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It always helps to be able to put a face to the name, or the voice on the end of the phone. Please scroll down to meet the SENDIASS team. 

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It always helps to be able to put a face to the name, or the voice on the end of the phone. Please scroll down to meet the SENDIASS team. 

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Social services can provide a wide range of support such as practical assistance in the home, respite care and short breaks, home adaptations, travel and other assistance

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SENDIASS guide - how to appeal a decision

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SENDIASS guide - how to appeal a decision

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The test for whether a LA must carryout an EHC needs assessment is set out in the law (section 36(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014).

whether the child or young person has or may have special educational needs (SEN); and

whether they may need special educational provision to be made through an EHC plan.

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, the LA must carry out an EHC needs assessment.

The needs assessment will gather all of the information necessary for the LA to make the decision if an EHCP is needed.

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Education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment | Newcastle Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service

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An EHC needs assessment is a detailed look at the special educational needs (SEN) of a child / young person, and the support they need in order to learn. The assessment is to see if your child or young person needs an EHC plan.

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Chapter six of the SEN and Disability Code of Practice 2015 (the " Code ") deals with the actions that mainstream schools (including mainstream academies) should take to meet their duties in relation to identifying and supporting children with SEN. (This chapter does not apply to children in special schools, because special schools are specifically organised to provide for children with SEN, and all children in special schools should have setting out the provision required to meet their needs.)

Schools should assess each pupil's current skills and levels of attainment on entry and regular further assessments should take place. These should seek to identify pupils making less than expected progress. The Code refers to four broad areas of need:

Communication and interaction;

Cognition and learning;

Social, emotional and mental health;

Sensory and/or physical needs.

There is more detail given in relation to each area in the Code; a child could, of course, have needs falling in more than one area. The expectation is that schools will plan how to deal with each of these areas of need, and ensure that their staff have relevant training and are equipped to respond. Special educational provision in schools is called SEN Support.

The school should use a graduated approach following the cycle of Assess, Plan, Do and Review:

Assess: The class teacher or subject teacher (working with the SENCO) is responsible for carrying out a clear analysis of a pupil's needs, drawing on teacher assessments and experience of the pupil.

Plan: Where it is decided to provide a pupil with SEN Support, the parents must be notified. All teachers and support staff who work with a pupil should be made aware of their needs, the outcomes sought, the support provided and any teaching strategies that are required.

Do: The planned interventions should then be put into place. The class or subject teacher should work closely with any teaching assistants or specialist staff involved and the SENCO should support the class or subject teacher.

Review: Reviews should take place and inform feed back into the analysis of the child's needs. The Code is not prescriptive about how often reviews should take place, but given the Code suggests schools should meet with parents three times a year, good practice would indicate that such reviews will be at least termly. The decision to involve specialists can be taken at any time and should always involve parents

Where, despite the school having taken relevant and purposeful action to identify and meet the pupil's needs, the pupil is still not making expected progress, the school should consider r equesting an Education, Health and Care needs assessment . (The parents or young person are also entitled to make such a request.)

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Chapter six of the SEN and Disability Code of Practice 2015 (the “Code”) deals with the actions that mainstream schools (including mainstream academies) should take to meet their duties in relation to identifying and supporting children with SEN.

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Requesting a new Education, Health and Care Plan

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In most cases the request for an education, health and care plan (EHC Plan) will come from a school or education setting. Children and young people who already have a statement should refer to the page Moving from Statements to Education Health and Care plans

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Your child will get SEN support at their school or college.

Your child may need an education, health and care (EHC) plan if they need more support than their school provides.

Children under 5

SEN support for children under 5 includes:

a written progress check when your child is 2 years old

a child health visitor carrying out a health check for your child if they're aged 2 to 3

a written assessment in the summer term of your child's first year of primary school

making reasonable adjustments for disabled children, like providing aids like tactile signs

Nurseries, playgroups and childminders registered with Ofsted follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. The framework makes sure that there's support in place for children with SEND.

Talk to a doctor or health adviser if you think your child has SEND but they do not go to a nursery, playgroup or childminder. They'll tell you what support options are available.

Children between 5 and 15

Talk to the teacher or the SEN co-ordinator (SENCO) if you think your child needs:

a special learning programme

extra help from a teacher or assistant

to work in a smaller group

observation in class or at break

help taking part in class activities

extra encouragement in their learning, for example to ask questions or to try something they find difficult

help communicating with other children

support with physical or personal care difficulties, for example eating, getting around school safely or using the toilet

Young people aged 16 or over in further education

Contact the college before your child starts further education to make sure that they can meet your child's needs.

The college and your local authority will talk to your child about the support they need.

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Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

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Children with special educational needs (SEN) can get the help they need to get an education - SEN support, education, health and care plans, SEN before September 2014

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Latest

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Have you found the information on our website helpful today? If so, please consider donating! At IPSEA, we rely on your donations and fundraising efforts to help keep our vital services running. Read more
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Latest Related Most read Have you found the information on our website helpful today? If so, please consider donating! At IPSEA, we rely on your donations and fundraising efforts to help keep our vital services running. Read more Donate

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Sarah Francis

SENDIASS Manager

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Denise Bailey

Senior Practitioner

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Rachael Ford

SENDIASS Officer

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Jennifer Brown

SENDIASS Officer for children and young people

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Stephanie Rainbow

Business support

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Text for children and young people: 07966 281 162

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Text for children and young people: 07966 281 162

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This is a free, impartial and confidential service.

We provide information, advice and support to

parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities

children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities up to the age of 25 years

We specialise in education matters but can support with social care and health issues that impact on the child or young person's ability to access education.

One of our workers will have an initial conversation with anyone who calls the service and support in meetings will come either from one of the team or from one of the volunteers who work with us.

Typically, parents can have their concerns listened to, Special Educational Needs policies and procedures explained to them and be offered practical support to help them in their discussions with schools, the Local Authority and other statutory agencies.

I found the time I spent with you and the questions you advised me to ask very helpful, thank you.

Thank you so much for all that you have done to help and support us, it was invaluable.

Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it. There was nothing more you could have done.

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Newcastle Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service

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This is a free, impartial and confidential service. We provide information, advice and support to parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities up to the age of 25 years We specialise in education matters but can support with social care and health issues that impact on the child or young person's ability to access education.

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Newcastle Sendiass | Newcastle upon Tyne

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Newcastle Sendiass, Newcastle upon Tyne. 462 likes · 3 talking about this. Newcastle SEND IASS provides information, advice and support to children and young people with SEND and their parents or…

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA)

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Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA)

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Contact details:

Monday-Friday 8am-8pm

0191 2466913

0800 6522864

NGCYPS@cntw.nhs.uk

Benton House

136 Sandyford Road

Newcastle

NE2 1QE

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Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

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We have different professionals who all work together to help children and young people who are having problems with their emotional or mental health. We know that sometimes young people worry about coming to see us but we are here to help. This leaflet should help answer some of the questions that you might have.

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Children and Young People's Service - Newcastle and Gateshead, Benton House - CNTW164a

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The Children and Young People's Service provides a single service to all children and young people aged 0-18 years living in Newcastle and Gateshead who present with mental health difficulties. This includes children and young people who may be living in difficult and challenging circumstances.

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Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals

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Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals

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Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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Who can refer

We have an open referral system. This means anyone can refer to Newcastle Speech and Language Therapy for children and young people, as long as they have consent from a parent (or person or agency with parental responsibility such as Children's Social Care). The child or young person must have a Newcastle GP and/or attend a school or setting in Newcastle.

When to refer

Using the Newcastle Graduated Response to meeting special educational needs, schools and settings should first implement support strategies from the Newcastle SEND Mainstream Guidance and the Universally Available Guidance and evaluate the impact of this support. If the impact on individual progress/outcomes is limited, you may then wish to refer to our service, showing evidence of what support is already in place and the impact of this. Referrals which do not show this evidence may be returned.

