We would expect schools to put in place a plan with your young person and yourself using their own support staff. Many schools have support staff trained in working with children and young people with emotional wellbeing and mental health needs such as ELSAs (emotional literacy support assistant). Please do remember that our school nursing service can also provide support, advice and signposting that includes emotional health and wellbeing.
If you have any concerns or questions whilst waiting for support to start from CAMHS, the team will be happy to answer queries that arise, you can email letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or call 01305 221783.
Please do visit the SEND Local offer to see what else is available. We also have some links and resources that you may find helpful:
- http://www.Youngminds.org.uk Young Minds have a really useful website with support and advice
- http://www.kooth.com Young people can sign up and access online counselling and moderated forums by qualified and registered health professionals
- https://www.dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/school-nursing Information about the school nursing service and ChatHealthwhich is a text support service for young people between 11-19 and living in Dorset
- https://www.dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/our-services-hospitals/mental-health/discovery-project Information about the Discovery College. This includes links to podcasts, videos and worksheets. Its aimed at young people and their supporters
- BBC - Headroom - Your Mental Health Toolkit BBC site with lots of podcasts, information and resources
- Healthier Together Information for young people and parents in Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Covering everything from parental mental health to physical wellbeing, to sexual health to mental health and more
- Neurodiversity – NHS Dorset This website contains information to support neurodivergent people in Dorset, with a particular focus on autism and ADHD
Parents, carers and young people can make a request for an assessment. We will still be looking for the evidence of the young person's needs, and what has been tried so far. There is some information here that might be helpful: I think my child may have SEND - Dorset Council
There is a dedicated team at the council that helps give advice to young people who are not in employment, education or training. The team will be more than happy to discuss what might be available, you can contact them at EETSupport@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or 01305 221783.
You can also find more information at: Education and employment options
We would be happy to understand some further information from you in terms of the conversations with the further education settings. Please could you email letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will pick up a further conversation with you.
Parents, carers and young people can make a request for an assessment. We will still be looking for the evidence of the young person's needs, and what has been tried so far. There is some information here that might be helpful: I think my child may have SEND - Dorset Council
There is also further information about educating your child at home here: Educating your child at home and flexi-schooling - Dorset Council
There are some things in law that the local authority will do differently for children who are electively home educated, for example we do not have a duty under section 22 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to assess every home educated child to see whether they have Special Educational Needs, but we can still work with you to help you understand how best to support your child.
SEND_Code_of_Practice_January_2015.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Whether an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment is necessary depends on if your daughter’s physical need or health condition affects her learning and access to education. Schools can access support through the Physical and Medical Needs Service (PMNS) provided by Dorset Council.
We recommend discussing this with her preschool (if she attends one) and/or her health professional (such as a health visitor, GP, or paediatrician) to determine if an EHC Needs Assessment is appropriate at this time.
We’re sorry that you’ve had this experience, it always saddens us to hear of children not getting the support they need at the earliest point possible.
Each school has a dedicated educational psychologist and specialist teacher who meet with the school every term to discuss inclusion and individual student needs. Educational psychologists may provide interim support while you wait for a referral.
We are working to improve trauma and mental health care by helping schools adopt a therapeutic approach to behaviour, focusing on building relationships. You can ask the school's SENDCO to talk to an educational psychologist about your child’s needs.
Educational psychologists offer training and guidance to school staff to better support trauma-experienced students.
Dorset Council is involved in the CAMHS review, using feedback from families and young people to improve mental health services. Your feedback has been particularly generous, and we will use it to inform this review.
If your family is facing challenges, please call our team at 01305 228866 to discuss your situation.
If we are directed by a tribunal to undertake an assessment, we will follow the statutory process. Usually when the tribunal courts issue an order this will come with key dates and for a final decision it is usually two weeks from the date of the order. In cases where Dorset Council has agreed to assess a young person for their needs in line with the Education, Health and Care assessment process we would then consider whether or not we should issue an EHCP and this would be based on the advice received from practitioners working with the young person, including their setting.
