Who else can help?
Listed below are some of the key professionals or services who may be able to support you or your child and how to refer to them.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCO)
Every school must have a SENDCO. If the SENDCO of your, or your child’s school is not currently involved but you feel they should be, you may like to contact them directly. Their contact details should be available on the school website or you can ask the class teacher or School reception.
Educational Psychologist
Educational psychologists work within Local Authorities, in partnership with schools, families and other professionals to help young children and young people achieve their full potential. They use their training in psychology and knowledge of child development to assess difficulties children may be having with their learning.
They provide advice and training on how schools might help a child learn and develop. Strategies may include teaching approaches, improvements to learning environments, advice on curriculum materials or behaviour support.
To access the local Authority educational psychology service the school SENDCO will need to make a referral. Young people or Parents/carers cannot self-refer.
Schools and parents/carers may also make the decision to commission independent Educational Psychologists.
Inclusion Outreach and Training
Outreach services are available to schools for when they require additional support and ideas about how to support children with SEND. Information about what outreach services are available can be found below.
Referrals need to be made via the Single Service Referrals Link
Children DO NOT require a diagnosis of a SEND to be able to access outreach, and all outreach services can be contacted directly before referrals are submitted if schools would like a quick informal consultation.
Who can be referred:
Chiltern and Ivel (Social Communication & Interaction / Autism): Children without an EHCP Year 1 onwards; Children with an EHCP from Year R
Jigsaw (SEMH): Primary aged children from aged 5
Oak Bank- Umbrella (SEMH): Year 7-11
Weatherfield (Cognition & Learning): Year R - Year 11
Down Syndrome: Year R - Year 11
Please note, children below statutory school age should be referred to the Early Years SEND Team
The Early Years Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Advisory Team
Our Early Years Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Advisory Team provides support to
- Children
- Parents and Carers
- Early Years settings such as Childminders and Nurseries
- Pre-schools and Schools
The team includes Early Years Advisory Teachers and Specialist Practitioners.
We ensure that your child receives the best support we can offer. We will do an initial assessment with you and your child either at home, or in their early years setting.
When your child is ready to attend an early years setting, we will work with you and the setting:
- to help them settle in
- to build on your child's skills
- to encourage their progress in play, learning and communication
- to identify any extra support your child may need
We also work with and can receive referrals from other professionals such as
- SENCO's
- any Health Professional e.g. Paediatrician, Speech and Language Therapist, Audiologist, Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapist etc.
We will continue to work with your child until they transfer to school.
Medical Needs Education Team
The Medical Needs Education Team provides teaching and support for children and young people of statutory school age and who are on the roll of a school, who due to illness require suitable alternative arrangements for their education whilst unwell.
Teaching is provided for pupils whose education is disrupted for up to 15 days or more over time - when it has been decided that MNET is the most appropriate service to deliver the education, due to:
- an operation, illness or injury keeping the pupil away from school whilst recovering
- an illness or injury requiring regular hospital attendance
- a medical condition that causes frequent absences from school
- a mental illness requiring therapeutic support
The service provides high quality teaching, mainly in the three core subjects of Maths, Science and English, as a way of supporting reintegration back into school.
The education can take place in a pupil's home environment. However, when the pupil is able and health supports this, their education can take place in other buildings and may be in small groups - with reintegration being the ultimate goal.
Vision Impairment Service
The Vision Impairment Service supports children and young people (CYP) with a vision impairment who live in or attend a setting in Central Bedfordshire and who meet the National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) eligibility criteria. It supports colleagues in special educational needs and mainstream settings to provide access to learning and play in the early years and to the curriculum throughout education. Prior to reaching school age, support and advice is offered via home visits.
The team consists of three Specialist Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment, three Specialist Teaching Assistants and a Specialist Resource Officer/Technician and a further Specialist Resource Officer. All members of the team work peripatetically across Central Bedfordshire.
Hearing Impairment Service
Support all children and young people who have a diagnosed hearing impairment.
They offer support through:
- home visits,
- nursery and pre-school visits,
- school visits
by a team of qualified teachers of the deaf (QtoD). They will provide advice and support as required. A qualified nursery nurse may also provide extra home support. They would work under the direction of your child's teacher of the deaf if required.
