that the re-designed site will meet the needs of local residents. It is anticipated this work should be completed by Autumn 2022. 

Thoughts and Comments 2021

March 2021 - Discussion at the Local Offer Development Group

YOU SAID: The Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum felt the health information under the health and social care tile could be refined and reduced to enable parents/carers to find information much easier. 

WE DID:  The health tile has been refined and the number of drop downs within this significantly reduced. 

January 2021 - Comment from the Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum

YOU SAID: The Education, health and Care Plan information and process is unclear and needs to be simplified. 

WE DID: The whole education tile has been reviewed including, the EHC plan pathway, and was re-developed, through a working group, to make this information much clearer and easier to understand. 

Thoughts and Comments 2020

January 2020 - Comment from Local Offer working Group

YOU SAID: Make the developing independence, employment and training tile on the home page much clearer and easier to navigate. 

WE DID: We are currently in the process of re-developing this tile along with parents/carers and young people. It is hoped that the new tile should go live in May 2020. 

Thoughts and Comments 2019

04/11/2019 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: Links for schools to give parents an idea of the support schools can seek.

WE DID: We have recently completed an overhaul of the education information on the Local Offer to ensure that information is much easier to navigate and find. Under the main pink education tile on the home page we have put twelve sub-category tiles and one of these tiles is 'support for special educational needs', which has advice and guidance including information on funding that schools can access to support children and young people with special educational needs. There is also information on services that support children and young people in schools including the Schools and Families Specialist Services and Special School Nursing. There is also a 'frequently asked questions' sub-category, with contains a range of questions produced by parents/carers. One of these sections is called 'agencies working with schools' and provides details of the specialist services that can be accessed by schools to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. 

 

04/11/2019 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: The majority of buttons that disagree or dislike the options on the survey do not work.

WE DID: We have now checked and rectified this so that all of the options are now available to select.

 

26/10/2019 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: Make the language clearer as can be difficult for parents/carers to understand.

WE DID: We continually review the Local Offer and try to make sure the text is kept to a minimum and that the information is as clear and up to date as possible. All of the Local Offer advice and guidance pages have been reviewed and amended. We work with the Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum to co-produce the Local Offer and they have requested that text is kept to a minimum and that drop down sections are used within pages to break up the information and make it easier to understand. We appreciate that information and processes can appear complex but we do also ask services to make this as clear as possible for users.

16/09/2019 - Comment from Local Offer Development Group

YOU SAID: Make the health and social care information on the Local Offer much easier to navigate.

WE DID: We have re-devleoped the health and social care tile on the Local Offer home page to make it much easier to navigate and to find information. Additional information has been added on services, across health ands socail care, and a frequently asked questions sub-category tile has been added with all of the questions produced by parents/carers. 

 

09/05/019 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: More tailored information, this is just overwhelming and gives lots of things that are unhelpful

WE DID: We have been working to re-develop the information on the Local Offer with a focus on making it easier to use and navigate so users can find the information they are looking for. We have been working with the Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum to overhaul the site and they have advised on the layout they would prefer. The main tiles are all going to be re-developed to follow the format of the short breaks tile on the home page, starting with the education tile. Under the main tiles will be several sub-category tiles for example, early years, EHC Plans and transitions. Within these sub-category tiles there will be titled drop down sections so users can more easily find the specific information they need.

All of the service records in the back end of the system are also being reviewed in terms of the keywords that aid search results. We have also worked with the Notts Parent/Carer Forum to overhaul all of the search filters to ensure these are useful to enable more tailored search results. It is therefore hoped that these changes will make the specific information that users need much easier to find.

 

February 2019 - Comment from Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum

YOU SAID: The education information is not easy to navigate. Information needs to be easy to find and the preference would be for the layout to be the same as the short breaks tile on the home page where information is broken down in to clearly defined sub-category tiles and drop down lists. This will also include frequently asked questions by parents/carers and responses to these.