Often, schools can implement the recommended interventions without the need for an EHCP, and if this is the case, we would be involved in discussions with you and your child’s about how to effectively support your child.
If you would like to send further details through to Letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk we can respond to you individually. We can come alongside you to help to unpick what has happened.
You may also want to reach out to Dorset SENDIASS . The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. Their response time is up to five days, and they work on a triage system. When you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
Website contact form: https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/contact/
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Tel: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Their website offers further advice and signposting at https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/
We’re always delighted when young people reach out to us. As they develop and form their own views, they should be increasingly involved in decisions about their future. After reaching the end of the academic year in which they turn 16, the right to make requests and decisions shifts directly to the young person.
Parents and other family members can continue to support or act on behalf of the young person, as long as the young person is comfortable with this. We recognise that parents are likely to remain closely involved for most young people.
We understand that you absolutely want the best for your child. Not every child with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) requires an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP). Most children with SEND can have their needs met in inclusive, mainstream schools, early years settings, or further education. These settings receive funding to support children without an EHCP and are expected to use this to meet individual needs through the 'Graduated Approach.’ This is as way of meeting a child’s through ordinarily available provision,' which outlines available support and how to adapt it as needed.
An EHCP is for children whose needs cannot be fully met by the support ordinarily available at their setting. It outlines their educational, health, and care needs, with goals to help them progress toward independence, employment, and being an active member of their communities.
If you've explored the support your child is receiving but would like to discuss further, please contact us at LetsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for a personalised conversation.
You can also reach out to Dorset SENDIASS, which provides free, confidential advice to families in Dorset. The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. Their response time is up to five days, and they work on a triage system. When you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
Contact them directly via:
Website contact form: Contact Dorset SENDIASS
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Phone: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Visit their website for more information: Dorset SENDIASS
We’re sorry to hear that this has been your experience. You can apply for an EHCP anyway, but we will still ask the setting to provide us with information on what they have done so far. We'd be keen to know a bit more about this so do please email letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with further information.
You may also want to reach out to Dorset SENDIASS . The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. Their response time is up to five days, and they work on a triage system. When you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
Website contact form: https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/contact/
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Tel: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Their website offers further advice and signposting at https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/
We’re really sorry to hear that's been your experience. If you would like to send further details through to Letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk we can respond to you individually. We can come alongside you to help to unpick what has happened.
You may also want to reach out to Dorset SENDIASS .
The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. Their response time is up to five days, and they work on a triage system. When you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
Website contact form: https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/contact/
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Tel: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Their website offers further advice and signposting at https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/
We know that for some children specialist provision is what is required, but for others it is possible for schools to meet your child’s needs. As part of the process, our team will work with you to determine the best place for him to be. For a lot of children, being in their local with their friends, is the best option and with support this can be made entirely possible.
We hold an admissions panel with Dorset Special Schools every three weeks to review all children who may be suitable for each school, considering available spaces and the impact on the school.
During this process, we will continue to support your child in their current setting. You can email additional details to Letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk, and we will respond individually to help you navigate the situation.
When a needs assessment is requested, we have up to 6 weeks to inform you if we’ll proceed. If approved, the assessment must be completed within another 6 weeks, involving reports from professionals working with your child. If we decide to issue a plan, it will be done within 20 weeks of the initial request.
If specialist provision is needed, your SEND Provision Lead will begin searching for suitable settings, starting with the closest option. You can also suggest schools for us to approach. After a decision, we will inform you within 3 working days. The admissions panel will determine if a setting can meet your child’s needs based on the EHCP.
We are really sorry to hear this has been your experience. To help us best advise you, we would need to understand a little bit more about your specific situation, please email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk we can pick up an individual conversation with you.
