Information about the Kirklees Local Offer Children and Families Act 2014 The Children and Families Act takes forward the Government’s commitments to improve services for vulnerable children and support building stronger families. It underpins wider reforms to ensure that all children and young people can succeed, no matter what their background. The Act reforms the systems for adoption, children who are looked after, family justice and special educational needs. The Government has changed the system for children and young people with special education needs (SEN), including those who are disabled. The Act extends the SEN system from birth to 25, giving children, young people and their parents / carers greater involvement in decisions and ensuring needs are properly met. It takes forward the reform programme set out in Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability: Progress and next steps by: • Replacing statements and learning difficulty assessments with a new birth-to-25 Education, Health and Care Plan. • Improving cooperation between all the services that support children and their families and particularly requiring local authorities and health authorities to work together. • Requiring local authorities to involve children, young people and parents in reviewing and developing provision for those with special educational needs and to publish a ‘local offer’ of support.
What is the Local Offer? The Local Offer details what local services are available to support disabled children and children with SEND and their families. This easy to understand information sets out what is normally available in schools to help children with SEND as well as the options available to support families who need additional help to care for their child.
What does it do? The Kirklees Local Offer provides parents / carers with information about how to access services in their area, and what they can expect from those services. It lets parents / carers and young people know how school and colleges will support them, and what they can expect across local schools and colleges. There are 14 questions, devised in consultation with parents / carers and other agencies, which reflect their concerns and interests. These have been answered by services, schools and colleges to provide information to parents and carers to enable them to make decisions about how to best support their child’s needs.
What services are available? We have forged some very effective links in our multi-agency approach to working to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs. Some of the agencies we regularly work with are:Kirklees Independent Advice and Support Service for SEN and Disability (KIAS) (previously Kirklees Parent Partnership) The role of KIAS is to ensure that parents have access to confidential and impartial information, advice and support so they can make informed decisions about their child's special educational needs. This is achieved by working in partnership with parents, providing information, services and training, working with relevant agencies and ensuring parents' views influence local policy and practice. PCAN (Parents of Children with Additional Needs) PCAN are an independent, parent-led forum in Kirklees for all parents and carers of children and young people with additional needs aged from birth to 25 years. They provide lots of good information, links to social media for networking with other parents, and together they provide a strong, collective voice so that they can work in partnership with service providers across Kirklees. Together we can improve services for our children and young people with additional needs. CAMHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services - This service can be accessed following referral from a medical professional (G.P./School Nurse). SENDCOs and parents can also refer to the service directly. With parental consent, CAMHS will work with us to support children, recommending strategies for staff to use in school.
The MAST Academy Trust 2024
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