WE DID: We are currently working with the Notts Parent Carer Forum to re-design the education tile including content and how the information is presented. All of the work undertaken will be co-produced with the Forum to ensure that the parents/carers have ownership of this and it meets their needs. A test page has been set up and is currently being worked on. It is anticipated that the new education tile will go live on the Local Offer by the end of May/Beginning of June. UPDATE: The new education tile will be going live on Monday 17th June.

 

February 2019 - Comment from Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum

YOU SAID: The filters on the left-hand side of the page of search results are not fit for purpose. They contain too many filters, which are not necessary and that parents/carers won't necessarily understand. The main filters they would use are: AGE, SUPPORTED CONDITION and DISTRICT and the filters therefore need to reflect this. Also the age filter is currently named as 'Offering Services To' and this should just be re-named 'Age'. It can also be confusing on smartphones as the filters have two drop down boxes; one is 'Filter By', which states the sub-category field and the one underneath is 'Other Filters', which contains the actual filters such as age and district. The parents/carers therefore only want one filter box they need to click on.

WE DID: A request has been submitted to Open Objects to change the title of the age filter and also to see if they can only have one filter drop down instead of two. An exercise will also need to take place to reduce the volume of unecssary filters that are currently being presented to the user and this will involve the 'un-tagging' of records in the back end of the system. This work will be on-going until the uncessary filters have been eliminated across the Local Offer. UPDATE: The title of the age filter has been changed by Open Objects as requested. They were unable to change the two filters in to one due to the way the system is set up to display categories. However, they have made the title of the filters clearer with one being called 'filter by category' and the other 'extra filters', which contains the age, district etc. All of the tagging of records has taken place to remove the unecessary filters and the option to add these filters in the back end of the system has also been removed by Open Objects so they will not show again.

 

February 2019 - Comment from Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum

YOU SAID: The accessibility button, which allows customisation of the site for users, including text size, colour and contrast, is visible on desktop display but cannot be seen on smartphones.

WE DID: A request has been submitted to Open Objects to ensure that the accessibility button is visible on smartphones. UPDATE: The accessibility button has been added in to the smartphone drop down. However, an accessibility button has now also been added to the main header on the Local Offer home page to make this much easier to locate and use.

 

February 2019 - Comment from Nottinghamshire Parent/Carer Forum

YOU SAID: On smartphones the parents/carers found the 'Films to Help with Using the Local Offer' on the home page confusing in terms of when they clicked on the title for each film what they should be looking at as the films appear further down.

WE DID: A request has been submitted to Open Objects for each of the film titles to be numbered so they pair up better with the actual film and make it more obvious what smartphone users should be looking at. UPDATE: Open objects did number the films as requested. They also have inserted the films behind the 'films to help with using the local offer' button on the header of the home page so when you click on this button it takes you in to the films instead of scrolling down the home page where they were previously sat. This also makes the home page more concise and the layout less confusing.

Thoughts and Comments 2018

24/10/2018 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: It has little or no information that I have found useful and is very confusing to use.

RESPONSE: The Local Offer does contain a wide range of information that is relevant for children and young people aged 0-25 with special educational needs and disabilities. We recognise that different people will have different needs and meeting this need may be dependent on what specific information is required or services that are available to meet the need. We work in accordance with the SEND Code of Practice 2015, which outlines what should be included in a Local Offer and have recently undertaken a review of this information to ensure that everything stated in the Code is on Nottinghamshire's Local Offer. We also co-produce the Local Offer by working with groups of parents/carers and young people and have recently undertaken a user testing exercise to gain feedback on the user experience to ensure that local needs and aspirations are being met. An action plan has been drawn up from the feedback obtained from parents/carers and young people. One of the key actions is to make the Local Offer more accessible and easier to user and much work has been taking place over recent months and is still continuing in order to improve the user experience. You can read about the work undertaken on the Local Offer over the past twelve months and the work planned for the next twelve months in the Local Offer Annual Report 2017-18.

 

08/10/18 - Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: Provide information that is useful - I am looking for information about residential care - I have found 1 organisation based in Derby. Where are to Nottingham ones?

