Overview
We are a team of specialist teachers and teaching assistants with additional qualifications and extensive experience in working with children and young people with special educational needs aged from 0-19.
The service comprises of a number of specialist teams:
- The Early Years support offer comes in two parts. Firstly, there is the Home and Pre-school Team, who can provide support to children with complex special educational needs and disabilities from birth. They may work with the family in the home and/or in early years provision. They may offer support to enable the child to transition to their mainstream primary school. Once a child reaches statutory school age, if on-going support is required, the focus of support shifts to the school, rather than the family or Early Years provider. This support may continue until the end of Key Stage 1.
- The Communication and Interaction Team support children and young people aged 8 - 19 years (Key Stages 2-5) with complex communication and interaction needs including autism.
- The Cognition and Learning Team support children and young people aged 8 - 19 years (Key Stages 2-5) with a wide range of complex learning difficulties, examples include but are not limited to conditions such as Down Syndrome, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and Acquired Brain Injuries.
- The Hearing and Vision Specialist Support Team support children and young people, aged 0-19 years, who are: deaf; hard of hearing; blind; visually impaired; or have multi-sensory needs e.g. deaf-blind
You can read more about each of these teams in our service leaflet which can be downloaded through the link on the right-hand side of this page. You can also access additional information on the support offered by the Hearing and Vision Specialist Support Team by clicking on the following link: Hearing and Vision Specialist Support Team | The East Midlands Education Support Service
Times and availability
Age Range: 0-19 years
Availability: Service is available, during school term times 9:00am until 4:00pm (at other times by arrangement)
Contact
Referral
The Early Years Team accepts direct requests for involvement for children with complex SEND who are below school age from parents and professionals, e.g. from Early Years settings or health visitors.
Requests for involvement with children and young people with complex SEND attending school are generally negotiated at Family of Schools Springboard meetings which are held each term. Direct requests for involvement are accepted in certain circumstances, for example when:
- a child with significant SEND arrives in the County
- a child’s school placement is at risk, or
- there is an unexpected and significant change to a child’s needs or situation
Inclusion
Supporting
- Autism
- Deaf / hearing impairment
- Multi-Sensory impairment
- Learning difficulties
- Physical disability
- Visual impairment
Local Offer
Our services are aimed at children and young people aged from birth to nineteen with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities, their families and staff in the early years settings and schools they attend.
Specialist teachers and teaching assistants work with children and young people with a range of complex SEND in the home for pre-school children, and/or early years settings. They then provide support to schools for children and young people of statutory age in mainstream education, where the schools are seeking advice, guidance and/or training on making provision to address those complex needs.
SEND Inclusion Service staff provide advice regarding specialist assessments and interventions, including services for children and young people who are deaf, visually impaired, or have communication and interaction or learning difficulties.