Our friendly holiday activity providers can discuss your child’s needs in your child’s needs including wishing to stay at the activity to support your child. Most will be very happy for you to do so. You will find contact details on your confirmation email or through the booking link on the Help and Kindness website Summer In Dorset 2024 - Holidays, Activities and Food (helpandkindness.co.uk)
Thank you for recognising that we have made progress in assessing and issuing new Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). We were pleased that when the Inspectors came, they saw this and suggested ways to improve the processes further.
When a child or young person has an EHCP, they go through a review process every year (or more frequently than this for children under 5). This is known as an Annual Review. By law, we need to write to the child/young person or their parents/carers by 4 weeks after the Annual Review meeting. This 4-week deadline must be no later than 365 days after the last Annual Review meeting happened. If the child’s EHCP needs to be updated (amended) we have a further 4 weeks to make the changes and send them out in draft.
We don’t always have a Dorset Council staff member at Annual Reviews. We ask our settings (pre-schools, schools, colleges etc) to make the arrangements for these, and they would then send the SEND Provision Lead (the person at Dorset Council who is the main point of contact for that child or young person) the notes from the meeting and whether any changes are needed to the EHCP. This is standard practice as the settings are with the children much more than council staff and understand their needs best, alongside you as the parent or carer.
We have increased the number of SEND Case Workers across Dorset. These staff are part of our SEND teams and work closely with our SEND Provision Leads, particularly around Annual Reviews. We are asking our Case Workers to visit every setting at the start of the new school year (from September 2024 onwards) to make sure that any children with EHCPs have a confirmed date for their Annual Review.
We have created toolkits for settings to use to carry out Annual Reviews with the child or young person at the centre of the discussion (known as person-centred), we will be organising workshops in the autumn term for staff in education settings to attend to help improve the quality of Annual Reviews and our caseworkers will be checking in with families after Annual Reviews.
We carry out checks, known as Audits, each month to look at the quality of our work. This includes EHCPs and paperwork about Annual Reviews. This is carried out alongside colleagues from health and the Dorset Parent Carer Council.
If you are concerned that your child or young person has not had an Annual Review of their EHCP, please contact us at LetsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will contact you for an individual conversation.
There is a selection of approved Exam Centres through the JCQ (Joint Council on Qualifications) that can be looked into to support your Young Person to access GCSE examinations in the summer term 2025.
Please could you email letsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with your individual circumstances, and we will contact you directly to discuss.
The HAF programme funding is primarily for school-aged children from reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals (FSM). However, local authorities can issue a small number of discretionary codes. In Dorset, we offer discretionary codes to families participating in our resettlement programme, for looked after children and to children who are referred by a Dorset Council family or social worker. A child with SEND would not automatically qualify for a HAF code.
The Dorset Parent Carer Council (DPCC) beach huts are reserved only for families with children with disabilities who are also members of the DPCC. If you are already a member of the DPCC you can sign up to book the beach huts online (you will need your DPCC membership number).
If you are not a member, visit Home | Dorset Parent Carer (dorsetparentcarercouncil.co.uk) to find out more.
The beach huts cost £8 for one day. The DPCC have beach huts in Weymouth, Swanage and Lyme Regis available for hire.
You can book the beach huts at Our Beach Huts | Dorset Parent Carer (dorsetparentcarercouncil.co.uk).
Our listing site provides information on the level of support offered at each setting.
Summer In Dorset 2024 - Holidays, Activities and Food (helpandkindness.co.uk)
All providers must offer level 1 support. The support levels are as follows:
LEVEL 1 - The club is suitable for children who have mild to moderate needs, and who are able to go to the toilet and eat their lunch with correct supervision but do not need direct support in doing so.)
And a few offer level 2 and 3 support:
LEVEL 2 - The club is suitable for children who have mild to moderate needs, and those who will need direct support with personal care and will need one to one support with eating their lunch.
LEVEL 3 - The club is suitable for children who have moderate to severe needs, and those who will need direct support with personal care and will need one-to-one support with eating their lunch.
Please get in touch with us directly if you require further guidance on HAF holiday provision that will meet your child’s needs – holidayactivities@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
Dorset Parent Carer Council (DPCC) and the Department for Education recognised forum for Dorset encourage parent carers to get involved with the work of the forum, and appreciate any time you may be able to give to help ensure that the parent carer voice is represented.
To become a member of DPCC, you need to be a Dorset Council resident. Membership is free, they just ask that you share some basic information and contact details. Members receive updates by email, keeping you up to date on their work, and opportunities to get involved.