RESPONSE: There is a wide range of information available through the Local Offer and it will obviously depend on the specific information that is required and what services are operating to accommodate this need. Typing "residential" in the search bar will bring up many residential care records but it obviously depends on their specific provision in terms of what might be available. Search results can be narrowed down further by using the filters on the left hand side of the page once search results have been brought up and this includes geographical area. If we become aware of appropriate services that are not already on the Local Offer we can approach the provider and encourage them to register their service.

 

22/08/2018 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: There is literally nothing on here of any help at all. I am a single parent of 2 disabled children and the information on here is quite pointless, and non-existent. A fine example on “Things to do”. Creswell Craggs, why is this on the list? Accessibility at the site is terrible for disabled/wheelchair users, the play area isn’t suitable for anyone other than a normal functioning child of age 6 and over.
However, I go here as we like to walk, but I don’t see why it’s on the list.
Also there are many spelling mistakes throughout.
There’s no real information about what I can access, in terms of actual “help” and respite, for example there’s no eligibility criteria or funding information.

RESPONSE: The Local Offer is a continual work in progress and we shall continue to add information that is relevant for children and young people with SEND aged 0-25. All services added to the Local Offer should therefore be relevant to this cohort in terms of the service being offered. The service record relating to Creswell Crags has been reviewed and has now been removed from the site as it is does not offer a service for children and young people with SEND. It will obviously depend on personal interests and the nature of the child or young person’s disability whether the provision is suitable for them. Some organisations on the Local Offer may offer more specialist provision, which meet the needs of certain disabilities where as some may offer facilities, which could meet a variety of needs. Contact details will also be on each provider record so families can also make contact for further information if required if they are planning a trip out to ensure the provision will meet their needs.

We do continually review the Local Offer website and our aim is for it to be up to date and as accurate as possible. If we do become aware of any information that is incorrect or there are spelling mistakes then this will be corrected as soon as possible. If you would like to contact the Local Offer team regarding any information that may need amending then please email local.offer@nottscc.gov.uk

The Local Offer does contain a wide range of information, advice and guidance. On the home page there are six main tiles, which look like apps. These are: Education, Health and Social Care, Developing Independence, Employment and Training, Getting Around, Things to Do and Short Breaks.  Within the short breaks tile there is a wide range of information, which includes the eligibility criteria, how to apply and the online application form. If eligible for this service funding can be allocated as a direct payment to access activities. The short breaks pages also contain information on other sources of help available including financial support.

 

July 2018 - Feedback from Local Offer user testing with parents/carers and young people

YOU SAID: Make the site easier to navigate and find information.

WE DID: An upgraded Local Offer platform has been purchased, which should include a more elastic search function such as a spell checker to reduce or eliminate null search results. This is expected to be in place by the end of 2018 or by March 2019.

The tagging of records in the back end of the system has been overhauled and every record within the Local Offer has been checked to ensure the keywords actually reflect what the record is and is not tagged generically with words such as 'disability'. For example, if the record is a dance group the keywords should state the word 'dance' to ensure this supports more accurate search results.

The filters that are used to narrow down search results need to be further discussed with parents/carers to ensure they are fit for purpose and assist the user as efficiently as possible to find what they are looking for. This work will take place as soon as possible over the coming months.

 

July 2018 - Feedback from Local Offer user testing exercise with young people

YOU SAID: Develop a Young People's Zone on the Local Offer to attract more young people to use the Local Offer and to have content, which reflects their aspirations and needs.

WE DID: We have worked with the Futures Careers Service (IRIS magazine) to produce a young people's zone. Scoping has taken place with the student forum at Portland College and Nottinghamshire Youth Forum to gain insight from young people on the content of a young people's zone and how this should look. Futures are in the process of developing the zone for their own website and there will be a link from the Local Offer home page to this. This should hopefully go live by mid April 2019.

July 2018 - Feedback from Local Offer user testing with parents/carers and young people

YOU SAID: Make the Local Offer as accessible as possible for the varying needs of users.

WE DID: We added a link to the header of the Local Offer to the 'Films to Help with Using the Local Offer', which includes information on accessibility features on the site.

