About SEND Advice Surrey

Introduction

(1)A local authority in England must arrange for children and young people for whom it is responsible, and the parents of children for whom it is responsible, to be provided with advice and information about matters relating to the special educational needs of the children or young people concerned.
(2)A local authority in England must arrange for children and young people in its area with a disability, and the parents of children in its area with a disability, to be provided with advice and information about matters relating to the disabilities of the children or young people concerned.

Children and Families Act 2014 - Section 32

Under the Children and Families Act (2014) it is a legal requirement that all Local Authorities have a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS). SEND Advice Surrey provide this service for Surrey children and young people aged 0 to 25, their parents/carers and professionals.

Meet the team

We are based at Woodhatch Place in Reigate where we are sat independent of any other team that works with children with additional needs.

Our team consists of:

Team Manager, Emma
Helpline Advisor, Jill
Advisors - Judy, Andrew, Kathryn, Lisa, Sarah, Rob and Gabrielle.

We are all Levels 1, 2 and 3 trained in SEND law. Between us, we also have significant experience in:

Early years
Primary
Secondary
16-19 Further Education
Specialist settings
Parenting a child with additional needs
Exclusions
Supporting pupils with medical conditions

What we do

At SEND Advice Surrey, the information, advice and support we provide is impartial, confidential, free and at arm's length to the Local Authority. Our experienced team will listen to your concerns and discuss any issues in confidence.

The service we provide aims to empower children, young people and parents/carers to:

fully participate in discussions and make informed decisions
express their views and wishes about education and future aspirations
promote independence and self-advocacy
develop positive relationships with nurseries, preschools, schools, colleges, universities, the local authority and supported services to achieve positive outcomes.

SEND Advice Surrey ensures that the views of children, young people and parents/carers are heard and understood and that these views inform local policy and practice. If you have any feedback on our website or any of the information on this site, please let us know.

What do we mean by impartial?

The information, advice and support should be impartial and provided at arm's length from the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Groups.

SEND Code of Practice (2.8)

This means that the information, advice and support that we offer are firmly based in the law and the SEND Code of Practice. We provide unbiased information and advice about the Local Authority's policies and procedures and about the policy and practice in local schools and other settings. We do not give priority to any particular impairment, disability or special educational need, nor do we campaign for any particular approach to education. By being impartial we aim to help parents, children and young people have clear, accurate and relevant information that will help them take an informed part in decisions about their lives.

How do we know that we are impartial?

At SEND Advice Surrey we follow a set of quality standards for services providing impartial information, advice and support developed by the National Network of Information, Advice and Support Services. This helps us to monitor the effectiveness of the service we provide and ensure that it is 'at arm's length' from the Local Authority. By this we mean that we act, and are seen to act, separately and impartially, with no undue influence or control from either the Local Authority or the Clinical Commissioning Groups in our area.

We seek regular feedback from our customers about how impartial they feel their involvement with us has been. We ensure that we act upon any comments and suggestions to improve our service.

More information can be found on our policies page.

How can we help?

We can offer information and advice on:

your rights and responsibilities
who to talk to in school about your concerns
how your child is assessed and helped in school
what happens during an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment
what happens during a statutory assessment
what you can do if you are not happy with a decision made about your/your child's additional needs and/or disability
mediation
local authority policies and processes
national policies and legislation
advocacy and other services.

We provide support by:

listening to your concerns
exploring options
supporting the preparation of paperwork and forms
helping you to prepare for meetings
supporting with the appeal process
ensuring your views are heard
looking at ways of overcoming differences where there is disagreement.
informing you about other local and national organisations that can help you.

What to expect from us

We operate all year round, including during school holidays.