How to refer

Please use this document to decide if you should refer to Newcastle Speech and Language Therapy for children and young people. We only accept referrals which meet these criteriaand are made on a referral form which has been fully completed. Any referrals made that do not follow the criteria or are not on a complete referral form will be returned and not accepted. For referring schools and settings, please use the referral form to tell us what you have already put in place from the Universally Available Guidance to support speech, language and communication.
Speech and language therapy referral form (44.06kB ODT) Speech and language therapy post 16-25 referral form (57.18kB ODT)
As lone workers, it is essential that we should know about any safety issues there may be for our staff when working with families as some sessions may be carried out in the home.

Minimum referral age:

We accept referrals from birth for children with difficulties in swallowing or feeding safely, or for children with significant and complex medical needs such as cerebral palsy or Down syndrome.

We accept referrals from 18 months of age for children where there are significant and clear concerns about autism, which have been discussed with the parent.

We accept referrals from 2 years where there are concerns around development of speaking or understanding.

We accept referrals from 3 years where there are concerns around speech production (pronunciation) as long as the child meets the criteria set out in this guide and a speech screen is included with the referral.

Across all ages, the key indicators for referral are:

If there are significant concerns about a child's use of spoken language.

If there are significant concerns about a child's understanding of spoken language.

If there are concerns about the child's ability to chew and swallow safely.

If the child is stammering and the child or their carers are concerned about this. Stammering in itself is not a reason for referral unless it is having a negative impact on the child's well-being and/or participation.

If the child has an unusual voice quality e.g. hoarseness or a nasal sounding voice, which is not linked to a current illness such as a cold or tonsillitis.

If you are concerned about a pre-school child who may be autistic. School-age autism assessments are carried out by CYPS.

If a pre-school child had started to use words then has 'lost' this skill.

If a school-aged child has a diagnosis of autism and you are concerned about their speech, language and communication.

You have used strategies and interventions from the Universally Available Guidance and the child has not made progress.

For any child with a significant communication problem a referral to audiology for a hearing assessment should be considered, this can be done by asking parents to discuss with their GP, health visitor, or school health advisor.

We do not accept referrals for:

Children who are selective talkers.

This means there are only concerns about the spoken language a child uses in one context, but not in another, such as a child who talks freely and age appropriately at home but not in nursery. This is known as selective mutism/selective talking.

If you are concerned about selective mutism then there are resources you can access at www.smira.org.uk or the book 'Supporting Shy and Quiet Children' - Maggie Johnson and Michael Jones.

Children who are of reception age or higher, who do not have a diagnosis of autism, where the main concern is around social communication and interaction skills or possible autism.

Please note: English as an additional language (EAL)

If a child has English as an additional language, we will only accept a referral if there are also concerns about their home language.

Consider a referral if your child is only using single words in their home language if they are older than 2 years.

You do not need to refer if your child is using their home language well but are only saying a few English words.

If you are concerned about other aspects of their speech, language or communication please follow the guidelines below as usual.
Here is some helpful information about children with English as an additional language.
Referral criteria and what to include in your referral

Use the criteria checklist that matches the child's age, and only refer if the child meets the criteria. You must attach the completed criteria checklist along with the referral form or your referral will not be accepted and will be returned.
Referral criteria checklist for children aged 2;0 to 2;5 years old (204.65kB ODT) Referral criteria checklist for children aged 2;6 to 2;11 years old (204.54kB ODT) Referral criteria checklist for checklist for children aged 3; 0 to 3;5 years old (204.25kB ODT) Referral criteria checklist for children aged 3;6 to 3;11 years old (206.51kB ODT) Referral criteria checklist for children aged 4;0 to 4;11 years old (203.20kB ODT) Referral criteria checklist for children aged 5;0 to 7 years old (203.47kB ODT)
Concerns for children over 7 years

Refer to speech and language therapy if...

The child finds it difficult to learn and understand words

The child finds long and complicated instructions hard to understand

The child is only using short, simple phrases with limited vocabulary

The child finds it difficult to tell stories, to tell what has happened and to give explanations

You will find some information on typical speech and language development over the next few pages. Please use the screening tools and age-related checklists to help identify any areas of difficulty.

Screening tools

Understanding

If you are making a referral for understanding, you can use the screening tool below to help identify what key word level the child is working at and to monitor their progress while you await assessment.

Key words carry meaning and are the essential words needed to understand a sentence or follow an instruction correctly. For a key word to be valid there must be a contrast item.

When giving a child an instruction there are often words which the child doesn't need to understand in order to correctly follow the instruction. For example at break time a teacher says to a child, 'put your coat on', and points to the child's coat whilst all the other children are getting ready to go outside. This sentence has 4 words but the child is not required to understand any of these words as he can follow what the other children are doing. It has 0 key words.

The child has to understand 1 word in a phrase to follow an instruction "pass me the cup" when there is a choice of cup, plate and spoon.

The child needs to understand 2 words to follow the instruction "where is and ?", when a selection of different animals are on the table.
Here is a tool you can use to check understanding
Speech sound development (pronunciation)

If your child is using lots of words and joining these together into sentences but you have noticed that their pronunciation or some speech sounds are not clear or not always used correctly then you may want to check this speech sound development chart to see if the errors that your child is making are typical for their age.
Speech development chart
If you are concerned about a child's speech sound development, you must download and complete the speech screen below and include this with your referral. This will give you an idea of how your child is pronouncing words and any mistakes they are making.
Click here to download the screening tool to check speech (over 3's only) (278.92kB ODT)
If you wish, you can also use the assessment of speech impact tool which helps describe how worried you are about the child's speech and the impact their difficulty is having on them.
Click here to download the assessment of speech impact tool (10.01kB ODT)
You can refer if:

The child is aged 3 years or older

If there are significant concerns about the clarity of a child's speech

It is indicated by the chart below

They have extra puffs of air or 'snort' sounds through the nose when talking

They are 5 or older and cannot make specific sounds. For example, they cannot say a clear 'k' or 'sh' sound. A child may have difficulties producing a sound for physical reasons, e.g. missing teeth, or because they have not learnt how to make the sound

Refer if this is having a significant impact on their communication or the child themselves is concerned and wants to learn how to make the sound

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Referral guidelines - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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Please use the following guide to help you decide if you should refer to Speech and Language Therapy for children and young people.

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Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Community Team Learning Disabilities

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Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) Community Team Learning Disabilities

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Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

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Children’s Speech and Language Therapy - Community Team Learning Disabilities - Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

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The Children’s Speech and Language Therapy team within Community Team Learning Disabilities (CTLD) is based at Benton House in Newcastle. The team work with children and young people aged 3 to 19 with a diagnosed learning disability who attend Hadrian, Thomas Bewick and Sir Charles Parsons schools in Newcastle. The team provide specialist assessment, intervention […]

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Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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Children’s Occupational Therapy Services - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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One of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, providing healthcare to communities in the North East of England.

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Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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While you are waiting for an autism assessment - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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There is a long wait for assessment, but there are lots of things that you can do as a parent or nursery to support a child’s communication development during this time.

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Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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0-19 service - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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The health visiting and school health service is an integrated service made up of locality teams of health visitors, public health school nurses, community staff nurses, nursery nurses, school health workers and nursing associates.

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Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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Great North Children’s Hospital - Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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The Great North Children’s Hospital provides the full range of children’s health services, all tailored to each and every child - we call this patient-centred care

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SEND local offer | Children and Families Newcastle

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Warning: Some cookies require your attention

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For children and young people from birth to 25 years olds. A Local Offer gives young people with special educational needs or disabilities and their families information about what support services are available in their local area.

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For children and young people from birth to 25 years olds. A Local Offer gives young people with special educational needs or disabilities and their families information about what support services are available in their local area.

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Toregister on the Professional SEND Portal, please follow this link:
https://www.newcastlelea.org/ProfessionalPortal_LIVE/
If you are a parent/carer and want to log onto the SEND Portal, please click this link:
https://www.newcastlelea.org/CitizenPortal_LIVE
Guidance on how to register is included in the first of the FAQs below.

