SENDIASS
(Special, Educational, Needs ,Disability, Information, Advice, Support, Service)
On this page you will find out what SENDIASS do and below this a Guide to EHCP Annual Review and Early Annual Review.
What does SENDIASS do?
SENDIASS aims to help parents/carers, children and young people and professional staff to work together to provide the best possible support to children and young people with SEND.
Birmingham SENDIASS operates in accordance with the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014 and associated Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 201 5 and the National Quality Standards for impartial ln formation Advice and Support Services.
SENDIASS is:
Free: There are no fees to pay, no matter how often, you receive support.
Impartial: We do not favour one party (e.g. family, educational setting, or local authority) over another. We treat all parties respectfully. We do not have a vested interest in the outcome of any discussions.
Confidential: We keep your details on a secure and independent database and will not share your details or discuss your case with anyone else without your permission.
Arms-length: SENDIASS is separate from educational settings, the Local Authority and Health Services. SENDIASS is a statutory service (required by law under the Children's and Families Act 2014).
Fully Trained: Our staff and volunteers have extensive training in SEND law, safeguarding, data protection, and are all DBS checked.
How we help
- Providing a confidential helpline
- Verbal and written information and advice on rights and responsibilities
- Support to complete forms and understand complex documents and reports
- Support around meetings - including school, local authority and professional staff Support in resolving disagreements, including mediation and appeals to the First-tier of the SEN and Disability Tribunal
- Providing information sessions and training (Coming Soon!)
- Signposting children, young people and parents/carers to alternative and additional sources of advice, information and support that may be available locally or nationally Making children, young people and parents/ carers aware of the local authority's services for resolving disagreements and for mediation, and the routes of appeal and complaint on matters relating to SEN and disability Providing advocacy as agreed, after assessment
Who we help - Parents/carers of children with special educational needs or a disability, with or without a diagnosis, with or without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.
- Children under 1 6 and young people aged 1 6 -25 with special educational needs or a disability, with or without a diagnosis, with or without an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.
- Anyone who needs help or advice regarding SEN support or the EHC Needs Assessment. Pupils with SEN (Special Educational Needs.)
The service is a self-referral service. To receive support from us you must meet the following criteria:
Be:
- a parent/carer of a child or young person
- a child or young person a professional supporting
- a child or young person
Who:
- lives in Birmingham
- is 0-25 years old
- has special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). A diagnosis is not needed to receive support
- has a query or issue related to SEND
All 4 of these criteria must be met to receive support from us.
There is no need for a formal referral to access our service, just contact us by telephone or email.
How to contact us
Telephone our helpline on: 01 21 303 5004
Email us at: SENDIASS@Birmingham.gov.uk
Take a look at our website:
Birminghamsendiass.co.uk
Guide to EHCP Annual Review & Early Annual Review
What is an Annual Review or Early Annual Review?
If a child or young person has an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHC Plan), the Local Authority (LA) must review it every 12 months at least (every 6 months for children under 5 years) to monitor their progress towards achieving the outcomes specified in the plan and to consider whether these outcomes and supporting targets remain appropriate. This process is known as the Annual Review, and for those attending school or college, this will be organised by the headteacher and SENDCo.
These meetings are normally held at the child or young person's place of education, during the day.
If there is concern about a child or young person's progress, or if the child or young person is due to change settings, then an Annual Review may be brought forward. This is sometimes referred to as an Early Annual Review.
How are children and young people involved? Children and young people should be actively involved in the Annual Review process, attending al l or part of their Annual Review meeting. They should be asked how they feel about their progress, their likes and dislikes and school in general. This is generally recorded on a form, which may be sent to you to complete with them or may be completed with the help of a staff member at school.
You may like to talk to the school about how the child or young person will be involved in the review process.
Who will attend the review meeting? These are the people who must be invited:
- You (and your child) can really make a difference to the meeting by going along and sharing your views (you can also bring a friend or representative if you wish).
- The young person if they are over 1 6 (they may opt to bring their parent/ carer(s).
- A representative of the school who knows your child.
- A representative from the LA.
