Inclusion Advice Line

Help on the phone and online for professionals about SEND, looked-after children and school attendance

Introduction

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Our advice line is for professionals who help children only.

This includes Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCO), school professionals and other professionals in a care setting.

If you are a parent, please use the information you can find in the Local Offer section of our website.  It includes information you may need about local support, as a parent of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).

You can find some useful links and information below that may help you to find the support you need. If you cannot find the information you need, our contact details can also be found at the bottom of this page.

Useful links for more information and support

If you have problems accessing the Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) portal, you can find more help at the SEND Professional Portal on the Professional Choices website.

Read more about our Somerset Graduated Response Tool, school age and early years. Including:

  • Graduated Response flowcharts.
  • Quick checkers for broad areas of need.
  • Universal Barriers and Strategies.
  • Pupil Passport template.
  • Teacher SEN referral process and form template.
  • APDR template.
  • Whole school and individual funding templates.
  • ABCC chart and prompt.
  • Information videos.
  • SEND Funding information.

Also see the web page Supporting tools, documents and signposting

You will find information on the Somerset Local Offer Early Help page and on the Professional Choices Early Help page.

There is also training for the Early Years sector on Support Services for Education (SSE): Early Years Area SENCos and Inclusion Advisers Resources which is in the Early Help Assessment section of the site.

  • There is information on the Somerset local Offer Somerset Inclusion Tool page.
  • You can get Support from Access to Inclusion advisory teachers about using the tool, or Business Support advice around setting it up, or IT support for the tool. Email: accesstoinclusion@somerset.gov.uk

Contact the SEND team about an [create acronym_name="EHCP" acronym_tooltip="Early Help and Care Plan"] assessment by email: SENDassessmenthub@somerset.gov.uk

Contact the SEND team regarding an [create acronym_name="EHCP" acronym_tooltip="Early Help and Care Plan"] by email: SENDreviewinghub@somerset.gov.uk

If you are thinking about offering Alternative Provision to a young person, you can find information and a list on the Somerset Council Alternative Provision Directory page.

Families and professionals often have questions about referrals. In response, a Children and Young People’s Neurodevelopmental Partnership Advice Line has been set up.

This line is open to parents, carers, young people or practitioners from health, education, or social care.

  • Phone the Advice Line on 0303 033 3002, open 9am to 12pm every Wednesday and Thursday.
  • You can find more information, including Pathway tool kits on our page Autism and ADHD Pathway
  • Early year 0 to 5 Autism and ADHD assessment pathway – There is more information about assessments on our page Autism Assessments for 0 to 5 year olds (pre-school)
  • If a child has not already been supported by the Children’s Autism Outreach Team (CAOT), it is recommended that the family use them. It can be very helpful.
  • Any family with an Autism diagnosis, or on the pathway, can attend the events listed on the Children’s Autism Outreach Team (CAOT) page.
  • If or when the Child or Young Person receives a diagnosis, you can gain access to direct support from the CAOT team by completing an EHA. There is more information on the Professional Choices EHA page.

Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy Referrals Form for Professionals

Support Services

The Support Services for Education website will help you access services including:

  • Assistive technology team
  • AV1 Robots
  • Early years area SENCOs
  • Educational psychology service
  • Hearing support team
  • Virtual school
  • Access to inclusion
  • Education engagement service
  • Ethnic minority achievement service (EMAS)
  • Inclusive communication
  • Occupational Therapy Team
  • Vision support team

Contact us

Professionals who support children

As a professional involved with the care of a child, before you contact us, take a moment to consider whether you are the most appropriate person to use the Inclusion Advice Line.

If your query is about a specific child, check that you have to hand all the relevant information about them.

You can contact the Inclusion Advice Line by completing this online form at any time or you can phone us on 0300 123 2224 from 9am to 5pm.

What happens when you phone our advice line

If you choose to phone the advice line, you will be asked a series of questions by our advisors. Please allow time for this and provide as much information as possible, so that you can be supported in the best way. Please always leave a voicemail if we were unable to take your live call, this ensures that your query is heard.

If you are phoning about a specific child or young person, please make sure you have their name, date of birth and all relevant information. You will be asked to provide brief details about the current situation and what action has already been taken. In particular, regarding the Somerset Graduated Response Tool and any involvements or advice from external professionals.

Our advisors will aim to provide the support and guidance you need. For more complex queries and concerns, they may forward your query to the Inclusion Teams for a more specialist call back. This is where a more in-depth discussion can happen, and a plan agreed for the next steps.