The EHC request form for professionals, for parents/carers and the professional advice forms can be found at the bottom of the page.

The SEND Portal a module of Capita One, the council's education case management system. It is used by Newcastle Council's SEND Support, Assessment and Review (SAR) team to gather key information around EHC assessments, plans and we will soon be using it for reviews. It is a secure website where sensitive information can be shared safely and, when fully implemented, will enable parents/carers/young people and professionals from education, health, and care to:

securely submit EHC referrals and professional advices

check the status and track the progress of an EHC assessment

enable the EHC plan to be viewed on-line

view copies of annual reviews.

Please watch our video for a step by step guide for parents/carers about how to sign up and submit a request for EHCP assessment through the SEND Portal.

Benefits of the SEND Portal

The portal will allow parents and young people to share their views directly via the SEND portal and give them full visibility of all the information being provided by schools and professionals during the process. The portal's flexibility gives parents and young people more control over how and when they submit information in support of their request and provides regular updates to tell them how things are progressing.

SEND caseworkers and business support staff will be able to manage a more efficient and effective EHCP process, whilst demonstrating increased visibility and transparency of decision-making. By being able to automatically collate information from various contributors, the amount of scanning and re-typing required is reduced, allowing teams to spend more time providing support to children and families. The system of automatic reminders will help to speed up the EHC assessment process.

External SEND professionals will have access to a more complete picture, giving them a better understanding of the context of the child to provide the most appropriate person-centred advice. With automatic reminders of statutory timescales, and a clear history of all the information they've shared with the SEND team in one place, professionals are able to organise their workflow more efficiently so they can work on the most urgent cases first.

Schools will have a better understanding of the needs of children with SEND in their school, enabling them to support children more effectively as a result. As with other external professionals, they also benefit from the automatic reminders of approaching statutory deadlines, allowing them to organise their workflows more efficiently to ensure the most urgent cases are focused on first.

Implementation of the SEND Portal

The portal is now open to EHC needs assessment requests from professionals we are no longer able to accept requests in any other format. If you are a parents/carer and wish to submit and EHC request by the portal please contact: Ann.Banks@Newcastle.Gov.UK if you need any help.

Forms on the SEND Portal

Versions of the forms that are used on the portal are shown at the end of this page. We have recently added a physical health screening questionnaire to the EHC request form. This is to help speed up getting health advices to support the EHC planning process.

Question 1: I'm a professional how do I register on the SEND Portal and how do I make EHC requests?

Guide to registering on the SEND Portal - for Professionals Guide for professionals: How to make a request for an EHC needs assessment on the SEND Portal .

Question 2: Where do I find the link to the SEND Portal?

It is in the guidance documents in question 1.

Or you get to it here: https://www.newcastlelea.org/ProfessionalPortal_LIVE

Question 3: Can I continue to email or post my EHC requests ?

For the time being but we will only accept request via the portal from 1 April 2023.

Question 4: How do I upload my request and supporting information to the portal?

On the screen with the listed children (see below) please select Add Person. You then add the child and then you can upload the request.

You do not need to resubmit requests already made via the portal. But from April 1 we will only accept requests made via the portal.

Yes it does.

Yes it is just for EHCs. There is a separate referral route for ASAP which you can find here: SEN Advice and Support Allocation Panel - Newcastle City Council (achieveservice.com) .

Question 8: I want to add additional information to support my request for assessment. Can I attach documents to the portal? Can you upload more than one file in each section?

If you want to add more information or evidence to an already submitted request then just click edit on the request from. State the reason why you are editing and resubmitting the form, on section 2, if it's a requested document or section 3 where you can attach documents there.

If further information is requested by the SEND Support Assessment and Review (SAR) Team or Caseworker or you want to add further information in the assessment stage then use the form titled Educational Information and Document Sharing Facility in the Assessment Tab. Take a look at the screen shots below:

Question 9: The system logged me out unexpectedly and my work was not saved.

The system has been designed to log you out after 10 minutes, we will be upgrading the system which will incorporate a pop-up message after 9 minutes to ask if you wish to continue to be logged in. Before that upgrade it's best to press the "save and continue" button and then press the "back" button or section heading which allows your work to be saved as some sections asks for a lot of textual answers.

For security we would always recommend you press save and continue on the section you are working on before logging out.

Messages will go to the email you registered with. We advise that you set up a generic emails account for your school with a couple of users so that emails can be followed up when people are not in work.

Question 11: If the SENCO role is shared within a school and each person has registered using their own details, can a child's information be shared with access available from each adult?

A school/setting can have many users registered using their own email address and login details. The Caseworker or Business Support at the Local Authority can then select on each child's involvement who is to have 'Portal Sharing'. We advise that you set up a generic email account for your school with a couple of users so that emails can be followed up when people are not in work.

Question 12: Will I be able to access the two schools I work at from the one portal?

Yes, once registered you will be able to see all children you work with as the Caseworker or Business Support at the Local Authority can then select on each child's involvement who has portal access. For example, a health worker will have many children on their portal view and all children will be at different schools.

Question 13: Will historical EHCPs be put on this list? Are we to use this to complete annual reviews from now on?

Eventually when we use the portal for the annual review process. But at the moment we are just trying to get people used to putting requests in.

Question 14: The portal limits you to 10mb which is too small for files that have photos and 30 , 000 characters is too small for some of the information.

You can enlarge the memo fields on the online portal forms by dragging down. As below.

The Apostrophe error will be fixed in the next upgrade of the system. Until then to stop the apostrophe error any copied text could be copied into Notepad then copied into the portal fields to stop the apostrophe error.

Unfortunately, 10MB is the maximum size.

The Request for an Assessment form has been designed to capture comprehensive information to get the process started. Therefore, if you have graphics or tables then these should be named accordingly and upload in the last section of the form. There are no plans to allow graphics or tables into a memo field.

All the pupil and parent contribution forms on the local offer page are within the 10mb size.

Question 15: The portal doesn't seem to like text separated into paragraphs with a space between each paragraph.

One of our SENCOs has reported this - and she found that it works if she pastes each paragraph in separately.

We have tried from our end and it seems to work. But we have logged a question with Capita.

Please let ann.banks@newcastle.gov.uk if you come across a similar issue.

This is usually to do with firewall or site being blocked - please contact your IT.

Question 17: I have the 404 Error Code.

If you get the "Error 404" this signals the website you were trying to reach couldn't be found on the server. This occurs if your ICT team have worked on or updated your server or firewalls etc. To rectify this please delete your saved favourite Portal Link and use this link https://www.newcastlelea.org/ProfessionalPortal_LIVE/ or open a new browser and copy and paste the link. Once you have access you can save this link into your favourites.

Question 18: When will parents/carers be able to use the portal?

We will be going live with the Citizen Portal in the near future and Parents/ carers and Children can have their own user account and see, share and contribute to their Plan. This is the same system as citizens use to request SEND transport or a school placement.

Please email:

Portal technical queries: Steven.Embleton@Newcastle.gov.uk

Any other queries: Ann.Banks@Newcastle.gov.uk

Question 20: Can I add supplementary information to the request form once I have submitted it?

The new request form is designed to capture all the information needed for the EHC assessment and therefore it will not be necessary to seek further advice from schools and settings. If you feel you have further information please upload it to the portal. If it is at initial stages, you can Edit and resubmit your form and there is a text box for you to say, what is it you have changed and why. The system will keep your first submitted form as version 1 and resubmitted forms will then become version 2 and so on.

Question 21: How many SEND Support plans would you like to see?

You can mention on the form when a SEN Support Plan was first put in place. As the SEND Code of Practice states (Page 100), it should be reviewed regularly. Normally 3 terms of SEN monitoring and review should be provided.

