DESPERATE families are making an urgent plea for parents of children with special educational needs to speak out on their struggles ahead of an Ofsted inspection.

The watchdog is inviting parents to share their views in a survey on how Southend has responded to the “significant weaknesses” which were identified at an inspection in 2018.

Now, parents who have struggled are urging families to share their experiences as they “might not get this opportunity again for a few years”.

Julia Hopper is campaigning for improved mental health support and improvements for children with special educational needs.

Her son, Chris Nota, died after falling from Queensway bridge underpass in July last year.

Julia said: “There are massive gaps in these services and they haven’t been rectified.

“We hope that Ofsted understand that they identified certain weaknesses but they didn’t identify them all. We have been waiting for years for it.

“Come forward and let them know because if you don’t, it’s going to be another five years before you get the chance again which is too long for our children.”

Colin Nickless took Southend council to a tribunal to get adequate care for his daughter who has autism and cystic fibrosis.

Colin said: “I think it’s really important. As much as people will have their positive experiences, many people who have negative experiences feel they aren’t being listened to.

“With Ofsted coming, it gives people the chance to talk about their experiences and gives them a chance to put things in place.

“We need to tackle the negatives and we need to learn from them. The only way they are going to change is by having an outside body looking at it.

“It’s vital they have their say.”

Ofsted will visit from May 5-7 as it starts a phased return to inspections - starting with areas with a written statement of action in place.

In a joint statement, Southend council, the CCG and EPUT said:

“In 2018 Ofsted and the CQC inspected the Local Area Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) offer across Southend, delivered in partnership between the Local Authority, CCG and other partners. The outcome in 2018, was that while improvements were ongoing, these were not happening quickly enough and so we were asked to provide a joint Written Statement of Action in response.  

“Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) announced their intention to start a phased return to inspections from April 2021, starting with re-visits to areas with a Written Statement of Action in place. That is why Ofsted and CQC are returning to Southend-on-Sea for a scheduled visit from 5 – 7 May 2021 to assess progress against that Written Statement of Action and what impact the pandemic has had on children and young people with SEND in Southend.

"A survey to parents and carers who use SEND services has been sent and those comments will inform part of the findings.

“We continue to work hard to make improvements and await the outcome of this re-visit and the subsequent report.”