More easy read guides have been added to key information and advice and guidance pages across the Local Offer. These have symbols and a minimal amount of text.

A Local Offer glossary has been added to the home page with commonly used words and phrases across the site to ensure better understanding of the text.

 

20/03/2018 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: I want to know how to apply for an EHCP only.

RESPONSE:  The Education, Health and Care Plan Pathway, which outlines the process from making a referral for an EHC Plan to reviewing plans, can be found on the home page in the format of seven coloured circles numbered from 1 to 7.

You can also find information on EHC Plans under the main blue coloured 'Education' tile on the home page and if you type 'EHC Plans' in the search bar at the top of the home page.

 

16/03/2018 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: There's loads of explaining what it is, but can't find any actual resources. It all just goes in circles. I tried searching and got links to yoga classes.

RESPONSE: The Local Offer site does contain links to other sources of information as it would be impossible for much of the information to be contained on one page and some of the useful information comes from external sources. However, it is important that the Local Offer remains as accessible as possible and for people to find the information they need without frustration to encourage repeat visits.

We are currently in the process of re-organising the information on the Local Offer site stemming from the home page. We are now using sub-categories under each of the six main coloured tiles on the home page so this hopefully will make it easier for people to find the information they are looking for. For example, from the home page if you click on the health and social care tile it will take you through to a landing page where there are several sub-categories including 'behaviour support', 'mental health' and 'Parent and Carer Support'. All of the six main categories on the home page will soon be changed to the same format. As we are moving services and provider records to the applicable sub-category, we are also checking to ensure that they are specifically applicable to children with special educational needs and disabilities and ensuring that each record is appropriately 'tagged' to ensure they only show in relevant searches.

We are also currently in the process of arranging user testing of the Local Offer site with groups of parent/carers and young people, which is a key requirement in terms of the development of the site. We would more than welcome the input of any parent/carer who would like to be involved in this. For more information please make contact through the Local Offer email local.offer@nottscc.gov.uk 

 

14/03/2018 - Comment from Take the Survey on the home page

YOU SAID: It might be helpful to say what the survey is before starting to ask questions - i thought maybe it might be a questions about our circumstances with signposting at the end.

RESPONSE: I have made contact with Nottinghamshire County Council's Digital Content Team who oversee the survey to request that a paragraph is added to the beginning of the survey to make the purpose of the survey clearer. The survey collects feedback on personal experience of using the Local Offer site and this will be used to develop and make improvements to to the site.

Thoughts and Comments 2017

12/11/2017 – Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: More support for people who work with people with SEND. Discussion pages.

RESPONSE:  Primarily the Local Offer is a Local Authority’s publication of all the provision “they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC)

plans.” (Section 4.1 SEND Code of Practice, January 2015)

However, as part of a potential site refresh a ‘professional’s corner’ could potentially be considered where general useful SEND information could be shared.

 

25/09/2017 – Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: This is ridiculously circular. Link upon link upon link.

RESPONSE: The Local Offer site does contain links to other sources of information as it would be impossible for much of the information to be contained on one page and some of the useful information comes from external sources. However, it is important that the Local Offer remains as accessible as possible and for people to find the information they need without frustration to encourage repeat visits. We are currently in the process of arranging user testing with groups of parent/carers and young people. Following a review of the information gained we can then look at a possible site refresh and changes that may need to be made. The timescale for the testing is February/March 2018. I would more than welcome the input of any parent/carer who would like to be involved in this. For more information please make contact through the Local Offer email local.offer@nottscc.gov.uk

 

12/09/2017 Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: Make a phone number more prominent to assist people in finding what they want.

RESPONSE: Each provision on the Local Offer should be leaving full contact details including a contact name and telephone number and email address. This can be seen in the ‘Who to Contact’ section under the title of the provision when you click in to the record. We will be contacting all providers by email at least annually to ensure their provision record is kept up to date. 