As recommended by the DfE, an EHCP should be working towards long term targets, ideally at key stage. This does not mean that school cannot put in place their own short-term targets to share and discuss with parents, but these should be on an IEP or equivalent. This will then help to identify a small step approach and will be useful to see how the child/young person is progressing towards the ultimate goal.

Question 23: How many outcomes should be provided for the 4 broad areas of need?

There should be one outcome for each identified need within the four areas, so if you have identified two issues relating to cognition and learning (C&L), there should be two corresponding C&L outcomes to address those needs.

Question 24: If you are requesting an assessment for primary age pupils, do you need to provide an outcome for each Preparing for Adulthood outcome?

The PfA areas must be completed for children in Y9 and above but can be used for any child if appropriate. In Newcastle we want to promote the PfA from the earliest age. This could be developing self-care skills, road safety, healthy eating etc

Question 25: Who do I contact if I need help?

For help in how to complete the EHC request - please contact your SEND Caseworker.

EHC request / professional advice and parent and child contribution forms

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SEND Portal | Newcastle Support Directory

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To register on the Professional SEND Portal, please follow this link: https://www.newcastlelea.org/ProfessionalPortal_LIVE/ If you are a parent/carer and want to log onto the SEND Portal, please click this link:

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This is a free, impartial and confidential service.

We provide information, advice and support to:

parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities up to the age of 25 years

We specialise in education matters but can support with social care and health issues that impact on the child or young person’s ability to access education.

Staff are trained and have accurate and up to date knowledge of:

Education, social care and health law relating to SEND

National and local policy and practice in meeting SEND

SEND processes including Tribunal

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A website about autism, for autistic young people - so that everyone can gain a better understanding of what autism actually is.

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We can help you get the support you need to grow and develop

We offer practical and emotional support so that you can enter adulthood with the confidence you need to achieve your full potential. Discover ways we support young people below or use the search bar to find services in your local area.

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We support young people who are young carers, care leavers, those looking to gain workplace skills, LGBT+ those at risk of homelessness.

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Newcastle Careers Team - Information Now

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The Careers and Guidance Team offers impartial and confidential careers information, advice and support to young people up to the age of 19 without an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC plan) and up to 25 for those with an EHC […]

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) - helping children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the education they are entitled to by law

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Coram Children’s Legal Centre, part of the Coram group of charities, promotes and protects the rights of children in the UK and worldwide.

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Contact - for families with disabled children | Contact

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We are Contact, the charity for families with disabled children. We support families, bring families together and help families take action for others.

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SOS!SEN has been supporting families for more than 20 years to help them secure the right special educational provision for children and young people with SEND.

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Newcastle Welfare Rights Service - Information Now

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Newcastle Welfare Rights Service give benefits advice to people who live in Newcastle. You can call their advice line or drop in to a face to face advice session for help. You can get benefits casework if you live in […]

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Our building is open for meetings and groups.

We are following COVID guidelines to keep people safe.

You can phone us on 0191 281 8737 or click below.
For people with a learning disability:
we will help you connect with other people and activities using Facebook, Zoom and phone; to have fun, learn, and stay healthy and safe.

Help and Connect help people with a learning disability in Newcastle upon Tyne - if you want help with any problems or want to get to know people and places where you live - give us a call.

Redcar and Cleveland Support - our team can help you with any problems you have or join our social group to meet people and have fun.

Advocacy (Teesside & Hartlepool) - contact us if you need Advocacy support in Teesside or Hartlepool.
For families of disabled children:
Family Advice and Support - find out what how we can help with supporting families of disabled children.

Since 1983, we have been working to make sure that disabled people and their families can be in control of their own lives, strong, confident and included in the communities of their choice.

We promote and protect the rights of disabled people and their families.

Disabled people and their families are at the heart of all we do.

Skills for People are managing the Safe Place scheme in Redcar and Cleveland with help from Independent Voices, a group who speak up for people with a learning disability.

For more information about the scheme visit our Redcar & Cleveland Safe Places page.

Partner Organisations

Supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation

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Skills For People - Better Lives, Better World

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Our building is open for meetings and groups. We are following COVID guidelines to keep people safe. You can phone us on 0191 281 8737 or click below. For people with a learning disability: we will help you connect with other people and activities using Facebook, Zoom and phone; to have fun, learn, and stay healthy and safe.

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Newcastle Parent Carer Forum (PCF) are a group of volunteer parents and carers who work in partnership with Newcastle Local Authority, Health, Education and Social Care providers to make sure that the services they deliver meet the needs of children, young people and their families.

We aim to act as “the voice” of Newcastle’s parents and carers of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

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Newcastle Parent Carer Forum (PCF) are a group of volunteer parents and carers who work in partnership with Newcastle Local Authority, Health, Education and Social Care providers to make sure that the services they deliver meet the needs of children, young people and their families.

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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An Education, Health and Care plan (“EHC plan”) is a legal document which describes a child or young person’s special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve. The special educational provision described in an EHC plan must be provided by the child or young person’s local authority (“LA”).

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What is an Education Health and Care Plan?

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What is an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan?

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Model letter to request a needs assessment

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Model letter to request a needs assessment

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Asking for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment (model letter 1)
You can use this letter to request an EHC needs assessment. There is more information on when you might want to make this request, and how to make it, .

Remember to keep a copy of any letter you send. If you need further advice, you can book an advice line appointment with IPSEA .
Who should I write to?
You should write to the most senior person at the local authority where your child lives, usually called the Director of Children's Services. You can find information and contact details for this person by clicking here.
When will I hear back?
The LA should respond within 6 weeks of receiving your request.

Remember to keep a copy of any letter or email you send. If you don't get a reply within 6 weeks, or if you need further advice, you can book an appointment to speak with us .

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Making a request for an EHC needs assessment: Model letter 1

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CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Asking for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment (model letter 1) You can use this letter to request an EHC needs assessment. There is more information on when you might want to make this request, and how to make it, here. Remember to keep a copy of any letter you send.

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Education, health and care (EHC) plans and annual reviews | Newcastle Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service

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An education, health and care EHC plan is a legal document which describes a child or young person’s (aged up to 25) special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve.

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SEND 35a - tribunal form for a refusal to assess

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SEND 35a - tribunal form for a refusal to assess

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Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal - Appeal a refusal to secure an EHC Needs Assessment: Form SEND35A

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Use this form to appeal a local authority’s decision not to secure an EHC needs assessment of a child or young person. This form can be used by parents or those with parental responsibility, or by a young person aged 16 to 24.

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Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal appeal: Form SEND35

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Use this form to appeal a local authority’s decision about a child or young person’s education, health and care (EHC) plan.

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Mediation is a less formal way of trying to settle the dispute between you and the LA (and/or the health authority, known as the clinical commissioning group (CCG)). It involves a meeting between you, the LA and/or CCG and an independent mediator, who will try to help you reach agreement on the points of dispute. The mediation may also be attended by other relevant parties such as representatives from the child or young person's school or college. It is free of charge.

In most cases you will need a mediation certificate before you can appeal. You can get this in two ways:

Undertake mediation, and if it does not settle all of the points in dispute, you will be issued with a certificate confirming you took part in mediation; or

Speak to a mediation advisor, and you will be issued with a certificate confirming you have been told about your right to mediate but you do not want to do so.

If you do not wish to mediate, you will need to ring the number the LA gives you on their decision letter (there should be alternatives if you cannot use a phone) and talk to a mediation adviser. They will tell you more about how mediation works, and if you are not interested you can simply explain that you do not want to mediate. They will then provide a certificate. If you have had a lot of discussions already with your LA you may feel mediation would be of little use and you want to save time, get your certificate, and appeal right away.

If you have never had a proper discussion with the LA about why they have reached their decision, mediation may help. You might also consider it to give yourself more time to appeal. The appeal deadline is two months from the date of the decision letter, or one month from the date a mediation certificate is issued, whichever is the later.

would like to mediate the LA must arrange this within 30 days of you asking for it. The LA cannot refuse mediation or make you attend some other form o meeting beforehand. You can bring someone to mediation to support you if you like.

