Children and Young People

Home
Rochdale SENDIASS
Children and Young People

Children and Young People

We can support you to understand your rights for education, health and social care.

Do you need extra help with learning or do you have a disability? Are you aged 0-25? We help you to share your own ideas about your life now and what you want in the future. We can help you ask for the right support with learning in school or college and help to make sure any health and social care support is in place. This is important so you have the best chance to do well in life in a way that is right for you.

We are impartial – this means that we don’t take sides but will help you understand everything so you can make your own decisions. Any information we share is based on law which means you have all the facts to make the best decision for you.

The rest of the page includes some information you might find useful but if you need any further information you can use the chat facility, call or email and one of the team will get back to you within two working days. You can also join our Facebook page.

Further Information

If you have Special Educational Needs (SEN), you may:

• Find it harder to learn than other people your age

• Face challenges that make it hard to go to school or college

• Need extra or different support to learn

If you have disabilities you may:

• Need support around your health

• Find some things harder to do than other people

There is a law that tells people how you must be supported.

This law is called the Children and Families Act

If you would like to read more about the Children and Families Act please the link below;

- The Young Persons Guide to Children and Families Act

SEN Support is the support you may get in school or college if you have SEN (Special Educational Needs).

A Special Educational Needs coordinator (SENco) is a teacher at a school who is in charge of making sure you get the support you need. If you go to college, there should also be someone who supports you but they might not be called a SENCo. There may even be more than one person.

You and your parents/carers should have the opportunity to meet with the SENco at least 3 times in each year.

This means you can all look at;

What is working well

and

What needs to change

Settings must use their ‘best endeavors’ to support you. This means they should do everything they can to help.

There are 2 ways where you can be removed from school:

1. Suspension = When you are removed from school for a fixed number of days

2. Permanent Exclusion = When you have been removed from school and are not allowed to return at all.

Only a head teacher or a principle can suspend or exclude you.

An suspension or exclusion cannot be given, just because you have Special Educational Needs (SEN). They can only be given for a reason relating to your behaviour.

If you are having a bad day this doesn't mean that school can send you home.

If you only go to school for some of the day, then you are on a part time timetable.

If going to school full time would affect you in a bad way then a part time timetable might be suggested.

If you are on a part time timetable, school should work with you and your parents/carers to plan support so that you are able to return for full days, every day, as soon as possible.

If you are on a part time timetable, school should give you work for the time you are not there.

You and your parents/carers can refuse a part time timetable.

If you would like to read a bit more about part time timetables please click the link below;

Part Time Timetables (known as informal exclusions)

If you cannot walk to school because of your SEND (Special Educational Needs or disability), then you can get free transport.

The local authority can provide transport in a number of different ways:

Giving your parents/carers the money that it has cost them to take you to school
Fund public transport e.g. pay for a bus pass
Provide school buses
Provide taxis or minibuses
Provide escorts to walk you to school

The law says that local authorities do not have to provide transport if you are over the age of 16. However, if you cannot get to college without support, because of your needs, then transport should be provided.

An Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) is a document that says what support you should have if you have Special Educational Needs (SEN)

In Rochdale, an EHCP is called a My Plan.

If you have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it will say:

What things you need support with in your life
What education support you will get to help you to learn
What health support you will get in your life
What social care support you might need in your life
What things you want to do in the future

You might not need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) if your needs are met at school or college .

Before you can get an Education, Health and Care Plan, you must have an EHC needs assessment to see what things you need support with.

You and/or your parents/carers can request an EHC Needs Assessment yourself, or school or college can do this for you.

During the assessment, you will have the chance to say what things you might need support with.

If you are aged 16 or over, you will be the main person making these decisions unless you are unable to make decisions for yourself.

If you would like some more information around EHCP's please have a look at the links below;

easy read guide to EHCP's

- EHC assessment and review team

- IPSEA - fact sheet for young people

If you have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) it might need to change at times. As you grow up, it may become out of date, and you may move to a different school or go to college.

Your EHCP needs to be reviewed by the local authority at least once every year. This is called an annual review.

The annual review is in four parts:

Collecting information
Holding an annual review meeting
The school/colleges report of the review meeting to the local authority
The local authority’s review of the EHC plan

You and your parents/carers should be involved in the annual review process. It is chance to look at:

What is working well?
What needs to change?
Changes in SEN
Preparing for Adulthood (Year 9 onwards)
Aspirations

Preparing for adulthood is when you start to think about what you might want to do when you're older, and the ways which you might be able to achieve your wishes and goals.

You have a choice about what you want to do in the future. You can do a lot of different things including:

Staying in education, like college or university
Doing some training to help you learn new skills
Getting a job
Finding a place to live
Getting involved in things that are happening in the area you live in

There are a number of services who can support you to think about the future. If you click the links below, you will find further information:

Positive Steps

Preparing For Adulthood Resources

The below are links to further information around the annual review process:

- IPSEA - Annual Review

- Our Rochdale - EHC assessment and review team

Our service action plan tells you, how we (SENDiass) are going to make changes to to service. It gives you information about what changes we would like to make, how the changes will be made and how you can be involved.

Please click here to view our service action plan

There are three people who work on the SENDiass team:

When you contact SENDiass, you will usually speak with one of the workers below. We always try, where possible, to ensure you speak with the same person each time you contact us.

Hayley Chianca

“My name is Hayley. I have been a SENDiass practitioner for almost 6 years. I work part time (Monday – Thursday). I like to have a routine and enjoy going to the gym”

Keelie Rigby

“My name is Keelie. I have been a SENDiass practitioner for a number of years. I work four days a week (Monday – Thursday). I like to be organised and at weekends I love going for walks"

Charlotte Crossley

"Hi I am charlotte I have worked for SENDiass for 10 months

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my young family and walking my 1year old Sproker spaniel. I am also a member of my local cricket team and my local rugby team and when I get chance I enjoy performing on stage and singing with my local amateur dramatic society"

Afia Jabeen

SENDiass is delivered by Barnardo's. When you ring, you will ring the Barnardo's Office. This means you may speak with one of the people below as well:

Diane Sproston

"My name is Diane, I work in admin and I have worked for Barnardo's for 3 years. I love walking and at the weekends I can usually be found up on a hill behind where I live on the border of the pennines".

Kim Kelly

“Hi I’m Kim. I’m the Children's Services Manager at Barnardo's. I previously worked on the Short Breaks Groups and on SENDiass. I like going for long walks with my family and my dog."