Help in Your Area

• supporting schools, settings and families in the early identification of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and the implementation of interventions and tracking of pupils,

• working in partnership with schools, settings and families to identify professional development needs of staff and supporting clusters of schools or settings in implementing an appropriately tailored programme,

• working in partnership with families to support their child’s needs within the home.

“As a new SENCo it’s given me lots of confidence”.
“Loved having resources modelled for me”.
“It has been good to find out more about the work of different agencies”

“Excellent service. So lovely to meet everyone. Great information”.
“I feel supported and reassured”.
“Good to have chance to meet different professionals in one evening. Should have these sessions more often”.

The consultation and planning meeting is key to raising aspirations and educational achievement for all pupils, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Termly individual school or setting planning meetings provide the opportunity to identify areas where the school or setting are stuck and require additional support to ensure the needs of the children and young people are met.

Listed below are some of the activities that take place through the locality forums for schools and settings:

• to develop a network for support staff and SENCos that provides professional development as well as sharing good practice,

• to facilitate drop-in surgeries and consultations for a range of agencies to plan for the end of phase transition for children and young people at SEN Support stage,

• to develop approaches for monitoring and evaluating outcomes for children and young people with additional learning needs and considering future steps,

• to consider common themes arising from schools, settings and families and provide bespoke support for professional development.

The Locality or District Team meet in each cluster of schools or settings on a termly basis.

The team of professionals:

• provides a network for parents,

• facilitates peer to peer support,

• facilitates consultations from the local team of Educational Psychologists, Therapists, Advisory Teachers and Parent Link Officers,

• upskill parents through advice, support and coaching from specialists and professionals,

• considers common themes arising from schools and families to support ongoing early help.

• Find out more about locality forums and events for parents and carers.

Instead of always working with individual children and young people either in the context of an assessment or in the delivery of individual programmes, staff also assist schools and families to develop their skills and encourage the use of a wide range of useful resources.

For most children and young people, it is recognised that their needs will be met in their local mainstream school or setting, it is therefore essential that schools, settings and families feel supported and able to provide the right environment to do this.

The teams are also there to identify those more complex youngsters whose needs require a more intense programme of support, through a package of specialist provision.