If your child has an additional need, it can help the local authority to know that your child may need further support when they are in school. A health professional who is supporting your family can let the local authority know about your child's needs from an early age. This is called the Early Identification of Need (EIN) process.
The Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) Local Offer offers a wide range of advice and support for families.
What Is The SEND Local Offer?
The SEND Local Offer has two main purposes:
They do this by directly involving children and young people with SEND, their parents, and the professionals who work with them, in the development and review of the SEND Local Offer
The video below hopes to answer some of the Frequently Asked Questions from parents and carers about education and what support you can expect for your child to help meet their needs.
There are various specialist resource bases around Norfolk. These can offer short term support to children who are in mainstream education with a high level of educational need. The short term bases can also offer school to school support.
The specialist bases available in Norfolk are:
Short Breaks
Children with significant physical or mental difficulties are eligible for short breaks. Short breaks provide a family with a break from their caring responsibilities.
Short breaks are provided in a number of ways and will only be offered following assessment. Your child will need to be aged 5 or above to be able to receive a short break.
Short breaks can be for a few hours, a day, overnight or a weekend. A Resource Allocation System (RAS) assessment is used by the social work team to determine an individual budget for each child to access short breaks.
Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCP)
An education, health and care plan (EHCP) is for children and young people aged up to 25 who have complex special educational needs and/or disabilities and who need more support than is available through special educational needs support.
Not all children with special educational needs (SEND) need an EHCP to have their needs met. Most children have their needs met within a mainstream setting.
If you feel your child has additional needs, it is very important to communicate with your child’s school. You and your child should be involved with decisions that are being made about potential support.
To learn more about what you can do if you have concerns about your child’s progress, visit the SEND Local Offer website pages for parents.
You can contact the Healthy Child Service team by calling Just One Number on 0300 300 0123 or texting Parentline on 07520 631590. Our opening hours are 8am-6pm Monday-Friday (excluding bank holidays) and 9am-1pm on Saturdays.
To speak to other Norfolk parents and carers, you can join our online community forum below.