Not every child will need an Education, Health and Care Plan - settings can provide really great support without a formal EHCP. This is known as a ‘graduated approach’ and you can read more about this on our Local Offer: The Graduated Approach - Dorset Council
We understand you want the very best for your little one, not every child will need an education, health and care plan - settings can provide really great support without a formal EHCP. This is known as a ‘graduated approach’ and you can read more about this on our Local Offer: The Graduated Approach - Dorset Council
It's really good to hear that your daughter's school is putting support in place. We would expect settings to make any reasonable adjustments first before approaching us about an Education, Health and Care Plan.
You can email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with more information if you would like an individual conversation.
We recommend starting with a conversation with your child’s educational setting.
Dorset Council works in partnership with educational settings to ensure they can meet the provisions outlined in Section F. If an educational setting requires additional support for a child or young person, we will work with the school to understand the specifics and determine the appropriate support. All requests are reviewed by a panel of special educational needs experts, who always consider the views of the child and family.
You may also want to reach out to Dorset SENDIASS . The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. Their response time is up to five days, and they work on a triage system. When you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
Website contact form: https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/contact/
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Tel: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Their website offers further advice and signposting at https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/
Thank you so much for your generous offer! We truly value feedback from our young people and their families, as it helps us shape a service that works for everyone.
Please email letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk, and we’ll ensure your offer is passed on to the colleagues who review and update the formal paperwork.
We know that for some children specialist provision is what is required, but for others it is possible for schools to meet your child’s needs. As part of the process, our team will work with you to determine the best place for your child to be. For many children, being in their local with their friends, is the best option and with support this can be made entirely possible.
When you or your child’s school request a needs assessment, we have 6 weeks to let you know if we’ll proceed. We aim to respond sooner but may need more time if we’re waiting for information from your child’s current school. If we agree to assess, we have another 6 weeks to gather reports from professionals working with your child.
If we decide to issue a plan, this will be done within 20 weeks from the initial request. During the assessment, we may find that your child could benefit from attending a more specialist school.
If specialist provision is needed, your SEND Provision Lead will look for suitable schools, starting with the closest option. You can also suggest schools you prefer. We’ll inform you of the panel’s decision within 3 working days. We work with Dorset Special Schools every three weeks to review available spaces and ensure the right school can meet your child’s needs based on their EHCP.
We are really sorry to hear that this has been your experience and thank you for sharing this and helping to raise awareness about PANDAs.
For those who may not be aware, PANDAs is a Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder associated with group A Streptococcus (PANDAS). PANDAS and Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) are related disorders presenting with acute (<3 month) onset of multiple symptoms. PANS and PANDAS are considered to be post-infectious autoimmune and/or neuro-inflammatory disorders.
Support should be needs-led rather than diagnosis-led led and from your question, it sounds as if this has not been your experience so far. If you would like to discuss this with NHS team further please contact us directly on send@nhsdorset.nhs.uk
There are some other organisations that you may find really useful to look at:
- NHS Dorset have a handy guide to PDA, which you can read on their website.
- The PDA society www.pdasociety.org.uk provides many resources and information including helpful approaches
- National Autistic Society, also has resources and advice, see www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/pda.aspx
Training and support is available to schools in Dorset that promotes an offer of support for children and young people presenting with PDA traits. We do have a position statement that may be helpful and includes signposting and resources Microsoft Word - Dorset Position Statement PDA final (nhsdorset.nhs.uk) This was put together in partnership with parent carers as well as representatives from health, education and social care.
In summary, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is a profile of need as part of the Autism Spectrum (so in Dorset a PDA profile cannot be considered without a diagnosis of ASD). It can be helpful to think of PDA as a way of describing a range of anxiety-driven behaviours, where the child or young person often seeks to avoid everyday seemingly reasonable requests because they trigger anxiety.
We’re so sorry to hear this, it is our firm belief that every child has a right to access an education where they can thrive. We would be keen to have a separate conversation with you so we can understand and try to help advice the next steps.
