SOUTHAMPTON SEND 0-25 SERVICE

Tammy Marks – Lead Officer (For Information,

Advice and Engagement)

Julie LeMarquand –Buzz Network and Personal

Budgets Officer

Background – The Law

Part 3 of The Children and Families Act 2014 relates to children, young people and young adults aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and requires the council to put in place new arrangements, services and processes; many of which had to be in place by September 2014. (So we’ve been busy!)

The Act also requires health and local authority partners to work together to commission services for this SEND group, where gaps in provision are identified in the statutory assessment process.

Definition of SEN

(1) A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.

(2) A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she—

(a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or

(b) has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.

Definition of SEN

(3) A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she is likely to be within subsection (2) when of compulsory school age (or would be likely, if no special educational provision were made).

(4) A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been spoken at home.

(Children and Families Act 2014)

Principles of the 0-25 Service

The service will lead and deliver a changed relationship with families and will work within a service pathway that includes the statutory assessment and plan pathway, but as only one amongst a range of options that enable families to meet the needs of their child, young person or young adult.

Activity

Name the Acronym

• Portage Service (0-3)

• SEN Team (0-25)

• EHC Pathway (0-25)

• Jigsaw Service (0-19)

• Language Intervention Team (5-16)

• Specialist Teacher Advisors (5-19)

• SEN PA Team (14-25)

Teams within 0-25 Service

Portage: 0-3yrs Southampton Portage is a home teaching service for young children with special educational needs aged 0-3yrs who are delayed in at least two areas of development and their families.

We support children and families in Southampton who meet the following eligibility criteria:

• The family live in the Southampton local authority area. • The child is aged 0– 3 years • The child’s development is delayed by at least 6 months in two  or more

areas of development, such as:- Physical- Motor (movement)- Speech and Language- Social- Cognitive (learning) skills

Portage: 0-3yrs • A parental signature has been obtained. • The child’s parent/carer must agree to be available to meet the Portage

teacher on a regular basis.

Note: If a child attends an early years setting for 10 hours a week or more this may affect the type of support Portage is able to offer. This will be discussed during the initial visit or when the child takes up their place in a setting.

The Portage service has an open referral system; therefore anyone can refer to the service so long as they have the parent’s permission, including the family themselves.

Health and Social Care: 0-25yrs

We support children and young people and their families who have a Southampton address with a significant level of need.

This is an integrated health and social care provision which is made up of a range of professionals. Support that can be accessed through the service includes:

• Occupational Therapy• Community Paediatric Medical Services• Learning Disability Nursing• Clinical Psychology• Safeguarding/statutory social care• Specialist short breaks/respite

Health and Social Care: 0-25yrs

We support families who meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

• Significant learning disabilities/difficulties within the moderate, severe or profound range;

AND                                              • A health condition or impairment (including a diagnosis of Autism) which

significantly affects, or is predicted to affect, everyday life functioning over the child/young person’s development

AND                                              • Complex family circumstances which affect the ability of the child/young

person to reach their full potential

Early Years Funding

Please see additional handout.

Education Health and Care (EHC) Pathway: 0-25yrs

The Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) replaces the ‘Statement of Special of Educational Needs’ and can apply to children, young people and young adults from birth to the age of 25, providing that those over 16 are still in education or training. EHC assessments are undertaken and EHC plans drawn up under the Children and Families Act (2014) and associated regulations.

The EHC Assessment (EHCA) will gather information and describe the child, young person or young adults’ needs, what outcomes we all want for your child/young person/young adult, what support is proposed to achieve these outcomes and who can provide that support.

Education Health and Care (EHC) Pathway: 0-25yrs

In considering whether to start an EHC assessment, the council will consider whether there is evidence that despite the early years’ provider, school or post-16 institution having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify, assess and meet the special educational needs of the child or young person, the child or young person has not made expected progress.

Southampton EHC Plans

• EHC plans should be person centred, evidence-based and focussed on outcomes

• EHC plans should support preparation for key transition points. Plans must be “forward looking”

• EHC plans should explore how informal (family and community) support as well as formal support from statutory agencies can be used to achieve agreed outcomes

Activity

Person Centered Planning for Billy

Buzz Network The Buzz Network is a Service offering Short Breaks:

To Southampton Parents/Carers of children with a disability or additional needs (0-19 years)

Funded by Southampton City Council to offer families:One2one support (6 commissioned Service Providers)Play-schemes Community Based Activities (10 Service Providers)Newsletter and Buzz PassportFamily Fun DaysOption of Personal Budgets

You are eligible if you are able to tick one from A or two from Criteria B…..

Criteria A Criteria B

• In receipt of higher level DLA• Has a SEN or EHC plan• receives Jigsaw support from:

- Community children’s nursing team

- Occupational therapy service- Physiotherapy service - Portage team- Wordsworth House

• Receives SENCO Support• Normal Activities are interrupted by frequent health

needs, affecting progress in development or education • Requires Regular support with basic self care functions

e.g. eating, going to the toilet, washing, dressing or need more regular supervision throughout the day and sometimes at night than you can expect for a child of their age

• Does not hear spoken words or needs help to make up for complete loss of sound awareness and may have hearing aids/implants

• Needs special support and understanding from someone else to communicate

• Has very little or no sight or registered blind

You are eligible for the Buzz Network if you are able to tick one from Criteria A or two from Criteria B…..

SEND Local Offer

www.southampton.gov.uk/localoffer