Audiological Support
The Hearing Impairment Manager can also provide educational audiological support if required. This will be extra to your child's clinical audiological provision.
It will focus on identifying difficult listening situations and how to reduce them. We will assess for any extra equipment, such as radio aids.
Hearing Impairment Provisions
They have three hearing impairment provisions, for learners aged 3 - 18, located within
These operate within a mainstream school and are fully integrated.
Youth Support Service
Youth Support Service provides services for young people aged 13 to 19 years old (up to 25 for young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities). The service manages the delivery of a comprehensive ‘youth offer’ which includes providing information, advice and careers guidance to support young people to access education, employment or training opportunities. It also co-ordinates the provision of youth work and positive activities.
The EHC team
Every child or young person with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in Central Bedfordshire will have an allocated EHC officer and senior EHC officer who will be the point of contact and responsible for carrying out statutory duties and processes relating to the EHCP.
The allocated EHC officer and senior EHC officer is determined by which school or setting the child or young person attends. Where a child or young person lives in Central Bedfordshire but does not attend a school listed on the contact sheet below, the allocated EHC officer and senior EHC officer will be determined by the home address.
Telephone - 0300 300 8356
- For general enquiries: ehcenquiries@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
For enquiries regarding EHC Needs Assessments: ehcassessments@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
For enquiries regarding Annual Reviews: ehcreviews@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
For Mediation and Tribunal related issues: ehcappeals@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
SEND Advisory Team
There are 5 SEND Advisors who are part of the SEND Specialist Services Team and work directly with Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinators (SENDCO’s) in Central Bedfordshire to look at provision in schools and ensure that schools are meeting statutory requirements.
SEND Advisors complete activities with schools and provide advice.
This includes:
- providing advice around Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment requests
- providing advice and support to ensure good annual reviews
- support with the completion of the annual review calendar for each setting
- giving advice around funding for children with or without an EHCP
- providing advice around part-time timetables and alternative provision
- providing advice regarding suspensions for children
- providing independent SEN advice at Independent Review Panels
- giving advice on how to effectively review the progress of children with SEND through good assess, plan, do, review processes
- giving advice around quality assurance of school's actions towards EHCP outcomes
- auditing of Alternative Resource Provisions (ARP)
- quality assuring out of area independent schools with large numbers of CBC children
- providing advice to schools following panel decisions on funding and requests for a change of placement
- giving advice regarding school place transfer (Years 4/6/8 & 11)
- being a single point of contact for SENDCOs for support and advice
- supporting the work of School Improvement Advisors (SIA's)
- joining way forward meetings where an EHCNA has been refused, to advise schools on further support for individuals
- supporting the review of complaints in respect of EHCP’s and provision
- providing a training offer to schools to improve whole school SEN provision and the delivery of ordinarily available provision
- around delivery of the SEND Action Plan following the LA Ofsted report including the review of the Graduated Approach
- supporting schools to complete the NASEN Toolkit
- undertaking learning walks with SENDCOs to review whole school SEND provision
CHUMS
Chums mental health and emotional well being service for children and young people provides therapeutic support in a variety of ways. Referrals are accepted by young people, parents and carers and professionals and may need to meet an admission criteria.
For further information go to:
CAMHS
Child and adolescent mental health services can support children and young people who are experiencing significant emotional and behavioural difficulties or who suffer with anxiety. They also support young people who may have Autism spectrum disorder, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, eating difficulties or other emotional difficulties. mental health problems. Referrals are accepted from the GP, school, youth worker or social worker and may need to meet an admission criteria.
Social Care and Early Help
Learn more about how children and young people with SEND and their families are supported by social care services in Central Bedfordshire
Parent Carer Needs Assessment (PCNA)
If you are a parent carer of a child with a disability and have parental responsibility, you have the right to request a parent carer needs assessment (Children and Families Act 2014). The assessment will consider:
- Your individual needs as a parent carer
- Things that could make looking after your child easier for you
- Your wellbeing* as a parent carer
- The need to safeguard and promote the welfare of your disabled child
- The need to safeguard and promote the welfare of any other children that you care for
We must assess parent carers if:
- It appears to us that the parent carer may have need for support, or
- We receive a request from the parent carer to assess their need for support
We would not do a parent carer needs assessment if:
- Your child has an allocated social worker
Your needs would be considered within a social work assessment for your child.