 

02/08/2017 – Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: I need help to find a child minder for my son who has behaviour problems, I see no help where to ask or get help

RESPONSE: You can search for childminders on the Local Offer site using the search bar at the top of the page by either typing ‘childminder’ or using the directory categories on the left side of the search bar to find childminders. Once this brings up the results you can narrow this down for example, by age or area, using the filters on the left side of the page. If you then click in to a childminder one of the sections should be around inclusion and ‘special needs’ where the childminder can state what they offer in this area.

You can also find lots of information including factsheets relating to childcare on the Notts Help Yourself Site by clicking on this link: Childcare

 

01/06/2017 - Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: I've only had a brief look so not sure if it has this function but links to my child's school to see their 'local offer' details or other facilities of support would lessen internet searches to look for help.

RESPONSE:  Your child’s school can be found using the search bar at the top of the page on the local offer site. Each school has to state their support for special educational needs listed under the Local Offer section of their page, which can be a download or link or through their ‘Schools Extended Local Offer Response’. Each school is contacted on an annual basis to update their SEND information.

 

01/06/2017 - Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: There are hardly any schools available to send my child to. Many educational staff are not trained to cope with this type of child particularly teaching assistants who usually end up with them 1 to 1 for 90% of the time.

RESPONSE: The local offer does provide information on Special Educational Needs (SEN) support and the type of support available for a child with special educational educational to access the national curriculum. Support for SENEducation Support

 

28/04/2017 - Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID:  We live on the Notts/Lincs border and there is very little in the way of local services in the Newark area, most events take place in Nottingham which is an hours drive each way, so would like to see more opportunities for teenagers and young people to socialise in this area. 2. Insufficient children's Personal assistants in the newark area- only 1 person is listed on the PA network section of the site.

RESPONSE: We are always seeking new services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to be added to the Local Offer. If we become aware of a service that is not already on the site then we will make contact with them to encourage them to register on the site or for their details to be added. If a member of the public is aware of a service that is not on the Local Offer then they can make contact with us: Contact Us

All of the Personal Assistant's on the PA Network Section  have to complete Nottinghamshire County Council's Support with Confidence Programme. Work is currently taking place to encourage more children's social care workers or those interested in becoming a Personal Assistant to register on the programme to broaden the range of PA's available including the areas covered.

 

31/03/2017 - Feedback from Nottinghamshire Parent Carer Forum

YOU SAID: It is frustrating that you you are not able to save information pages and go back to these later on to read.

WE DID: Liaised with Open Objects in terms of creating a 'save the page' facility. They advised this could achieved by changing the status of pages in the back end of the system. We have since been though all of the key pages to change the page type to advice and guidance pages so they can be saved as requested. If you click on to key pages now and look to the right hand side under 'Actions' there should now be a 'Add to my list' facility so the page can be saved for viewing later and can be printed or emailed if needed.

 

10/02/2017: Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: Make it easier to navigate and understand.

RESPONSE: The search functionality is being addressed. We are currently in the process of working on the search function with the company who host the Local Offer website (Open Objects Software Ltd) to ensure that it can bring up more accurate search results. The weighting of search results has been changed from the actual title of the service/organisation to what they offer e.g. transitions support. More key words have also been added on to records in order to make it easier for people to find the information they are looking for.

We are trying to keep the wording concise for each record to make this as clear and understandable as possible. We have produced a series of Easy Read Guides for the key advice and guidance pages on the site. This has used a package of symbols called Somerset Total Communication, which is widely used by the learning disability community in Nottinghamshire with minimal wording. There will be an easy read symbol on the top right hand corner of key pages, which can be clicked on producing the easy read guide for that page. We will be looking at adding more easy read guides to the site as time progresses or as requested and these guides can be used by anyone accessing the site.

 

21/01/2017 Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: Allow smart phone users to access the full site more easily. Have an online assessment type tool so parents can see what help might be available for our SEND children?

RESPONSE: The Local Offer should be fully accessible from smart phones including links and downloads. However, due to the size of the screen the layout will present slightly differently although the content will be the same.

The Local Offer is part of the wider Notts Help Yourself website and an online type assessment tool is potentially being considered at as part of a wider strategy to access the site. 

