Management Information Sheet
Children and Families Bill - changes to SEND
The aim of the changes is to make sure that children and young people get more consistent support. The new system is designed to give children and young people and their families a greater say over what support and services are available locally, and what support they personally receive.
Main changes to SEND- The Local Offer – helping people to understand what services are available
In future there will be a ‘local offer’ that sets out in one place information about the support and services available for children and young people with SEND. This will be published on a website and will link to all individual school and academy websites in Norfolk for school level SEND support. - Education, Health and Care Plans
From 1 September 2014 Statements of Special Educational Needs and Learning Difficulty Assessments (Section 139 Assessments) will be replaced with Education, Health and Care Plans. These will gradually be phased in. The Children and Families Bill will not intend to reduce the legal responsibility for children and young people’s SEND needs.
What does this mean for schools?
In future there will be a ‘local offer’ that sets out in one place information about the support and services available for children and young people with SEND. This will be published on a website and will link to all individual school and academy websites in Norfolk for school level SEND support.
From 1 September 2014 Statements of Special Educational Needs and Learning Difficulty Assessments (Section 139 Assessments) will be replaced with Education, Health and Care Plans. These will gradually be phased in. The Children and Families Bill will not intend to reduce the legal responsibility for children and young people’s SEND needs.
As part of the Local Offer all schools will need to publish on their website information about what support there is for children with SEND in the school and cluster. Further details about what must be published can be found in schedule 6 of the Regulations. We will begin to test the new Education, Health and Care Plans process from March 2014 and school staff will be involved so they can tell us what they think. If you want your school to be involved please contact (judith.carter@norfolk.gov.uk)
- For further information about changes for SENCos please contact Judith Carter
- Parents of children with SEND might ask questions about the changes. We recommend you involve them in developing your school’s ‘local offer’.