Resources for Sencos
Signposting to guidance, training and services for Sencos.
Safeguarding
The role of the Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership is to make sure agencies are working together to safeguard children and young people and make them safe. The Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (HSCP) is a statutory body established under the new arrangements of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018. The HSCP is led by three Safeguarding Partners: Herefordshire Council, the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board, and West Mercia Police.
- Safeguarding Children Partnership - Herefordshire Safeguarding Boards and Partnerships
- Herefordshire Safeguarding Partnership CPD/training opportunities
Early Help Assessment
The Early Help Assessment is part of Herefordshire's Early Help Strategy to provide help to families at the earliest point of identification, and to reduce the need for more specialist or statutory service interventions at a later stage. In order to intervene at the earliest point, and target help and support in a way that makes a difference to the lives of families, a good quality assessment and action plan is required.
Any practitioner can complete an assessment with the child, young person and family when consent is given.
Early Help Assessment - information for professionals
Funding
Additional funding is available to support children with SEND where they meet the criteria.
- Additional funding for children with significant medical and health needs to access their education
- Early years inclusion funding and High Needs Matrix
- Disability access fund (early years)
- Personal education budgets policy
- School top-up funding for SEN and High Needs Matrix
- School High Needs Matrix/criteria 2023
- Tariffs for High Needs Matrix 2024
EHC Plans
Education, Health and Care Plans are legally binding and set out the provision required to meet a child's SEND needs. Schools should use a graduated approach to meeting a child's SEND needs. Herefordshire Council have produced guidance for schools on the graduated approach in its Intervention Guidance document.
- Intervention guidance for SEND in schools and other settings
- Summary of the all age graduated approach
- Flowchart to support the all age graduated approach
- Education, health and care plans (EHCP)
EHC Annual review documents
- Annual review form (up to year 8)
- Annual review form (year 9 and above)
- Child or young person contribution form (up to year 8) - Annual EHC review
- Young person contribution form (year 9 and above) - Annual EHC review
- Parental contribution form (up to year 8) - Annual EHC review
- Parental contribution form (year 9 and above) - Annual EHC review
Training and support
Local and national sources of training and support:
- Herefordshire CPD online for professionals
- Postgraduate Certificate National Award SENCO (NASENCO) - University of Worcester
- National Association of Special Educational Needs (nasen) professional learning
- Nasen: SENCO Induction Pack - Supporting you at the start of your journey
- Whole School SEND online CPD
Transitions
- Transition into primary school
- Transition to secondary school with an EHCP
- Transition pack: from pre-school to reception for children with SEND
- The right to go: managing continence in schools and early years settings
- Guidance on the admission of summer born children - GOV.UK
SEND services and referral forms
Services in Herefordshire have different referral processes which can be found on their respective websites.
- Educational psychology
- SEN team - contact 01432 261756 or email senteamdiary@herefordshire.gov.uk
- H3 (Hub, Home, Hospital) Teaching Team
- Early years support for speech, language and communication difficulties
- Specialist teachers for physical, hearing and visual impairment
- Early years SEND advisors
- Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
- Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) inclusion service
- Children with disabilities social care team
Health service referrals
- Community Paediatrician
- Physiotherapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Community children's nurses
- Children's hearing service
- Child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS)
Graduated approach and SEN support
Where a child or young person is identified as having special educational needs, schools and settings should take action to remove barriers to the child or young person's learning and put effective special educational provision in place. This is called SEN support. Support should take the form of a four-part cycle involving the parent and carers and the child or young person. By taking this approach earlier decisions and actions are revisited, refined and revised with a growing understanding of the child or young person's needs and what support will help to secure good progress and good outcomes for them. This approach is known as the graduated response.
The council has created guidance to help ensure children and young people across the county with special educational needs reach their full potential. It sets out local authority expectations for the ways in which all schools and settings should meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.
Further sources of information on the graduated approach:
- A quick guide to ensuring that every child or young person gets the support they require to meet their needs. Nasen's 'SEN support and the graduated approach', 2014
- This webinar will help new SENCOs gain confidence in an area which is central to SEN practice in schools and settings. 'SEN support and the graduated approach', Nasen, 2020
Education otherwise than at school (EOTAS)
EOTAS stands for education otherwise than at school and is education provision to meet specific needs of pupils whom have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) who, for whatever reason, cannot attend a mainstream or special school. Some examples of EOTAS are:
- Online tuition
- Home tuition
- Other tuition centres
- Therapies such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy or physiotherapy
These or any other provision which educates or trains a child or young person can be treated as special educational provision if described in section F of the Education Health and Care Plan. Read our education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) policy.
Further information
Local
- The Local Offer: The local offer sets out the support, services and information available for children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
- Who's who in Herefordshire Council's SEN department
- Herefordshire Council exclusion from school resources
- Hereford and Worcester Dyslexia Association (HWDA). A local charity which covers the two counties and aims to help by providing specialist teaching weekly in literacy, maths and study skills for children with dyslexia or dyslexic-type difficulties and/or dyscalculia-type difficulties. They offer advice and support to parents and supply information to individuals who are interested in dyslexia.
National
- National Association of Special Educational Needs (nasen) are a charitable membership organisation that exists to support and champion those working with, and for, children and young people with SEND and learning differences.
- The Whole School SEND website, hosted by nasen, provides you with free, easy access to high quality information, resources and CPD to support a whole school approach to inclusion.
- SEND Code of practice January 2015
- CDC briefing: Children and Families Act 2014
- National Autistic Society is the UK's leading charity for autistic people. They provide support, guidance and practical advice through their website, branches and helplines.
- Autism Education Trust is a not-for-profit organisation supported by the Department for Education. Offering education professionals training, practical tools and a wealth of free resources to better support autistic children and young people aged 0 to 25.
- ADHD Foundation Neurodiversity Charity is the largest provider of training in ADHD and neurodevelopmental conditions for professionals in the UK. All courses are interactive, full of practical strategies and informed by up to date research.
- The Communication Trust online CPD short courses, the Speech, Language and Communication Framework, Platform 3 training programme and the What Works database plus guidance, resources and strategy documents.
- DfE Early years guide to SEND code of practice
- CDC children: SEN and disability in the early years resources
Something missing?
If you can't find what you are looking for or you would like to provide feedback on this page, please email Local Offer localoffer@herefordshire.gov.uk