Thoughts and Comments 2016

16/11/2016 Comment from Take the Survey on the Home Page

YOU SAID: Only groups specific for special needs. More appealing brighter layout.

RESPONSE: When a provision signs in to add their record to the Local Offer this is sent to the administrative part of the system in draft form and will be checked to ensure this is appropriate (i.e. for children and young people aged 0 – 25 with special educational needs and /or disabilities) to be added to the Local Offer website. If we require further clarification from the provider on this we will make contact with them. If they do not offer provision for children/young people with special educational needs/disabilities then they should not be included on the site.

We are continually working on making the layout more appealing. The main coloured category tiles on the home page e.g. things to do, education were developed following consultation with parents/carers. We have been working with the local IRIS magazine to produce images of local children and young people and their families to add these to the website. A carousel of these images has been added to the title banner on the home page to hopefully make this feel more welcoming and appealing for people to use.

The ‘What’s Missing?’ icon on the home page has also been changed and is now a jigsaw puzzle with a piece missing, which hopefully reflects this better.

On the home page we have condensed this by removing unnecessary videos to other parts of the site and only have the ‘Films to help with using the Local Offer Videos’. This brings the 'What’s On' guide and 'News' fields closer to the top of the page, which parents/carers and young people may find particularly useful.

 

21/10/2016 - Feedback from Nottinghamshire Parent Carer Forum

YOU SAID: The 'home' button on the webpages takes you back to the Notts Help Yourself home pages and not the Local Offer, which is frustrating when navigating the site.

Many of the information pages have too many words and need to be reduced.

WE DID:

  • Liaised with Open Objects and requested that a Local Offer home page button was added to the search button, which was completed.
  • We checked all of the wording on the key information pages and reduced these where possible to ensure they are concise whilst still providing vital and necesssary information. A set of 'easy read' guides have been produced for all of the key advice and guidance pages including all stages of the EHC Plan pathway. These can be found on the individual pages under 'downloads' on the right hand side of key pages. Open Objects are currently in the process of creating a repository for all of the easy read guides and a new easily identifiable easy read symbol will be added to key pages and the easy read guides will be able to be found by clicking in to the symbol.

 

Email Feedback received October 2016

YOU SAID:

I am the parent of a 20 year old young man, he is wheelchair dependent, but very vocal and extremely sociable. I have used the Local Offer website as I am looking for his next stage, as he will be leaving Portland college next year, July 2017. The site is very useful but I would like to make a couple of observations. I am looking for Day Services and there are plenty, however, it is a little confusing as there are no sections specifically for young people. It would make it alot easier to negotiate if a designated page/section. Also the same applies to respite places. So that as a parent we can see at a glance what is available for our young adults. It may not seem important but I have got frustrated having to go backwards and forwards - Mrs F, Nottinghamshire

WE DID:

  • E-mailed and thanked her for her feedback and clarified how she searched for the information.
  • Advised that we are currently in the process of working on the search function with the company who host the Local Offer website (Open Objects Software Ltd) to ensure that it can bring up more accurate search results and will be raising this again.
  • Advised that another way to search on this occasion would be to go to the ‘directory categories’ on the left side of the search bar and scroll down to 'help in your home and community' then click on to adult day services. If you put in a postcode or an area where you are looking then use the filters to further narrow down the search by age it should bring up more accurate search results.
  • Discuss with Open objects the idea of a pop up pointing at the filters encouraging people to use them.

Annual Reports and Surveys

Annual Reports

To view our latest SEND Local Offer Annual Report 2023 please click here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Previous Annual Reports

Annual report 2021-22

Annual report 2020-21

Annual Report 2019-20

Annual Report 2018-19

Annual Report 2017-18

Annual Report 2016-17

Annual Report 2015-16

Annual Report 2014-15


Local Offer Surveys

Local Offer Survey Report 2019

Local Offer Survey Report 2020


Local Offer User testing

Local Offer User Testing Report 2018

External Links

  1. Notts Parent Carer Forum

Actions

Page last reviewed: 15/12/2023

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