Support for Parents and Carers

SENDIASS is a small, independent and impartial advice and support service for parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

The Special Educational Needs Disability Information and Advice Support Service (SENDIASS) is a free independent confidential service working with all parents and carers of children (between the age of 0 and 25) with Special Educational Needs as well as directly with the young people themselves.

The services aim is to provide you with the relevant information that you need to make important decisions about your education or the education of children or young people you have responsibility for.

What type of support do we offer?

SENDIASS empower parents and carers, children and young people in this ‘digital age’ to find the right advice and guidance instantly, so they can make informed decisions about themselves or their child’s education.

All parents and carers using our service are encouraged to go to the SENDIASS webpage, where they will have the option to use the GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT work flow, answering a few simple questions about their query, they will be directed to the information they need, or if further advice is needed, they will be given the opportunity to submit an enquiry form where a SENDIASS Officer will call them back, talk through their case in greater detail and suggest possible ways of moving forward.

We acknowledge that it can be frustrating for parents and carers to be waiting for a call back with particular information, however, working through the carefully designed process flow they will be signposted to the most relevant websites in order to access the information and advice without delay.

We can offer information, guidance and support on a range of issues including:

Help with informal discussions with education providers
Help with understanding the EHCP process and completing paperwork
Help with understanding formal reports
Support with preparing for and attending meetings
Disability discrimination
Working with families of excluded pupils
Support with various appeals’ processes
Parents’ rights and responsibilities
Current changes in legislation
Help with contacting other agencies and voluntary groups

What do we mean by impartial?

We believe that being impartial means:

Giving everyone an equal chance to express their views, whether it is parents or professionals
Treating everyone with respect
Offering unbiased information
Not having a vested interest in the outcome of any particular process
Providing accurate and up-to-date information to the best of our knowledge