About Us
We Offer
information, advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers about special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This includes health and social care where it is linked to education.
We Are
a free, dedicated, confidential and impartial service based in Manchester. We are a statutory service, which is commissioned by Manchester City Council. Staff are independently trained in Special Education Needs and Disability. The training is verified by the Law Society.
We have
a Steering Group which includes representatives from local voluntary groups, Children’s Services, the Manchester Parent Carer Forum, schools, Parent Champions, Education and Social Care, as well as Health. Together they oversee the direction of the service we offer across Manchester.
What is a SEND Information, Advice and Support service?
We Can Give You
Information on
- The law on Special Educational Needs (SEND) and Disability, Health and Social Care where they link to education
- Local policy and practice
- Personal budgets and working together (personalisation)
- The Local Offer
- Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
- Mediation and dispute resolution, Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal Service and complaints procedures
Advice about
- Gathering, understanding and interpreting information and applying it to your own situation
- Signposting to other services for information, advice and support
- What to do when things go wrong
- How to get the best from a meeting
Support with
- Preparing for and attending meetings
- Writing letters
- Understanding reports
- The EHC Plan process and annual reviews
- Admissions and Exclusions
- Post 16 provision
- Working in partnership with schools and the local authority to develop positive relationships
We also provide
- SEND Workshops for schools
- Training on SEND for Professionals
Our Vision
By providing a high quality, accessible, impartial and confidential SEND service, we will empower children, young people and their parents/carers to play an active and informed role in their child’s education and in the preparation for adult life.
By supporting good partnership working, we will encourage service users and professionals to work more closely together, in the interests of children and young people with SEND.
How Can We Help?
Our SENDIASS service covers all aspects of special educational needs. (SEND)
From providing you with information to address your earliest concerns, to helping you with complex legal processes like statutory assessments, Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP), mediation, appeals, exclusions and complaints.
We have a dedicated SENDIASS Information, Advice and Support line with a 24 hour answerphone. We also respond to email queries and have a contact form to receive messages from you.
What must information, advice and support services do to meet the minimum standards?
How must information, advice and support services be run to meet the minimum standards?
The kind of things we help with include:
- Understanding legal processes, such as Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments and plans; knowing what you need to do and critical timescales.
- Practical tasks, such as dealing with paperwork, getting your child or young person referred for extra help (SEN support), asking for and EHC needs assessment, checking a draft EHC plan or contributing to reviews
- Developing a good working relationship with staff at nursery, school or college, or with other professionals.
- Considering your options, clarifying your priorities and making decisions.
- Feeling listened to and prepared for meetings or reviews.
- Understanding how to deal with exclusions, disagreements with professionals or how to move forward when things go wrong.
- Signposting to additional sources of information, advice or support, groups and services.
We also provide:
- Monthly drop-ins in our localities across the city
- Links to other groups and forums
- Free information events and courses which help you to find out more about SEND
- Factsheets on various subjects related to SEND
- On-line training for SEND