Our service is:

free of charge - we never charge for any of our information, advice or support.
confidential - we do not share any aspect of your enquiry with anyone else. At times it may be useful or necessary to speak to other people involved in your case such as a case officer, tribunal officer or school staff. We will always ask for your written permission to do this and you always have the right to refuse or withdraw any consent already given at any time.
impartial - we give unbiased information, advice and support. For more information please see our specific webpage.
at arm's length from the local authority - While the service is commissioned by Surrey County Council as part of their responsibilities under the Children and Families Act (2014), SEND Advice Surrey works independently of the local authority.

You may get help from any of the team. We keep records on our own confidential and secure database so that whoever you are dealing with will know what you have already told us and you won't have to keep repeating it.

You should expect a response within 5 working days of contacting us. This can be longer in busier times, but we will state this in an email reply, on our voicemail message or on our website.

Generally, we answer all enquiries on a first come, first served basis regardless of how the enquiry comes into us. We do, however, use a triage system so that we can prioritise if and when there is a tight deadline that needs to be managed.

All email enquiries will initially receive an automatic response. Advice maybe given through email replies, over the phone or on a Teams call. Please note that when we call you, this will show as No Caller ID or a withheld number. There may be occasions when new members of the team join the call to listen in for training purposes, but we will always check that you are happy with this before calling.

Our information may include weblinks and written information, short films or webinars. If you are finding it difficult to access any of these, please let us know. Please also come back to clarify any points you did not understand or if you want to ask an additional question.

How does SEND Advice Surrey look after information about me and/or my child?

The Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulate the way we use your personal information. You have the right for your personal information to be treated securely, confidentially and with sensitivity and respect.

We would only share information without your consent in very exceptional circumstances when there is reason to believe there is a risk of harm to a child, a young person or a vulnerable adult.

I have advice from a solicitor, will SEND Advice Surrey still help me?

If you are already receiving personalised advice from paid consultants or lawyers, our help will be limited to signposting to avoid duplication and confusion.

Working Together Agreement

You have been registered on our secure and confidential system. This could be for one or more reasons:

You contacted our service with an enquiry that we are looking into.
A professional contacted us on your behalf, with your consent to speak to them.
One of our team has been providing support to you.

We hope the following will help you to understand how we will work together and the support we can offer.

Please be aware that we are required by law to be an impartial and confidential service. This means we will not "take sides" with a parent/carer, setting, professional or the Local Authority.
Our service uses a solution-focused approach. This means we will work together to identify your goal and what work will be done.
Our aim is to empower you with the information that you need to feel confident in speaking for yourself.
We endeavour to provide you with a preferred worker for consistency, however this is not guaranteed. All our team are trained to ensure your information can be understood by any worker. We support the approach of telling your story once.
We encourage contact via email as much as possible but also have a voicemail service.

What we can offer

Advice and guidance related to SEND legislation and statutory guidance.
Advice before a meeting to help you to prepare and know what you want to say.
Emailed links to websites that you might find helpful.
Signposting to services that may be able to help you.
Advice after a meeting to discuss next steps.

What we are unfortunately not able to provide

Direct behaviour support
Mental health support or counselling
Guaranteed attendance at all meetings-either virtually or in person
Meeting attendance just as a notetaker
Attendance at a meeting in place of you
A directive to Local authorities or settings to make them take specific actions. Our role is to advise based on what is and is not lawful.

What we need from you:

To keep us updated on any changes to your contact details, while we are working together (email, telephone, or address).
To update us on major changes to your circumstances e.g. if you have a legal representative; if your child moves out of Surrey, they are at risk of permanent exclusion or suspension, a new setting is confirmed.
Tell us in advance of significant meetings that you are attending e.g. Early annual review; Child in need or child protection meeting.
Let us know if your circumstances change and you no longer require the support you requested.
To give us written consent to speak to others involved in your case, if requested.
A shared understanding that we aim to respond to each contact within 5 days.

What if I don't live in Surrey?

If you do not live in Surrey and are looking for the SEND information, advice and support (SENDIAS) service for your area, please contact the service for the county you live in. A full list of the services in England can be found on the Council for Disabled Children website.