If you attend mediation and the LA agrees to settle the case and take the steps you are asking for, you must ensure that you get their agreement in writing, setting out clearly what they have agreed to do. Regulations 42 and 44 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 set out certain timescales that an LA must stick to after a mediation, if they have agreed:

To carry out an EHC needs assessment: the LA must notify the parent or young person that it is starting within 2 weeks, then either let the parent or young person know they have decided not to issue an EHC plan within 10 weeks, or send a finalised EHC plan within 14 weeks

To issue an EHC plan: the LA must issue the draft plan within 5 weeks and the finalised EHC plan within 11weeks

To change the name of a school in an EHC plan: the LA must issue the amended EHC Plan within 2 weeks

To amend an EHC plan: the LA must issue the amended EHC Plan within 5 weeks

If the LA agree to take certain steps in a mediation agreement but then fail to do so, they are acting unlawfully. This could be challenged via judicial review .

For more information about the process of bringing an appeal about an EHC needs assessment or EHC plan, see our general advice for all appeals .

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Mediation is a less formal way of trying to settle the dispute between you and the LA (and/or the health authority, known as the clinical commissioning group (CCG)). It involves a meeting between you, the LA and/or CCG and an independent mediator, who will try to help you reach agreement on the points of dispute.

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Mediation, appeals and complaints | Newcastle Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service

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Disagreement resolution services are for all parents of children and young people with SEN, and young people themselves with SEN. Using the service is voluntary and covers SEN provision as well as disagreements about health and social care.

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What to do when unhappy with a decision, including Chapel mediation

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What to do when unhappy with a decision, including Chapel mediation

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What if I am unhappy with an EHCP related decision? | Children and Families Newcastle

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IPSEA - complaining about a nursery, school or college

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IPSEA - complaining about a nursery, school or college

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Making a complaint about a nursery, school or college

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The first step for complaints about nurseries, schools and colleges will usually be to the setting itself. This applies types of setting, including maintained schools, academies and independent schools. An exception would be if, for example, you feel that your complaint will not be given a fair consideration due to conflicts of interest. If the school is a public body (like a maintained school or an academy) and the issue is serious and so urgent that it is not appropriate to complain and follow any of the below possible next steps you may need to consider judicial review instead. For example, because the other options would take too long to resolve the issue. Depending on the circumstances, information on disability discrimination may also be relevant. To complain, the first step is to follow the setting’s own complaints procedure. Schools must by law have a procedure for parents to complain. There is brief guidance on complaining about a school on the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) website. There is also guidance for maintained nurseries and schools on best practice for complaints procedures, which sets out what the DfE expects schools to do in the event of a complaint.   Next steps If you complain and are not happy with the outcome, the next steps depend on the type of complaint you are making. Complaining about a maintained school or maintained nursery school If you are complaining about a maintained school or maintained nursery school, it may be appropriate to complain to the local authority (LA). Not all LAs will look into school complaints, particularly if they feel they can be addressed within the internal school management system. Check your local policy before complaining to the LA. If your complaint concerns bullying issues that a school is failing to deal with, LAs have a specific power to intervene, under section 62 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, where the behaviour of certain pupils is severely prejudicing the education of other pupils. Therefore, it may help to raise this with your LA. You can read more about duties about children’s welfare on the Child Law Advice website. If that doesn’t resolve things, or you have followed all the steps in the school or nursery school’s complaints procedure, the possible next step will be to complain to the Department for Education (DfE). You may be able to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) if your complaint is about:  the processes followed by an independent review panel following an exclusion from a maintained school, or the processes followed by an admissions appeals panel if you applied for a maintained school. If the school was a maintained school and recently converted to be an academy the LGSCO may be able to investigate a complaint on these issues too. Check with the LGSCO directly if you’re not sure whether this applies in your case. Complaining about other schools or further education settings If you are complaining about any other type of school (including an academy) or further education institution, you could escalate your complaint to the Department for Education (DfE).  Complaining about an early years setting If you want to complain about a nursery or early years’ setting, unless it is a maintained nursery school, this is not dealt with by the DfE. You can complain to Ofsted.  Complaining about information or data protection If your complaint is about data protection, or a nursery, school, or college’s failure to provide you with information you are entitled to, you should complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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There are different ways that you can take action when things go wrong with a local authority (LA).

If you have a letter from the LA which says you can mediate or appeal its decision to the SEND Tribunal, please see our information on appealing to the SEND Tribunal.

If not, the first step will be to tell the LA about the issue and ask it to resolve it. We suggest you write to the Director of Children's Services to do this. We may have a template letter that could help you.

Even if the issue relates to a young person rather than a child, the Director of Children's Services is the person to raise matters relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and education support with. You can find details of your LA online and the contact details for the Director of Children's Services of each LA on this website.

When you write to the Director of Children's Services, it may help to copy in the LA's monitoring officer, your ward councillor and the LA case worker or officer you have been dealing with.

Keep a copy and proof of delivery of any letter or email you send.

What else you should do, depends on the issue and how urgent it is:

When complaining would work

Where the LA's formal complaints procedure could realistically solve the problem, you should follow it. You can do this in addition to writing the Director of Children's Services using one of our template letters if we have one relevant to your situation.

How to complain should be explained in your LA's local offer. If the LA has not put its complaints policy on the website then ask for a copy of the complaints procedure from your case worker/its office.

The LA's complaints policy/procedure should set out the time limit the LA has for replying to a complaint - if your situation is urgent and the LA's timescales for dealing with a complaint would take too long to resolve it, it could be better to take a different type of action instead of complaining. Please see the below information on when complaining would not work.

If one of our template letters is relevant to your situation, you can use the information in it to help explain your concerns but if you want your concern to be treated as a formal complaint make sure you follow the LA's complaints procedure too. For example, if your LA requires complaints to be submitted via an online form you should copy and paste relevant sections of the template letter into the form.

The LA's complaints procedure will tell you who to send your complaint to or how to submit it.

Formal complaints should be made in writing, in line with your LA's complaints procedure. Make sure you keep a copy of your complaint and something which proves it was delivered. For example;

If complaining by email, save a copy of the sent email.

If complaining by letter, use recorded delivery, or ask for a receipt if delivered by hand, and make sure you keep a copy for your own records.

If you send your complaint using an online form and it's not clear whether you will receive a copy of it, take screen shots of the completed webpages before you click submit.

If you complain to the LA but this does not solve the problem, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or, if the issue is now urgent or cannot be solved otherwise, you may be able to challenge the LA's decision or actions through a process called judicial review instead.

When complaining would not work

Sometimes, following the LA's complaints procedure will not be a realistic and effective way of solving the issue. For example, when an LA is acting unlawfully, the issue is serious and urgent and the complaints process would take too long to resolve it. Perhaps because, the LA won't make sure a compulsory school age child out of school receives suitable, full-time education or a child or young person is not getting important special educational provision set out in their EHC plan, for example.

When the complaints procedure would not be a realistic and effective way of solving the issue, we recommend you alert the LA to the issue (see if one of our template letters would help) and take advice on starting a process called  judicial review   instead of making a formal complaint.

If you need further advice, you can book an advice line appointment with IPSEA, use our call-in service or take advice and get help with judicial review from a legal aid provider or other organisation.

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Taking action when things go wrong with a local authority

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You may wish to take action if an LA is failing in its duties relating to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and education support.

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The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, We are the final stage for complaints about councils, all adult social care providers (including care homes and home care agencies) and some other organisations providing local public services. We are a free service. We investigate complaints in a fair…

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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'Judicial review' is asking a court to look at the decision of a public body and to decide whether it was made in a lawful, fair and reasonable manner. The court does not look at whether it agrees with the public body's decision, but looks at the way the decision was taken. If it finds that the way the decision was taken was unlawful, unfair or unreasonable, it can order the public body to re-make its decision, or order the public body to take a particular action.

