Nursery World - Managing SEND, Part 3: Local Offer

How can early years settings – and the families who use them – get the best out of their SEND local offer? Karen Faux reports

See the full series on managing SEND

Since 2014, the Government has required councils to publish comprehensive information about their special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision in one, convenient place.

By law, the offer must contain certain information: special educational, health and social care provision for children and young people with SEN or disabilities, for example, and also details of how parents and young people can request an assessment for an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. It also has to be kept up to date under the SEND Code.

The challenge for councils has not simply been to create a directory but to engage relevant parties and make an accessible tool for parents. Wiltshire Council children’s services commissioner Matthew Look says the term ‘local offer’ has low public awareness. ‘It can be confusing – is it a website or is it a service?’

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