The best way of doing this is by emailing us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or by calling us at 01305 228866.
It’s best to start by speaking with your child’s SEND Provision Lead, who provided the draft EHCP. If you’re not sure how to go about this or would like a further conversation about your individual circumstance, please email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
We understand that some children may need extra support in their education, and they might be offered short-term alternative provision. During this time, if they stay connected with their peers and home school, they are often able to return successfully, feeling more confident and ready to thrive in their original setting.
For young people in longer-term alternative provision, it can be more challenging to support their return to their home school. That’s why we always encourage alternative provision to be short-term, with a clear focus on specific learning goals. We recommend working closely with your child's usual setting first—they may be able to provide additional support or mentoring to help your child succeed.
There is also information on the Dorset Local Offer here:
Exclusions and alternative provision - Dorset Council
When we carry out a needs assessment, we contact any professionals who are currently working with your child – this will include their setting and any medical practitioners (like Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, Paediatrician). We need to have a report from these professionals to inform the decision making as to whether an EHCP is needed.
We would like to support you further with this. Please could you email: send@nhsdorset.nhs.uk and we can further look into this.
Once we agree that specialist provision is needed, your SEND Provision Lead will begin searching for suitable settings, starting with the closest option. You can also suggest other schools you'd like us to consider. We’ll inform you of the panel’s decision within 3 working days. The panel checks if the schools can meet your child’s needs as described in the EHCP. We meet every three weeks with Dorset Special Schools to discuss suitable children and available spaces.
If your child isn’t offered a place in one of our special schools, those schools provide outreach support to mainstream schools to help them implement inclusive practices.
You may also want to reach out to Dorset SENDIASS . The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
Website contact form: https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/contact/
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Tel: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Their website offers further advice and signposting at https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/
We know that going through a tribunal process is stressful, and I am sorry that you have had to pursue this. We know the tribunal service is under a lot of pressure, and we will continue to work with you, and your son's setting, in the meantime. We always try to work towards an agreed solution as quickly as we can. It sounds like an individual conversation would be helpful - please email us at letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we can come back to you.
You may also want to reach out to Dorset SENDIASS . The Dorset Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support Service, provided by Family Action, offer free, confidential, accurate and impartial advice and support to families living in Dorset.
You are welcome to contact the SENDIASS team directly. Their response time is up to five days, and they work on a triage system. When you contact them, please provide further information. Include any urgent deadlines or need, phone number and email plus availability.
Website contact form: https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/contact/
Email: dorset.sendiass@family-action.org.uk
Tel: 01305 595477 (answer machine service)
Their website offers further advice and signposting at https://www.dorsetsendiass.co.uk/
We are sorry to hear this. Anything that is impacting on the child's ability to learn could be considered for an education, health and care plan.
Some young people need specific support to help with good mental health, and mental health teams in schools are sometimes involved (although not every school have these yet).
We can pick up an individual conversation with you if you can email your details to letstalksend@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk if that helps.
NHS Dorset have a handy guide to PDA, which you can read on their website.
The PDA society www.pdasociety.org.uk provides many resources and information including helpful approaches.
National Autistic Society, also has resources and advice, see www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/pda.aspx.
Simply put, no – a child should be supported in their setting regardless of a diagnosis. Every setting should be working closely with you and your child to make sure they can learn well.
In some cases, if extra help is required, they might be described as being at ‘SEN Support’ level. Settings may then put an individual action plan (sometimes known as an individual education plan – IEP) in place that describes what support that child needs.
SENDCOs (special educational needs and disabilities coordinators) should be a good point of contact for you at the school, as they will know what is currently available. They may also apply something called the ‘graduated approach’, which involves making a step-by-step plan to help your child access learning.
If you are concerned that your child or young person is not doing so well and you have already tried to work with the setting, please contact us at LetsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will contact you for an individual conversation.