Often judicial review cases can be resolved without having to go to court because public bodies have to explain themselves earlier on (see below for more on what's called the "pre-action" stage).

A judicial review claim may be necessary where there is no other way the issue could be resolved. For a child or young person with special educational needs (SEN), this could be if:

A local authority (LA) has agreed to issue an EHC plan but fails to actually issue the final plan, resulting in the child or young person missing special educational provision or schooling

The LA fails to secure the special educational provision set out in an EHC plan, resulting in the child or young person missing education.

The LA has arbitrarily or unreasonably decided to stop providing home-to-school transport to which a child or young person is entitled, meaning the child or young person cannot get to their place of learning

The LA fails to comply with a SEND Tribunal order

The governing body of a school refuses to admit a child or young person despite being named in the EHC plan (where there has been no formal exclusion).

This is not an exhaustive list.

Judicial review is only used where efforts to solve the issue with the LA (or other public body) haven't worked and there isn't another effective way of solving it. This means:

Where following the LA's formal complaints procedure could realistically solve the problem, you need to follow it

But if following the LA's complaints procedure won't be a realistic and effective way of solving the issue you don't - for example, if the LA won't make sure a compulsory school age child out of school receives full-time education (and, if they have one, the special educational provision in their EHC plan) and the complaints process would be too slow to resolve this.

If the issue is about what an EHC plan says, then that should be dealt with by mediation or an appeal to the SEND Tribunal instead of judicial review. If you don't have a right to mediate/appeal you may still be able to get an EHC plan changed but judicial review is not the way to do this.

For some issues, it may be more appropriate (or preferable for the parent) to complain to the LA and if necessary escalate the complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman instead. You will need to consider which is the most appropriate way of addressing your problem.

The time limit for applying for judicial review is as soon as possible but in any event within three months from the date when the act, decision or event being complained about occurred. As above, you usually have to show that everything that could realistically solve the problem has been tried before resorting to court action. However, it is vitally important to apply for judicial review as soon as possible and within the time limit even if the complaints procedure has not been completed.

If you are thinking about applying for judicial review, you should get advice first. Answers to these frequently asked questions may help too.

To succeed in an application for judicial review about special educational needs, parents must show either:

That the LA (or other public body) does not have the legal power to make the decision or to take the action which they object to; or

That the LA (or other public body) is under a legal duty to act or make a decision in a certain way and is refusing or failing to do so.

Public bodies can be challenged on grounds of:

1. Illegality, including acting outside their powers or by making an error in law

2. Irrationality, in cases in which a decision is completely unreasonable

3. Procedural unfairness, including carrying out procedure unlawfully, breaching the rules of natural justice, failing to consider legitimate factors or considering illegitimate factors

4. Breach of the Human Rights Act 1998.

'Public bodies' in education include:

Local Authorities

School governing bodies

Governors of maintained nurseries

Governors of Further Education institutions

Independent review panels for permanent exclusions

Admission appeal panels

Government ministers and government departments

Getting legal help

Unlike appeals about EHC plans , where parents are usually not legally represented, for judicial review it is strongly advisable to seek advice from a solicitor as soon as possible.
The 'pre-action' stage
The first part of judicial review is called the 'pre-action' stage, where a formal pre-action letter is sent to the Local Authority explaining the issue and giving it an opportunity to resolve it. We would recommend getting a lawyer to draft this letter to ensure it covers everything it needs to. After that stage, an application is made to court for permission to bring the judicial review.

If you qualify for legal aid, this can cover the cost of a solicitor preparing the pre-action protocol letter. You can find out about legal aid here, and apply for legal aid here.

If you do not qualify for legal aid, you would need to cover the cost of a lawyer preparing the pre-action letter and making the application for legal aid for the child. We would recommend using one of the legal aid providers because, if you can get legal aid in your child's name for everything from the application onwards (see heading below), it makes sense for the same lawyers to do both parts. If you visit the legal aid website, and select 'public law' and then enter your postcode, you will be able to find providers in your area.
The action stage
In cases relating to children or young people with SEN, generally the case will be about the child or young person's rights, rather than the parents'. For everything after the pre-action stage, legal aid can be sought in the name of the child or young person, based on their income, rather than yours.

How to start an action

Parents or their legal representative must apply for permission to bring a judicial review to the Administrative Court in the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. The lawyer could ask the court to take immediate action or stop an action before the case is heard. This would be temporary until the court's final decision. It may take between six months and a year for the case to be heard.

Possible remedies

Quashing order - where the court overturns a decision and requires the public body to make it again properly. This is the most common remedy.

Prohibiting order - where the court tells the public body not to perform an action or make an unlawful decision.

Mandatory order - where the public body is required to perform an action, for example to ensure the help on a statement is carried out.

Injunction - where the court tells the public body to do or not to do something.

Declaration - where the court says that a decision or act is unlawful, for example a declaration that a decision or act is not in line with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Damages - an order very rarely made in judicial review but compensation may be awarded where a decision has caused harm or loss. This happens most often when a public body has interfered with human rights.

Appeals

Appeals against the outcome of a judicial review can be made to the Court of Appeal with permission and again, if permission is given, to the Supreme Court.

If you haven't been able to find the answer to your question, you can book an appointment to speak with us .

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lsquo;Judicial review’ is asking a court to look at the decision of a public body and to decide whether it was made in a lawful, fair and reasonable manner. The court does not look at whether it agrees with the public body’s decision, but looks at the way the decision was taken.

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Procedure for disability discrimination claims - IPSEA

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Procedure for disability discrimination claims - IPSEA

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Procedure for disability discrimination claims

