Plymouth Local Authority Outreach Service for SEND Children

The Plymouth Local Authority Outreach Service for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) children is designed to support mainstream schools in effectively catering to the needs of pupils with complex learning difficulties.

Staff from Longcause Special School and Mill Ford Special School will provide consultation, professional development, and direct support to enhance the capacity of mainstream schools to meet the diverse needs of their students.

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Service Offered:

  • Consultation and professional development for mainstream school staff.

  • Building capacity through networks and professional development opportunities.

  • Preventing escalation of complex needs within mainstream settings.

  • Increasing parental confidence in inclusive education.

  • Reviewing and monitoring individual pupil progress.

  • Providing feedback and support for quality improvement.

Aims of the Service:

The overarching goal is to ensure children with complex SEND receive inclusive education while having their exceptional needs met. Specific aims include:

  • Advising on strategies to support individual pupils and groups.

  • Building capacity within mainstream and specialist settings.

  • Participating in allocation and monitoring processes guided by outcomes for children and mainstream settings.

  • Contributing to decision-making processes for statutory assessment and provision.

How?

  • Outreach across the localities offered.

  • Schools wanting outreach must gain commitment from their Headteacher to be involved in final outcome meetings to ensure most effective practise.

  • School completes the outreach referral form and gains parental consent for referral and e-mails both forms to the outreach email address.

  • The referral will be taken to the next outreach triage meeting.

  • The outreach triage  (which includes one of the special school headteachers and LA rep) will prioritise the requests.

  • All requests will be followed up with a timeframe.

  • The outreach team will be in touch to arrange visits.

  • Depending on the request schools will be supported over 2 terms initially and reviewed as to continuing need.

  • Headteachers and Sencos will be asked to be involved in final meetings with outreach team. An evaluation will be required as part of the process to demonstrate impact.

The primary objective of our outreach support is to significantly enhance Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) practices throughout the entire school.

While we are open to receiving referrals for individual pupils, it is essential for the school to demonstrate a commitment to integrating the insights gained from our support into the broader framework of SEND practices across the school.

As a component of the outreach support, it is anticipated that the Headteacher and SENCO will convene a conclusive meeting with the lead outreach teacher to mutually determine the forthcoming steps and assimilate the insights gained  from the provided support.

The Headteacher is required to articulate the anticipated influence of this interaction on the school’s SEND practices moving ahead. Sending this referral via email signifies an acknowledgment and commitment to participating in this concluding meeting.