DPCC provides a mix of information regarding participation opportunities, training, and events.
Simply scroll down on the homepage to find the “become a member” section: Home | Dorset Parent Carer (dorsetparentcarercouncil.co.uk)
The Birth to Settled Adulthood (B2SA) service will assess your child and family's needs and work with you to create a plan if we determine that services are necessary. You can access this service through the Children’s Advice and Duty Team by calling 01305 228866 and requesting an assessment for specialist services for disabled children.
Under the Equality Act, any child with a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to perform daily activities is legally entitled to an assessment of need. However, an assessment is only required if support services are necessary. To avoid spending too much time on assessments rather than providing direct assistance, we offer a variety of short breaks that do not require a needs assessment. These ‘targeted short breaks’ are designed to support families without the need for formal assessments.
Information can be found on our website Local Offer activities - Dorset Council with details on the Xchange Newsletter.
The assessment of need is the process we use to understand a child’s needs and find a service to meet these. Some short breaks providers do focus on particular age ranges which may be influenced by childcare regulations and the type of activity offered, which in some cases may not be best suited to younger children. Artz+ Sportz+, Activate, Premix and Coping with Chaos all offer some activities for children aged from 5 years old. You can find out more at: Activities and short breaks near you - Dorset Council.
We’re really sorry to hear that you’ve experienced such a long wait, we are working hard to improve this and reduce wait times.
As we mentioned in the session, the Local Offer is for parents, carers, young people, schools and professionals, and it tries to cover the various journeys that anyone and everyone may be on – from first being introduced to SEND, right through to your child reaching adulthood and beyond – please take a look here: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/children-families/sen-and-disability-local-offer/dorsets-local-offer
There are some conditions around signing up for the Xchange newsletter and the discount card (and the newsletter), but you can find this information, and how to apply, here: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/about-the-xchange
Even when it comes to Educational Health Care Plans (EHCP’s) your child doesn’t necessarily need a diagnosis to get one. The approach is always about everyone involved working together. The goal is always to get the right support to suit the needs of your child so that they can fulfil their full potential.
We’ve agreed the date, time, and location of the main kick-off session – this will be at Kingston Maurward (just outside of Dorchester) on Monday 21 October, with the doors opening at 10am and wrapping up around 1.30pm. This will be a chance for Parents, carers and young people to get a better understanding of the support and services available, and find answers to key questions they may have… alongside an in person Let’s Talk session – so please save the date!
We’re making sure that the spirit of the regular Let’s Talk sessions extends across the week, where we’ll continue to provide useful information and updates, answer your questions, and most importantly, listen to what you have to tell us.
There’s still a lot to be finalised, including the times, dates, and locations of the Let’s Talk Local events during the week, but we’ll get some more information out in the coming weeks.
Your child/young person’s school (or pre-school/sixth form) will have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) who can help you get the support they need. College and universities should also have a named person who makes sure anyone with special educational needs or disabilities gets the help they need.
The SENCO, or named person, will look at how the child/young person is getting on in the classroom and agree a support plan if it is needed. They will also make sure that your child or young person can still join in with activities that all other young people do and should ask you what further support you might need as a family.
We provide lots of support to our settings so that they understand what they should do to support children and young people. This is known as the ‘Graduated Approach’ and sets out what is ordinarily available in their setting.
Sometimes, if after adjustments in the setting your child is still not learning like other children, an assessment may be suggested to see if the child or young person needs an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Anyone can ask for this – the young person themselves, you as parents/carers or the setting the child or young person attends. This is known as an EHC Needs Assessment.
The important thing is to understand what that child or young person needs, not what diagnosis they have.
There is lots of information on our website about EHCPs and applying for them so we would recommend you take a look here:
What is an education, health and care plan (EHCP)? - Dorset Council
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.
Thank you so much for this lovely feedback. The SENCO’s in the schools do a fantastic job in supporting Dorset’s children and young people with SEND, but we agree that maybe we could be more joined up. We’re in the process of reaching out to our SENCO colleagues to do exactly this, so hopefully the messages should start to become more consistent very soon.
Many of our providers can support children who require 1-2-1 assistance. Its best to request this as early as you can as providers may need to recruit extra staff to fully support your child. Contact the provider directly to support your child’s needs.