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The SEND Tribunal can hear claims about disability discrimination by a school under the Equality Act 2010.  If your claim is against a different kind of setting or a local authority then the claim must be brought in the County Court.  The procedure is similar to that of bringing an appeal about an EHC needs assessment or EHC plan, which is referred to as a ‘SEN appeal’. There are some a few differences, which are set out below – you should read this section as well as the section on appealing to the SEND Tribunal in relation to SEN appeals.  The SEND Tribunal has guidance on bringing a claim of disability discrimination against a school (but it has not been updated to refer to same disadvantage indirect discrimination yet). Timetable The claim against the school must be received by the SEND Tribunal within six months of the discrimination you are claiming about (or within six months of the most recent act or failure to act if this has been continuing for a period of time). The SEND Tribunal will normally fast-track your claim if your child has been permanently excluded (and the school’s governing body has upheld the exclusion) and you are asking for an order for your child to be reinstated. However, it will not do this if you are waiting for a recommendation on the exclusion from an independent review panel. Instead, the SEND Tribunal would put the claim on hold until you tell it the result of the review. Submitting the claim form There are different claim forms depending on whether the claim involves an exclusion or not, and whether the claim is being brought by a young person or a parent (they are called forms 4A and 4B and 26A and 26B). Claim forms can be found on the SEND Tribunal site. Check that you are using the right form.  If you are also making a SEN appeal to the SEND Tribunal, you can request that they are ‘consolidated’ so that they are heard at the same hearing. However, you will need to complete a separate form for each claim.  You might want to take advice first about whether or not asking for your claim and appeal to be heard together is right in your case.  You need to clearly set out and number all the issues you want the SEND Tribunal to resolve on your claim form. You will also need to clearly explain: your child or young person’s disability if required due to the type of discrimination you want to make a claim about (please see our types of disability discrimination page for more) the specific failure or unfavourable treatment you are saying happened the date or date range when the failure/treatment happened how that failure/treatment arises from or is linked to your child’s disability the disadvantage that has been suffered as a result, and the remedy you want the SEND Tribunal to order. Evidence needed You will need copies of professional reports or other documents which help explain your child or young person’s disability (this is required for all types of claim except same disadvantage indirect discrimination). If there is a diagnosis of a particular condition, you must provide copies of documents showing this. You should submit this evidence with your claim form.  You should also send copies of: their current EHC plan if they have one, and  any documents which might help the SEND Tribunal to understand what the disability discrimination claim is about. This could include correspondence, copies of documents sent from the school, or written statements from people who witnessed events.  Please note that there are page limits in these claims. Please see ‘The bundle’ section on this page below. If you are struggling to obtain information from the school then you could consider making a subject access request (for personal information) or a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (for non-personal information). Maintained schools (mainstream or special) and non-maintained special schools also have a legal duty to provide an individual’s educational record within 15 days of request and we have a template letter you can use to ask for this.  The evidence you need will depend on the circumstances of your claim and you may need to seek advice about this, including checking if you are eligible for legal aid.  It is important you provide evidence to support your claim. At the final hearing, the SEND Tribunal will usually make a decision on the basis of the evidence available. If you, or the school, has not provided evidence, this does not mean the SEND Tribunal will necessarily postpone the hearing. If evidence has not been provided, the SEND Tribunal will want to know whether there is a good reason for it. If there is not, or if the evidence is still not likely to be available next  time if the hearing is postponed, the SEND Tribunal is likely to proceed without that evidence, having given an opportunity for it to be provided. If you are expecting to receive evidence after the evidence deadline, ask the SEND Tribunal to extend it. If helpful evidence that you were not expecting becomes available after the evidence deadline, you can ask the SEND Tribunal to accept it late. In both cases you need to use the Request for Change form and seek the school’s views on the request first. If you need to make a request for the evidence deadline to be extended or for permission for late evidence to be accepted, explain why: you cannot/could not submit the evidence any sooner​ the evidence is relevant to the issues in the appeal​ it can’t be given orally at the hearing and any other factors to persuade the Tribunal to accept it (like that the school already has it, so won’t be disadvantaged by not having seen it​), and it would be not be “fair and just” for it to be excluded and is needed for the Tribunal to decide the appeal fairly​. Once the claim is registered The registration letter from the SEND Tribunal should tell you:  the hearing date, and  individual case management directions decided by a Tribunal chair (judge) who has reviewed the paperwork you submitted – this may include a date for a telephone case management conference.  The SEND Tribunal should also send the parent or young person copies of:  an Attendance Form to return to the Tribunal (you use this to tell the school and Tribunal who will be going to the hearing, including any representative and witnesses you may have), and  a Request for Change Form (this is used if you need to ask the Tribunal to do something, like extend a deadline for example).  Witnesses You will need to give the name and role of any witness you want to attend the hearing on the attendance form as explained above. The SEND Tribunal will not allow them to attend the hearing otherwise, unless they consider there are exceptional circumstances. All witnesses must provided a written witness statement or report by the final evidence deadline. You can automatically have up to five witnesses, this is likely to be more than enough but if you need more you can ask the SEND Tribunal for permission using the Request for Change form (having sought the school’s view first). If you have someone you are confident would be helpful to attend as a witness and they are willing to attend but feel unable to unless they are ordered to attend (for example, a teacher who wants to support the family but has been told by their employer they cannot attend) then you can apply to the SEND Tribunal for a witness summons.  This application for a witness summons should be made using the Request for Change form, or form SEND30: Request for a Witness Summons. It should be requested well in advance of the hearing (unless the SEND Tribunal directs otherwise, a summons must give the witness at least 14 days’ notice of the hearing). The name and address of the witness will need to be given, but this can be their workplace address. It will be necessary to say why this person’s evidence is important and why they might not attend voluntarily. If granted, the summons will be sent to you and it is your responsibility to serve it on the witness. Before requesting a witness summons, think very carefully about whether the witness is likely to be supportive as you won’t be able to control what they do and don’t say in the hearing. It may help to take advice on this. Reasonable adjustments It is best to let the SEND Tribunal know as soon as possible if you or any of your witnesses need adjustments to be made to be able to effectively participate in the claim and/or hearing. If you know you will need adjustments, request them on the claim form. Someone from the SEND Tribunal should then contact you to discuss them, if this doesn’t happen you should contact the Tribunal. You can also explain on the attendance form any reasonable adjustments you or one of your witnesses may need to help you/them fully join in with the hearing. If there is not enough room on the form, you can also request these in writing and send your request to the SEND Tribunal. You should give the SEND Tribunal as much notice as you can. What you should request will depend on what is needed, but it may include: more time to respond to questions for legal points to be explained (without you having to ask each time) for regular screen breaks if the hearing is to held online for a face to face hearing (you can also ask for an assistance dog to attend should you need that), or for someone to help you or one of your witnesses understand what is being said and to join in – these are called intermediaries. An intermediary won’t be on anyone’s ‘side’ but are there to stop misunderstanding and step in if needed to stop it. Updates - progress and new issues If the parties have made any progress in agreeing matters set out on the claim they should let the SEND Tribunal know. If new issues/matters have arisen after the claim form was submitted, then you will also need to let the SEND Tribunal know about these. If you do not let the SEND Tribunal know about new developments and further disputed issues before the hearing, the SEND Tribunal may decline to address them at the hearing. You should write to the SEND Tribunal to let it know about any new disputed issues (or progress made). The bundle Before the hearing, the school will gather all the documents submitted into an organised set, called ‘the bundle’. There are detailed rules setting out what can, and cannot, go into the bundle, as well as how it is to be produced and issued. They are set out in the 2025 Bundle Practice Direction. Unless an exception is granted by the SEND Tribunal, the page limits for this type of claim are as follows: The core bundle, which contains all key documents, including your notice of claim and the school’s response, is limited to 100 pages. A Request for change form (explained on our SEN appeals pages) should  be used should this page limit need to be exceeded.  Both parties shall automatically be entitled to submit up to 200 pages of evidence in addition to the documents in the core bundle in the claim. If you need to go over that limit, you should use a Request for Change form to ask permission and explain why the additional pages are needed. The hearing Disability discrimination claims will be heard by three-member panels. The school is very likely to be represented by a solicitor and/or a barrister (because of the adversarial nature of the claim). IPSEA strongly recommends seeking advice about claims under the Equality Act 2010 as early as possible in the process. The panel will not normally make a decision on the day, but will send out a written judgment after the hearing. Appealing a SEND Tribunal decision You can only appeal against a SEND Tribunal decision if they make an error of law – you cannot appeal just because you disagree with the panel’s findings. In disability discrimination claims, you could either appeal or request that the decision is set aside – you can read more about this on the section about challenging SEND Tribunal decisions. The number of cases which are successfully set aside or appealed are relatively low. Note that for SEN appeals there is also the option to ask for the decision to be reviewed in light of a change of circumstances. This is not relevant for disability discrimination appeals, because they deal only with past events rather than ongoing provision. If you believe you have grounds to appeal, or to ask that the decision is set aside or reviewed, you should seek legal advice. You may be able to get legal aid to cover the cost of this – see the page on where to get help for more information. If you haven’t been able to find the answer to your question in this section, you can book an appointment to speak with us.

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This section provides information about home to school travel support for pupils with Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) or a medical need.

Our SEND home to school transport service is under extreme pressure at the moment and some families are unfortunately finding themselves without the agreed service at short notice. Whilst we did have transport arranged for all school children prior to the new Academic year, some providers have been unable to deliver due to a lack of drivers. So that we can meet our high standards of service, we only allow drivers specifically trained and approved for SEND work. We usually ensure that our providers have sufficient qualified staff to work on our SEN journeys and to provide cover in cases of staff absence or resignation. However, since the pandemic there has been a national shortage of drivers and we are unable to enforce this point. This means that if no qualified drivers are available for our work, then we must withdraw transport rather than provide a sub-standard service.

Please understand that we only withdraw transport when we are simply unable to provide a safe, quality service. We understand how difficult this can be and do our best to reinstate service as soon as possible. In the meantime, if a child is eligible we will work with the family to help make alternative arrangements. This could include providing funds to enable families to make their own travel plans. Our phone lines are extremely busy, and we are struggling to respond to all calls so would ask that parents call us only once to allow us to resolve queries in the shortest possible timescale. We will be contacting those families affected twice a week to provide an update.

