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What is working in partnership?

Partnership with parents

The needs of the young person are best met when schools and parents work in partnership, where there is mutual trust, and where information is transparent and shared. In line with the SEND Code of Practice, parents must be included in discussions and fully informed about the Assess, Plan, Do, Review process undertaken in school to meet need. 

Warwickshire SEND Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIAS) is available to help parents access appropriate and independent advice and support in all areas of SEND. 

Working with Specialist Support Services

Specialist support services are available to support schools to develop their SEND provision. Please see individual services for their criteria for involvement (see Local Offer). 

For example, 

At a Whole School level teachers/senior leadership team may seek support from external consultants for advice on:   

  • Whole school policy writing  
  • Whole school inclusion, ethos and vision   
  • Whole school audits and action planning   
  • Whole school training  

At a classroom level - Specialist Support Services can provide training, advice and support to teachers on:   

  • Adapting the curriculum content and delivery for all learners   
  • Class based interventions   
  • Meeting diverse needs in the classroom   
  • Developing individual skills as part of continuing professional development 

At an individual level Specialist Support Services can provide training, advice and support to teachers on: 

  • Assessing and reviewing individual skills  
  • Planning next steps 
  • Problem solving around meeting needs,  
  • Supporting curriculum access 
  • Supporting intervention delivery and development

Occasionally support services may deliver direct therapeutic work 

Work with support services should be planned over the academic year.  It is good practice to have a planning meeting and ideally this should be multiagency so that involvement can be agreed across services and duplication avoided.

In preparation for a planning meeting the SENCO should:

  • Gather the following information
    • The number of children in school with SEND including the number with EHCPs and at SEN Support
    • The number of Children Looked After
    • The priorities of the school, particularly in relation to SEND
  • SENCOs should be prepared to discuss young people who are on the SEN register who have had recent involvement and young people for who involvement is being considered.
  • SENCOs should be prepared to discuss training needs and strategic involvement of support services to build capacity.

Time for specialist services and schools to review the impact of support service involvement should be planned.

If outside agencies are visiting school, the SENCO, on behalf of the senior leadership team, ensures that all outside agencies are qualified, accredited and insured (the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care provides details of appropriate accreditations for different roles). The advice and strategies they provide should be practical and aim to improve the outcomes for young people.   

Young people may sometimes need to be absent from school if therapeutic intervention is taking place, e.g. for Child and Adult Mental Health Service appointments.   

When specialist support services are working with individual young people in school, it is the school’s responsibility to ensure that:   

  • parental consent is confirmed for any involvement with any specialist support services   
  • feedback from the outcome of the involvement is shared with parents 
  • advice and recommendations have been disseminated to all relevant staff   
  • advice and recommendations are implemented as part of the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle.

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