FAQ's (Education) | Education | Kirklees SEND Local Offer

All schools (this includes maintained nursery schools, mainstream schools, academies, free schools, 16 – 19 academies, alternative provisions and pupil referral units) must follow the legal guidance found in the SEND Code of Practice (opens link in new window) This guidance says that that all schools have to do everything they can to support a child’s or young persons special educational needs.

Therefore, all schools are good for SEN and need to work to provide support for a child or young person with SEND, have a look on the SEN Support Local Offer page (opens link in new window) for advice on getting support in a school for your child.

All schools have to say what they will do to support children with SEND, this information can be found on each schools website.

The majority of children with additional needs attend a mainstream setting and have their needs met within these settings. A small number of children have needs that can’t be met in a mainstream school and so they attend a special school or specialist provision in a mainstream school.

To find your local school, use this link to search for schools near your postcode - School search (opens link in new window)

All schools within Kirklees can have support from specialist staff who will come into the school, advise staff and in some cases work with specific children or young people. This is called Outreach and covers the following areas:

Hearing impairment

Visual impairment

Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (including behaviour issues and anxiety)

Communication and Interaction (including Autism)

Please go to the Local Offer Special Educational settings (opens link in new window) page for information about these provisions.

All schools HAVE to make changes to make them accessible to those with disabilities and / or mobility issues when it is reasonable for them to do so. This might be ensuring that the entrances are level access (to allow for a wheelchair) and that there are alternatives to using stairs such as ramps or lifts.

The first step is to speak to the school and explain what the child or young persons needs are. It may be that they are already accessible, but where it is reasonable for them to do so, they must make those changes.

Firstly, have a look at the Local Offer pages about SEN Support (opens link in new window) & Support Plans (opens link in new window) This may explain how support in schools works and help you understand what the school are doing.

Schools have to do everything they can to support a child’s or young person’s special educational needs.

It is a good idea to raise these concerns with your child’s teacher, or you might want to have a meeting with the SENCO to discuss your concerns. It can be useful if you have some clear points where you feel that the school is not meeting your child’s needs.

The Local Offer has a service called the Inclusion Support Offer (ISO) which provides support for all educational settings from 0-25 to help to make sure they are doing everything they can to support children with SEND, without necessarily looking at additional funding or making referrals to assessed services.

You can find more information about this service on our ISO information page (opens link in new window) This service is for schools use only, they do not take calls from parents or carers, but you can mention it to your child's educational setting and ask them to get in touch.

If you feel that you are not being listened to, you should follow the schools complaints procedure.

If you want to discuss this with an independent support service, details of who you can speak with can be found on the Local Offer independent support and advice page (opens link in new window)

If your child or young person has an I-APDR, My Support Plan or EHCP, then the SENDCO should be aware of your child’s needs. In the first instance speak with the school and arrange to speak to the SENDCO.

I-APDR's and My Support Plans should be reviewed termly, so it may be a good idea to ask if you can have an early review to discuss your concerns. If your child has an EHCP then they will have annual reviews, you can ask for an interim or early review of the plan to discuss your concerns. It is a good idea to speak to your case officer at SENACT to tell them your concerns and that you have asked for an early review (see the next question for how to contact SENACT)

In these cases, it is helpful if you are specific about what the school are not doing.

You can call SENDACT on 01484 456888 or email SENACT@kirklees.gov.uk. If you know the name of you caseworker, you can call 01484 221000 and ask for them by name.

SENDACT have a new email address for concerns or complaints. This email address is checked regularly and you will receive a response within one week.

SENDACT.Complaints@kirklees.gov.uk

More information about this can be found on the Local offer pages about SEN Support (opens link in new window) and Support Plans (opens link in new window)

If your child has an EHCP, then they may be able to get free or subsidised school transport, travel assistance or travel training.

You will need to ask SENDACT to send you a form to apply for this, they can be contacted on 01484 456888 or email SENACT@kirklees.gov.uk

More information can be found on the Local Offer School Transport page (opens link in new window)

The first people to speak with are the school themselves. At the moment Kirklees does provide a service called Education Safeguarding which deal with these issues, but this is something that some schools use and some do not.

The school will be able to let you know what they can do to help get your child back into school and discuss the issues that are causing them to not want to go to school.

More information about complaints and disagreements can be found on this Local Offer page. (opens link in new window)

If you have a complaint, then please go to this page as it has all the information about how you can make a complaint; Children and Young People's Service compliments and complaints (opens link in new window)

If you want information, advice and support about a disagreement, then please go to this page which has details of who you can speak with - Independent Support and Advice (opens link in new window)

If you have a complaint about a school, please go the school complaints (opens link in new window) page.

If you have a disagreement with decisions around SEND and EHCP's then firstly speak with SENDACT on 01484 456888 or email SENACT@kirklees.gov.uk

If you wish to raise an appeal to the SEN Tribunal for issues around the content of an EHCP or the decision not to issue an EHCP, firstly you need to discuss this with an independent mediation advisor. Within Kirklees this service is provided by Community Accord, they can be contacted by telephone on 01274 223313, email info@communityaccord.com or via their website (opens link in new window)

Community Accord can also offer Disagreement Resolution for issues around decisions made involving children or young people with SEND. More information about this service can be found on the Complaints and Disagreements page.(opens link in new window)