Not every child with special educational needs or disability (SEND) needs to have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). We know that most of our children and young people with SEND can have their needs met in inclusive, mainstream schools, early years settings or further education. Settings receive funding to meet the special educational needs of children without an EHCP – this is funding that settings already have. Settings are expected to use this funding to meet children’s needs, and use the ‘Graduated Approach’ (which sets out what settings should have ordinarily available, and how to make changes and adapt depending on the child or young person’s needs).
An EHCP is for children and young people who can’t have all their special educational needs met by the help ordinarily available at their setting and need extra support – for most children and young people, their needs can be met in their current school or setting. An EHCP describes the child or young person’s special educational, health and care needs and sets outcomes that will help that child or young person learn and prepare for the next stage of their education and adulthood, such as becoming independent, being healthy, working towards employment and able to be active in their community.
If you have already explored what support your child or young person is getting in their current setting but would like to have a further conversation about this, please get in touch with us at LetsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will contact you for an individual conversation.
You can also read more about EHCPs here:
What is an education, health and care plan (EHCP)? - Dorset Council
The HAF programme funding is primarily for school aged children from reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals (FSM). However, local authorities have discretion to issue a small number of discretionary codes. In Dorset, we offer discretionary codes to families participating in our resettlement programme, for looked after children and to children who are referred from a Dorset Council family worker or social worker. A child with SEND would not automatically qualify for a HAF code.
If your child is privately educated but would normally be eligible for benefited related free school meals, please get in touch with the HAF team to discuss this holidayactivities@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk
If parents want to employ someone as a Personal Assistant (PA) for their child using Direct Payments they can get help from Compass Disability Services with things like advertising and recruitment (01823 282823 Monday to Friday 09:00 - 17:00 nfo@compassdisability.org.uk). It’s worth discussing your needs with the Birth to Settled Adulthood (B2SA: previously CWAD) team member who completed your child’s needs assessment. If your child is aged under 8 years old any out-of-home care must be provided by a registered childminder or childcare setting Find childcare for a child with SEND - Dorset Council.
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/
When a child who has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) moves into Dorset, we expect that the Local Authority that they are moving from would contact us to let us know that the child is going to be arriving. Plenty of notice about the move and the contact details of the family is great. This means we can work with them to plan the move carefully and find the right setting for the child to move to. This can take time in order to get this right.
If a child who lives in Dorset is moving to another county, our SEND Provision Leads would make contact with the SEND Teams in that county to introduce the child to them and explain their current needs and what support they are getting in the setting they currently attend. We aim to work with the child's family and the new Local Authority to give as much notice as possible. However, we understand that sometimes families may need to move on short notice. We will continue to stay alongside the family until they have moved into their new Local Authority qarea and ensure a good hand-over of the information we have to the new Local Authority SEND team staff.
At the moment, EHCPs may look different in different parts of England. There is a plan to have a single template for EHCPs so that it wouldn’t matter where you live or go to school. There is some work happening nationally to look at whether this is possible. For now, we would expect the child's EHCP will stay in the same format used by their current Local Authority and will be updated during the first Annual Review after they move.
If you are going to move to another area, or have recently moved in to Dorset and would like to have a further conversation about this, please get in touch with us at LetsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will contact you for an individual conversation.
Your child’s school will have a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) who should be supporting you to understand what your child needs now.
The SENCO, or named person, will look at how your child is getting on in the classroom and agree on a support plan if needed. They will also make sure that your child can still join in with activities that all other young people do and should ask you what further support you might need as a family.
It’s really important that when a child is due to move to a new setting, whatever their age, there is a good handover between settings. We expect our settings to plan ahead to ensure there is enough time to arrange and plan any extra support a child may need. This could include more visits to the new setting, having a social story about moving on to somewhere new or planning extra activities during the summer holidays before they start at their new setting. Children and young people don’t need to have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in order to get this support.
SENCOs work with each other to look at what support is needed. SENCOs in our first, primary and middle schools will usually understand what secondary or upper schools are local to them that could best meet the needs of their children.
If you have already explored what support your child or young person is getting in their current setting but are concerned what the next phase of education will look like and would like to have a further conversation about this, please get in touch with us at LetsTalkSEND@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we will contact you for an individual conversation.
Our listings site, hosted by Help and Kindness, will provide you with information on all of the available HAF activities :
Summer In Dorset 2024 - Holidays, Activities and Food (helpandkindness.co.uk)
Free School Meals is based on income and benefits, rather than SEND. You can find information on eligibility criteria at. https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/w/free-school-meals
Thank you for raising this and apologies for using acronyms. EHCNA stands for an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment. Following the assessment, this involves getting written advice from various professionals, it may result in an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).