SEND travel support will make every effort to fulfil their statutory duty to provide home to school transport during this pandemic. However, if transport staff are required to self-isolate in line with the government's guidelines, routes may need to be cancelled for the isolation period if suitably trained staff are not available to offer cover. We will inform families at the earliest opportunity and make every effort to find a solution by identifying the best way for families to use a personal travel budget during the isolation period.

Parents and carers are responsible for ensuring children and young people get safely to school on time. This is true for learners with SEND many of whom travel to school without additional support from the Local Authority. In exceptional circumstances, some families will need additional support for an agreed period.

For a child or young person to access SEND Travel Assistance/ Transport they will need to meet the following criteria:

The young person is accessing a specialist educational setting that has been agreed by the Local Authority as the closest setting to meet the young person's needs.

The young person has a physical disability that would prevent him/her from making the usual type of accompanied journey.

The young person has a disability leading to significant social and/or emotional immaturity such that their behaviour leaves them extremely vulnerable in social settings, that would prevent him/her from making the usual type of accompanied journey.

An Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, or attendance at a special school or Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) does not guarantee travel or transport assistance. The pupil's individual needs will determine the entitlement, rather than whether an EHC Plan is in place.

Parents have a right in law to state a preference for a school for their children, but that does not carry with it a right to free transport.

If parents/carers would like to apply for travel assistance to help get their child/young person to and from their educational placement please complete the Application Form for Home to School Travel Support for Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) or to request a paper copy email SENDTravelSupportApplicationForms@newcastle.gov.uk.

Please note we aim to make transport arrangements as soon as they are needed however this can often take up to 10 working days. However, during the pandemic, despite our best endeavours this period may be longer. If your assistance with travel application is declined you have the right to appeal the decision.

SEND home to school transport appeals

This process has been designed following the recommendations set out in the home to school statutory guidance.

You have the right to appeal against our decision about:

your child's eligibility for home to school transport

the transport offered

the distance measurement in relation to statutory walking distances or extended rights

the safety of the route.

Stage One:
You have 20 days from the day you receive the decision to appeal against it. If you wish to appeal, you should write a letter or email asking for a review of the decision. You should explain why you believe that we should review the decision and include any information you would like to be considered as part of the review. A senior officer will review the decision. They will then contact you in writing with their decision within 20 days of receiving your letter. They will explain:

whether or not they have upheld the local authority's home to school transport decision

why they reached that decision

the factors they took account in reaching that decision.

If the decision has been upheld, you then have the right to escalate your case to stage two of the process.

Stage Two:
If you wish to escalate your case to stage two, you must send a letter or email within 20 days of receiving the outcome of stage one. An independent panel will review your case. The panel members will be independent of the original decision and will ensure that the local authority complies with our statutory duties, that a balance is achieved between meeting the needs of parents and of the local authority and that no child is placed at unnecessary risk.

It is important to note that you can only appeal on the grounds shown above . Circumstances such as work commitments or siblings attending other schools do not count towards a child's eligibility for transport assistance.

This review will take place within 40 working days of our receipt of your request. The Chair of the panel will notify you in writing of the outcome within 5 working days. They will clearly explain:

whether or not they have upheld the local authority's home to school transport decision

why they reached that decision

the factors they took account in reaching that decision.

If the original decision is upheld by the panel, you may then be able to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Parents may complain to the Ombudsman if they believe the local authority has refused help unfairly, made a mistake or not handled their application for home to school transport correctly.

SEND Transport is intended to facilitate attendance at school and is not intended to cover any travel between educational institutions during the school day, or any travel to and from social or child care arrangements or at other times. It is the responsibility of parents to make any such arrangements.

It is the responsibility of the parent or carer to ensure that their child gets to and from school at the required time each day, and to accompany them if necessary. A parent or carer's social or work commitments are not a consideration when considering eligibility for free school travel.

Home, for the purposes of establishing entitlement to free school travel, is the permanent address at which the pupil lives with a person who has parental responsibility. It is not the address of a relative or child-minder. Where there is joint residency, the address used is the one where the child lives most of the time. If a child spends time equally with both parents, then it will be the address which is closest to the school. In the event of a dispute the address of the person in receipt of child benefit will be used to assess entitlement.

Our policy only applies to pupils living in Newcastle.

If a pupil is in receipt of free travel and moves to another address, the child's entitlement will be reassessed using the policy in place at the time of the move. Eligibility may change in these circumstances.

We do not provide free travel where families move to a new house and wish their child to remain at their current school if there is a closer suitable school to the new address with available places.

There is no sibling link in the home to school travel policy, nor do we take account of feeder school arrangements.

Children in the care of the local authority are assessed under the normal terms of this policy.

Behaviour on transport that endangers other pupils, the driver or other passengers will not be tolerated. Transport operators and the local authority will withdraw travel support in the case of serious or persistent poor behaviour for either a fixed period or on a permanent basis.

Parent carers need to ensure that in their dealings with drivers, travel escorts and SEND travel support staff they remain calm and courteous. Any threatening or aggressive behaviour towards staff is taken very seriously and may result in door-to-door transport being withdrawn and the only assistance offer would be a personal travel budget.

SEND Travel Support Parent and Carer's handbook

A handbook of useful information about SEND Travel Support.

Types of travel assistance

We will consider the needs of the child and the travel assistance offer will consist of a scale of options depending on that need. Options include:

Travel permit for use on public transport

Payment of a personal Travel Budget (PTB)

Travel skills training to enable the pupil to use public transport or to travel independently. This will be delivered in partnership with parents and the education setting

Home to school transport for example, shared taxi or minibus from the home address or from a pick-up point

If a pupil cannot reasonably walk to school, parents will be encouraged to use their own transport to take their child to and from school.

The offer of a Personal Travel Budget (PTB) will be explored as the primary offer to families

Where home to school transport is provided it is the parent's responsibility to ensure that the pupil is ready for collection at the agreed time and place. If necessary, they should be accompanied by a responsible person until transport arrives and collected at the agreed time. If for any reason they are unable to attend school and a bus or taxi has been provided to transport the child, then parents should notify the SEND Travel Support as soon as possible.

Further information about SEND Travel Support is available using the contact details below during business hours only. If you contact the service outside of business hours, please leave a message with your name and contact details and a member of the team will respond when the service reopens.

SEND Transport business hours
Term time - Monday to Friday 7.30am - 4.30 pm
School holidays - Monday to Friday 9.00am - 3.30pm
Contact us
SEND Transport Service
Newcastle City Council
3rd Floor
Civic Centre
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8QH

Email: SENDtransportservice@newcastle.gov.uk

Phone: 0191 277 4646

Website: Newcastle Local Offer

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Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) Travel Support

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(IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice

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Local authorities (LAs) have particular duties towards some groups of children and young people who require home to school transport arrangements. You can check what your child may be entitled to by choosing the age category that applies to them. Young people, you can also check what transport you may be entitled to by selecting your relevant age category below.

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Guide - how to have a successful meeting

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Guide - how to have a successful meeting

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Guide - How to have a successful meeting

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Guide - How to review an Education, Health and Care Plan

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Discover a wide range of tools, resources, guides and learning opportunities around supporting young people aged 16-25.

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Council for Disabled Children - preparing for adulthood

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Council for Disabled Children - preparing for adulthood

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Getting ready for the next steps | Children and Families Newcastle

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Support for getting into work | Children and Families Newcastle

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Getting a carer’s assessment could be the first step to gaining vital support. It’s your chance to discuss the help you need as a carer. Find out how it could make life easier for you and the person you care for.

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Educational settings in Newcastle | Children and Families Newcastle

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Parent Carer Guide to SEND in Newcastle | Children and Families Newcastle

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Scroll along to the sections ➡ Scroll down the sections for the content ⬇ 

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This Padlet is for sharing information and signposting, each post in the Padlet is a live link to the website or service required.