Integrated SEND Services
Last updated:The Integrated SEND Service, or iSEND for short, provides specialist Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) support through locally based teams across Buckinghamshire. iSEND supports children and young people with SEND living in Buckinghamshire to achieve the best possible outcomes. In accordance with the SEND Code of Practice 2015, iSEND carries out work, in relation to children and young people with special educational needs who are referred for an EHC Needs Assessment or already have an EHC Plan.
For children and young people who have special educational needs and are supported at 'SEN Support' level, the first point of contact should always be the education setting the child/young person attends. Referral to the Integrated SEND Service for an EHC Needs Assessment will usually be via the child/young person's education setting. For pre-school children referral may be from a medical professional, for example a paediatrician. Parents/carers or young people may also request an EHC Needs Assessment.
Integrated SEND information on SchoolsWeb
The Integrated SEND Service consists of the following:
Education, Health and Care Co-Ordinator’s
Co-ordinate the statutory Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment process with children, young people, families, and range of professionals, ensuring a child-centred approach is adopted and to enable children and young people to achieve their outcomes and aspirations. They co-produce EHC plans, ensure annual reviews of EHC plans are conducted and EHC plans updated in a timely manner in line with the Children and Families Act (2014).
All schools have been assigned a designated and named EHCCo. They will work with you and your team to ensure the best outcomes for the children within your school who have an EHCP. Dependent on the number of children attending school with an EHCP these will be weekly, fortnightly, or each half term. SENCo’s within schools are also invited to attend a SENCo Liaison group which meets regularly.
Offer assistance to schools in meeting the needs of pupils who are experiencing a greater difficulty than their peers in accessing the Early Years and National Curriculum. The Specialist Teachers can work with staff within schools and individual children who may be on a SEN support plan or have an EHCP. Specialist teachers have expertise in a number of areas including working with children and young people who may have a visual or hearing impairment or a combination of both, autism and/or speech language and communication difficulties.
A targeted and specialist service provided by the Local Authority to identify and support children and young people aged 0 to 25 with complex, significant, and persistent difficulties related to their development and/or learning.
SEN Support, the Graduated Approach and Ordinarily Available Provision
The Graduated Approach, what is it?
Where a pupil is identified as having special educational needs (SEN), schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective SEN provision in place. This SEN support should take the form of a four-part cycle through which earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined, and revised with a growing understanding of the pupil’s needs and of what supports the pupil in making good improvement and securing good outcomes. This is known as the graduated approach.
SEN Support Plan
In Buckinghamshire, we have developed a SEN Support Plan document for the purpose of identifying the SEN of children/young people, monitoring their progress towards desired outcomes, and tracking resources utilised within the educational setting.
Read more about The Graduated Approach and SEN Support Plan. Information for families can be found on the SEND Local Offer.
Ordinarily Available Provision
'Ordinarily Available Provision’ promotes a consistent ethos to supporting children receiving SEND support. This approach has been created by schools, professionals and parents and is a fantastic user-friendly, accessible resource for all. It outlines the special educational needs that children may have across the four broad areas, with easy-to-use provision suggestions for all members of school staff and families alike, as well as strategies for whole school and quality first teaching. Information for professionals and parents/carers.
If a pupil requires special educational provision in excess of that ordinarily available from mainstream resources, a request may be made for an EHC Needs Assessment.
Education Health and Care Assessment and Plans
EHC plans are for children and young people from birth up to age 25. EHC plans provide statutory protection in respect of educational provision. They are intended to be holistic and centred on the child or young person’s needs and because they are person-centred and contain an ‘All About Me’ section.
Find out about the EHC assessment process and plans and Information for families.
The form for an education setting to request an EHC Needs Assessment can be found on SchoolsWeb. It is essential that informed, signed parental consent accompanies a request for an EHC needs assessment and that all information accompanies the request to ensure that the Local Authority can make the right decision. The Local Authority must make this decision of whether to assess within 6 weeks of the request being received and the Local Authority will communicate this formally in writing to parents with a copy to the education setting. Should the decision be that an EHC needs assessment not be required, the parent is provided with a formal right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). After discussion with parents, the Local Authority may arrange a meeting to discuss further and in these circumstances the education setting will usually be invited.
The Education Health and Care Needs Assessment Process
If the Authority decides to carry out an EHC needs assessment, you will be notified in writing. As part of the EHC needs assessment advice, parents/carers and children/young people are asked to contribute their views in writing. The Local Authority will also formally request information from education, health, and care professionals, for example an Educational Psychologist who will then carry out an assessment and provide a report.
Once all the advice is received and the Local Authority has decided that an EHC plan is required, the EHCCo will discuss with parents how they would prefer the EHC plan to be drafted. This may involve a meeting to co-produce the EHC plan, although some parents/carers/young people may prefer to have an EHC plan drafted and sent to them for comment. At this stage no education setting is named.
With the draft EHC plan, parents can express a preference for an educational setting. The Local Authority must consult with the parental preference and may consult with other settings they deem to be appropriate and must consider the response very carefully before deciding what educational setting to name in the EHC plan. Parents have the right of appeal to SENDIST if they are dissatisfied with the contents of Section B (the description of special educational needs), Section F (description of special educational needs) and/or Section I (educational setting) of the EHC Plan.
More information can be found on SchoolsWeb.
How to request for High Needs Block Funding from Buckinghamshire Council
Buckinghamshire Council also has a process to access additional funding without an EHC plan. The form to request High Needs Block Funding can be found on SchoolsWeb.
Local Offer
More Information with regards to Special Educational Needs (SEN) is available on the Buckinghamshire Family Information Service and on SchoolsWeb.
Integrated SEN Service Key Details
You will be able to locate all the forms you will need with regards to pupils with SEND. You will also be able to have support from your designated EHHCo.