Keep up to date with everything SEND in Lambeth. Here you will find the most recent SEND news and events.
Ofsted Local Area SEND Inspection surveys
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) are visiting Lambeth to inspect the local arrangements for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
The inspectors want to know about the help and support that children and young people with SEND get.
Find out how you can complete the survey to share your views.
SEND Family Survey 2025 findings available to read
The 3rd Annual SEND Family Survey was undertaken to continue to ensure that Lambeth’s children, young people and families with SEND are supported with services and resources that improve their lives.
Download the findings to find out more.
Lambeth youth speak up on Autism
Lambeth Council have partnered with Chocolate Films Workshops to support 27 young people from three schools in Lambeth to create a short documentary film: Autism: A Unique Life, about their lived experiences of autism. We are pleased to share that the film is now live on our YouTube:
New online booking system for one-to-one appointments with the team
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and you have specific enquiries about their SEND support, you can now book a one-to-one appointment with a Lambeth SEND team member.
Our new online booking system makes it easy to choose a convenient time, and you'll receive helpful reminders before your appointment.
Lambeth launches new SEND and Alternative Provision strategy
Lambeth Council is launching its new Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) strategy. The strategy ensures that all children and young people in Lambeth receive excellent and inclusive experiences and outcomes across education, health, and social care, from birth to adulthood.
The strategy, which runs from 2025-2030, was designed with young people and aims to provide the best care and support for any special educational needs and disabilities. It will also enable children and young people to achieve their full potential as adults. We are committed to making sure that every child gets the right help as early as possible, with schools, health services, and other support systems working together seamlessly.
Read the SEND and Alternative Provision strategy 2025-2030
Free support for Lambeth parents of children with learning disabilities, autism or ADHD
Supporting children and young people with neurodevelopmental conditions can be challenging, especially when behaviours of concern arise.
To help, Lambeth Council offers free support for families of children with learning disabilities, autism, or ADHD. This includes online webinars, workshops and one-to-one consultations with trained positive behaviour support practitioners.
The service aims to help you understand your child's behaviour and offers practical, neuroaffirming support strategies to manage challenges and improve family life.
Find out more and register for support
Summary of consultation on Jubilee resource base for deaf children
Following the recent public consultation on the proposal to close or relocate the Jubilee resource base for deaf children, Lambeth has concluded that the resource base will remain open at its current location.
Here are the key findings from the consultation:
- Strong support for continuation at Jubilee: 80% of respondents expressed a clear preference for keeping the deaf resource base at its current location. Many highlighted the need to maintain the base until a viable and equivalent alternative is established, if relocation were ever considered.
- Concerns about closing the base: a recurring theme among respondents was the belief that closing the base is not a viable option. They emphasised the critical importance of on-site qualified Teachers of the Deaf, specialised support staff, and regular access to services such as educational audiologists.
- Specialised local support is crucial: there was a consensus that deaf children deserve access to specialised educational support in a local setting. Respondents highlighted the importance of maintaining a sense of community and identity for deaf children, as well as providing emotional and social support.
- Opposition to relocation: many respondents questioned the rationale behind relocating the base, citing potential challenges such as increased travel times, disruptions to routines, and logistical difficulties for families.
Moving forwards, the consultation emphasised the value of the Jubilee resource base as a cornerstone of inclusive education in the borough. Respondents called for assurance that the base will receive sustained support, with efforts to enhance its resources and visibility. Maintaining specialised staff and fostering community among deaf children were identified as key priorities.
Lambeth’s decision to continue supporting the base in its current location reflects the overwhelming sentiment of respondents and reinforces the commitment to meeting the educational and social needs of deaf children.
For any further information please email sendsupport@lambeth.gov.uk
Celebrating young talent in Lambeth: SEND strategy artwork competition winner announced
Lambeth Council has announced the winning entry in a competition for children and young people with SEND to use their creativity to design artwork to be showcased in the new SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy. The strategy will support young people in school and the council asked children to create a design that represented ideas important to them.
These themes included local community, leisure, building independence, the importance of friends and family, and having their voice heard. The competition brief was to create a piece of art inspired by these themes.
The winning design was submitted by Arianna Frisby from Allen Edwards Primary School for her beautiful piece ‘Free as a bird’. Congratulations to Arianna and the runners up.
Lambeth SEND young inspectors inspect the Local Offer
The Lambeth SEND Young Inspectors Programme is a part of Lambeth's commitment to becoming a child friendly community, in partnership with UNICEF UK. The programme ensures that young people with SEND have a meaningful role in shaping local decisions, services and spaces.
The programme was piloted with 6 young inspectors aged 11 to 15, reviewing the ‘I’m a young person' section of Lambeth’s Local Offer and providing their feedback and recommendations on how to improve it. These young people had a range of special educational needs and disabilities, including autism, ADHD, hearing loss, and visual impairment.
The inspection, held at Dunraven Secondary School, focused on looking at website navigation, accessibility and website content. The young inspectors provided valuable feedback that was analysed to identify key areas for improvement.
We returned to Dunraven to present the findings report to the young inspectors, enabling them to review and sign off on the findings. We will continue to check in and update the inspectors on the changes being made to the SEND Local Offer.
Thank you to all the young inspectors for their valuable feedback and recommendations.
Read the young inspectors Local Offer inspection report (PDF 582KB)
Lambeth launches new All Age Autism Strategy 2024-2027
We’ve launched Lambeth’s new All Age Autism Strategy 2024-2027, which sets out our approach and shared vision for supporting autistic children, young people and people of all ages and their families in our borough.
Our new approach addresses the needs of autistic individuals from early childhood through to adulthood with a focus on education, employment, healthcare, and community support. This ensures that autistic individuals can access the services and opportunities they need to thrive at home, work, in education and other social settings.
Read the All Age Autism Strategy 2024-2027
New BeLambeth website goes live
If you’re a young person with SEND looking for information about what to do next, BeLambeth can support you. BeLambeth is our new platform offering support, help and opportunities to job seekers in Lambeth. It includes a supported employment programme that can help connect you with opportunities and employers, and provide advice to help you.
Find out about the many ways that you can achieve your ambitions by visiting BeLambeth or by getting in touch with our Supported Employment Team at inclusiveemployment@lambeth.gov.uk.
BeLambeth's supported employment programme
SEND and Inclusion Strategy Closure Report
As part of preparing our new SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy 2025-2030, we evaluated the progress we made on our previous SEND and Inclusion Strategy 2021-24. This summary report highlights examples of the progress made, and areas of further action.
We presented this report to Lambeth's Parent Carer Forum earlier this year, and are working across the partnership to co-produce our next strategy, which we hope will positively impact the lives of our Children and Young People with SEND, and those in Alternative Provision.
SEND and Inclusion Strategy progress report (PDF, 309KB)
SEND survey and peer review results
In November 2023, the Local Government Association (LGA) were invited by Lambeth Council to undertake a SEND Peer Review, to enable a self-assessment to help with the continuous improvement of Lambeth’s SEND provision.
We have used the feedback from both the LGA SEND Peer Review and SEND Annual Survey 2023 to inform our decision-making and create an action plan for 2024 – 2025.
The action plan reflects the views of families to improve the support provided by education, health and social care, to children and young people with SEND from birth up to 25 years old. Read the SEND action plan (PDF, 261KB)
SEND have your say: empowering young people, shaping services
On Saturday 2 December 2023, the Assembly Hall at Lambeth Town Hall buzzed with energy. Young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) took centre stage at the Lambeth SEND have your say event where their views started creating a roadmap for future SEND services.