- A Health Service Representative
- A LA Social Care Representative.
- Other relevant individuals should also be invited.
It may not be possible for everyone invited to attend the review meeting, but the headteacher will try to make sure that the date fixed for the meeting is convenient for those people who have had most contact with your child. Additionally, you could request for other relevant individuals to attend.
What happens before the meeting?
The headteacher (or a nominated member of staff) must ask for written reports from:
- Parent/Carer (the school may give your child a form for you to fill in) or young person (18-25)
- Their teachers.
- All those invited to the review meeting.
The headteacher must then:
- Send copies of the written reports to all those invited to the review meeting at least two weeks before it takes place.
- Invite further views, including comments from those who are unable to attend the meeting.
What to write in your contribution?
It is helpful if you can include comments on: - Your views on progress over the last year. What you think is going well and also any concerns.
- What you feel are your child's needs in school for the coming year.
- What you think you and the school can do to help meet those needs.
- Any significant changes or events you feel may have affected your child's progress.
Remember, you can ask for someone from Birmingham SENDIASS to help you to complete
forms, look at reports and attend the Annual Review meeting with you.
What happens at the Annual Review meeting?
The Annual Review will focus on what progress your child has made, including their achievements throughout the last year and any difficulties that need to be resolved. This enables everyone involved to evaluate the effectiveness of the support in place and decide if the EHC Plan is appropriate or if any amendments are necessary.
The LA must notify all decisions to you, the headteacher and anyone else involved. If the outcome of the review i s that the EHC Plan i s sti l l appropriate, it may be necessary for some changes to be made to your child's targets and support for the coming year.
If the LA wants to amend your child's EHC Plan, they will let you know in writing of any changes they are planning to make and the reasons for them. You will then have at least 1 5 days to consider these changes.
The LA has a period of 8 weeks following the original amendment notice to either issue the finalised EHC Plan or decide not to proceed with the amendments. If you do not agree with the decision, you can discuss this with the LA Officer involved.
In some cases, the LA may decide that the aims of the EHC Plan have been achieved and they should 'cease to maintain' the plan. This would only happen if a child no longer needed the additional support that the EHC Plan provides. I n such instances, the school would then continue to support your child through I SEN Support'.
If you disagree with any changes made to your child's EHC Plan, you have the right to access the Birmingham's Independent Mediation Ser vice and/or the right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SEND Tribunal). Further details can be obtained from Birmingham SENDIASS.
Where can I get more information and support?
- Visit Birmingham SENDIASS website http://www.BirminghamSENDlASS.co.uk/ Visit Birmingham Local Offer Local Offer Birmingham I SEND Advice, support and Information
- IPSEA has lots of information on their website, plus details of helplines and Tribunal support service https:// www.ipsea.org.uk/disabilities. In Birmingham we work with three mediation companies:
- SEN Mediator www.senmediator.co.uk charles@senmediator.co.uk 07856 534777
0121 452 5010 - Prime Resolution www.prime-resolution.co.uk marilyn@prime-resolution.co.uk
01952 303 038 - JHCS www.kids.org.uk/mediation-info senmediation@kids.org.uk 03330 062 835
Other charities include:
- Coram Children's Legal Centre https:// www.coram.org.uk/
- SOS SEN https://www.sossen.org.uk/
- Contact https://contact.org.uk/ Look for disability-specific charities in Contact's A-Z of conditions and learning
For advice from a solicitor, you can go to: gov.uk/check-legal-aid or instruct one privately.
The service is a self-referral service. To receive support from us you must meet the following criteria:
Be:
- a parent/carer of a child or young person
- a child or young person a professional supporting
- a child or young person
Who:
- lives in Birmingham
- is 0-25 years old
- has special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). A diagnosis is not needed to receive support
- has a query or issue related to SEND
All 4 of these criteria must be met to receive support from us.
There is no need for a formal referral to access our service, just contact us by telephone or email.
How to contact us
Telephone our helpline on: 01 21 303 5004
Email us at: SENDIASS@Birmingham.gov.uk
Take a look at our website:
Birminghamsendiass.co.uk