The Kirklees Specialist Outreach Teams

Sometimes schools require additional support and help to support children and young people with complex SEND. Kirklees schools have access to specialist outreach support for all children and young people who need extra help in some specific areas. Children and young people DO NOT need to have an EHCP to access this service, it is based on the needs of a child or young person.

Every outreach case is different and therefore the level of support and the frequency of visits will vary.

Within Kirklees there is specialist outreach support available to help in the following areas:

Hearing Impairment - HI
Visual Impairment - VI (as well as providing Habilitation outreach support)
Physical Impairment - PI
Complex Communication and Interaction - CCI (including autism)
Social, Emotional and Mental Health - SEMH (including behaviour and anxiety)
Cognition & Learning - C&L

Useful link - What are Special Educational Needs?

What does the Outreach team offer?

Work alongside mainstream schools to support their staff in promoting the inclusion and achievement of pupils with SEND
Enhance the ability of mainstream schools to meet the needs of young people with SEND
Provide high quality outreach to support young people with SEND in mainstream schools

If you think that your child could benefit from this support, you should speak with the SENDCO or SEN staff at your child's educational setting.

Children that go to a Kirklees mainstream school (including academies)
School have implemented interventions as part of the graduated approach and now require input from specialist outreach staff
They are at SEND Support Level and have an I-APDR, My Support Plan (MSP) or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

Specialist outreach – First Steps

Observation of the pupil within school
Gather parent/carer and young person’s views
Meeting with the school SENDCO, parent/carer and other key staff involved with the young person such as the class teacher
Identify a key member of staff in school that specialist outreach can work with moving forwards

Specialist outreach offer

Exploring any current or potential barriers to learning and development
Gathering information about progress towards targets
Consideration of the level of expertise of staff and potential training and development needs
Obtaining an overview of advice from other professionals involved

As an outcome of the initial consultation the Specialist Teacher will agree the level of support that is required in partnership with the school and identify the next steps.

Beyond the initial consultation support may include:

Observations of the pupil in school and feedback to teachers and support staff
Working alongside school staff, modelling interventions and techniques around identified needs
Assisting teachers in the development of targets for the child
Providing specialist input into reviews and meetings
Linking with parents and carers
Liaison with other services
Training for school based staff
Offering advice for transitions, this can include key transitions such as moving from primary school to secondary school, or change of placement
Supporting school staff to audit the environment using the Kirklees sensory toolkit to identify the possible impact of sensory sensitivities for the pupil and any resulting behaviours

Every outreach case is different and therefore the level of support, and the frequency of visits will vary. Some outreach cases may only require a consultation, others may require more visits.

The school completes a Kirklees Specialist Provision (KSP) referral form and submits it via secure email which can be found here (opens word document in new window)
Referrals are considered by the teams on a fortnightly basis in term time giving careful consideration to the information provided by the school including the parent/carer and young person’s views
Schools are notified of the outcome from panel the following day
Where a referral is agreed, support begins with a Specialist Teacher from the relevant team contacting the school to arrange an initial consultation meeting with school and parents/carers

Parents can contact the service directly:

Email - specialist.provisions@kirklees.gov.uk

Telephone - 01484 225788

Sensory (Hearing and Visual Impairment) and Physical Impairment

clare.burdett@kirklees.gov.uk

Complex Communication and Interaction needs (CCI team)

sherrie.simpson@kirklees.gov.uk

esther.marper@kirklees.gov.uk

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

Marcus.Farrington@Kirklees.gov.uk

Cognition & Learning

mike.black@kirklees.gov.uk