Local Offer

What is the SEND Local Offer?

Newcastle’s SEND Local Offer contains all the information, advice and support that children and young people with SEND and their families might need to use. You can find school holiday activities, short breaks, clubs, and groups to join in with. There’s advice and guidance on education, health and care, and a range of issues young people may face. 

You can find more information on the Newcastle SEND Local Offer.

Definition of SEND

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they: 

1. Have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age;

Or

2. Have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post 16 settings.

A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if they fall within the definition at (a) or (b) above or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them (Clause 20 Children and Families Act)

 Definition of Disability

Many children and young people who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 – that is a physical or mental impairment which has a long term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and cancer. Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision, they will also be covered by the SEN definition.

Where to go for help if you think your child has a special educational need or a disability?

If you think your child has SEN, you should talk to your child’s early education setting, school, college or other provider. They will discuss any concerns you have, tell you what they think and explain to you what will happen next. If they do identify that your child has SEN, your school or other setting must contact you (or, if your son or daughter is over 16, they might contact them directly) and should discuss with you what support to offer your child. There are other sources of information, advice and support you can access such as: 

• SENDIASS (SEND Information, Advice and Support Service)
• your doctor, or other local child health services 

charities and other organisations that offer information, advice and support.

Descriptors of Need

The SEND descriptors of need or ranges have been developed:

• to ensure a common language to describe the support expected for children with SEND
• to provide a core framework for all practitioners working with children and young people to help assess and identify the needs of children and young people, and to put in place appropriate support
• to give greater clarity for parents and carers about their child/young person’s needs and how their child should be supported at school.

Descriptors of Need at various levels or ranges can be a useful tool for SENCOs, families and schools/services to assess and identify the needs of a child. This assessment can provide information about what support to put in place to support the child’s progress. It is important to consider a child’s needs within the context of their strengths.

For further information, please visit: SEND Descriptors of Need

What is Universally Available Provision?

This means the support for children with additional needs that should be available across all mainstream schools and settings. Newcastle Council has published a detailed document that sets out the support that all schools in Newcastle are expected to provide. This document can be found on our Local Offer and can be used to develop SEN Support plans. A specific document for early years settings can also be found in our Schools Information under Universally Available Provision.

Every school must publish a SEN Information Report about their SEN provision - you can find this on the school’s website. You can also ask your child’s teacher or the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) for information on the SEN provision made by the school.

Can schools access specialist support? 

If schools feel they have used the universally available provision guidance and need additional help and advice to support children, they can apply to the SEND Advice and Support Allocation Panel (SEND ASAP). They can ask for advice and training from specialist teachers, and funding to support individual children. Referrals must come from schools, settings, or other professionals, but if you have concerns about the support offered to your child, you should have a discussion with your SENCO or class teacher and ask them to consider applying for help. For more information, search for SEND ASAP on our Local Offer. See page 18 for further information on SEND ASAP.

SEND ASAP

Newcastle’s Graduated Response to meeting SEN includes the SEND ASAP. Requests can be made to this Panel when advice and support from specialist SEND teaching and support teams is required which is over and above what is universally provided in mainstream schools and settings. Please note, requests to this Panel are made by schools, educational settings and, for children who are not yet at school, health professionals.

The following teams can be provided through SEND ASAP:

• For Early Years: SEND Outreach specialist teachers for all four areas of need.
• For children and young people aged 5 -18 years:
• All SEND Outreach Service specialist teachers and SEND Outreach Service Nursery Nurses for SEMH needs for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes.
• Specialist staff from Thomas Bewick, Hadrian and Sir Charles Parsons Specialist Schools.
• Time from the EPS service for children and young people with SEMH needs.