Inclusion

This is an attempt to bring together information that is intended to be helpful to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families. The aim is for this to be located in one easily searchable website. It will be supplemented by the continued publication of a magazine (IRIS) on SEN and disability issues. The SEND Local Offer will be available through smart phones and tablets as well as via the internet. Staff in Nottinghamshire County Council’s Call Centre will also be able to provide details of the information contained within SEND Local Offer to those without easy access to the internet. They can be contacted on 0300 500 80 80.

The SEND Local Offer will cover public services that are available within:

• Education: e.g. nurseries, playgroups, schools and colleges as well as support services like educational psychologists, early years and early intervention workers
• Health: e.g. GPs, paediatricians, school nurses and therapists
• Social care: e.g. respite services and children’s disability services.

It should also enable you to find out what support and services are available in the voluntary and private sectors, for example from charities and disability groups, nurseries, youth clubs etc, both in your immediate area and across Nottinghamshire.

Leisure time is something we all value and the SEND Local Offer aims to highlight opportunities for children and young people who have additional needs to engage in a broad range of activities, from cinema screenings for children with specific needs, to evening clubs like cubs/scouts or brownies/guides running during the week, to specific events offered during the school holidays.

Additional information will be available for young adults. The SEND Local Offer is intended to help you make informed choices about things that are important to you:

• where to live
• transport
• social activities
• options after school – continuing your education, apprenticeships, supported employment etc
• making the transition from services provided for children to those for adults

The SEND Local Offer is not a directory. Its aim is to help you find the material that you’re looking for or to sign post you to somebody who can provide you with additional information or answer any questions that you might have.

It’s also a resource that individuals, groups or organisations can draw on in the work that they do in supporting children, young people and their families, by highlighting other resources, services or guidance that may be accessed.

Most importantly the SEND Local Offer is intended for you and should be shaped by you. If you have comments or feedback you want to give us on what is or isn’t included then please e-mail us at send.localoffer@nottscc.gov.uk We’ll do our best to make sure that a service or provision is included or the information clarified and if we can’t do what you ask, we’ll at the very least explain why we can’t.

The SEND Local Offer is and will continue to be a ‘work-in-progress’. We will continue to modify, expand and develop our offer in response to the feedback we receive from you and as we become aware of other services and provision which needs to be included.

For the SEN policy and local offer see Policy Page