Kirklees Specialist Outreach

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

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

The child's school will make a referral as they are the first point of contact for families and already have lots of information and understanding of the child. The level of support that is required is based on the child in relation to their individual needs and their stage of development. Children and young people do not need an EHCP to access this support.

The referral form for all Kirklees Outreach services is available here.(opens link in new window)

For further information on the referral process please contact the Specialist Outreach Business Support Team:

You can contact the service directly to discuss the referral process.

specialist.provisions@kirklees.gov.uk
Telephone: 01484 225788

Who works in the Specialist Outreach teams?

Team of specialist teachers and support staff who have additional qualifications and training along with practical experience of working with children and young people with SEND. The teams:

Provide a robust offer of outreach support for mainstream schools across all key areas of need
Work in partnership with mainstream schools to support staff in promoting the educational inclusion and achievement of pupils with SEND
Enhance the capacity 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

Specialist outreach – First Steps

Observation of the pupil
Gather parent’s and young person’s views
Meeting with the school SENCO, parents and other key staff involved with the young person such as the class teacher
Identify a key member of staff in school that specialist provision 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.

A package of outreach support from the team will need to be time limited. Included in this will be the initial consultation, and the exit meeting.

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