Support for families of children with SEND during coronavirus
Find useful support and guidance from the council for Disabled Children.
Special schools, early years settings and learning centres in Dorset will open from 4 January 2021.
Primary and secondary schools with secondary age pupils will remain open for children of critical workers and vulnerable children, which includes pupils with education, health and care (EHC) plans.
Read more about schools, colleges and childcare in January 2021.
Support for health needs
We've also been working with Dorset health providers to make sure we're still meeting the needs of children with the most complex needs.
Our frontline teams are currently looking at every child's situation and their needs. This is a difficult time and we know that it may be even more challenging for our SEND families.
Support for schools and educational settings
Our education team are working with local schools and educational settings. You will have been contacted by your school about arrangements.
Our commissioning teams are working with all of our service providers, including:
- residential settings
- schools
- short breaks providers
This is so they understand their business continuity plans and to talk to them about different ways of delivering support to families if they close, either because of staff shortages or if they're forced to close. We're assessing where services may need to be delivered differently and how we'll support them to do that.
Our teams are working with many community providers to consider how to help and support vulnerable families, particularly those who are eligible for free school meals.
We have already made extra resources available to food banks and are working with our schools and school meal providers to find the best way of supporting families who will need it over the coming months.
Education, health and care (EHC) plans
We're also working hard to keep the EHC plan process moving. Assessments for an EHC plan may look different as it becomes more difficult to do our work face to face. We may need to do more by telephone or video calls where possible. Our decision-making panels are moving to online meetings. We'll continue to review this.
Sign up for our SEND newsletter for regular updates.
SEND travel arrangements
We want to reassure you that we're following the advice from the Department for Education (DfE) when we arrange your child's school transport.
We'll continue to provide transport where needed and we'll contact you about any changes to the service.
If you decide to take your child to school yourself, you will not lose your school transport place. You can change your mind if your situation changes. Families can claim for petrol and wear and tear expenses for their journeys to school. This will not affect any benefits you may get.
Contact the SEN Travel Team to claim your SEND travel expenses.
SENDIASS drop-in sessions
The SENDIASS drop-in sessions have been cancelled until further notice.
You can still contact SENDIASS by phone or email for support.