What is the Wirral SENDSTART team?

You may have heard about the SENDSTART team in Wirral. SEND stands for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). START stands for Statutory Assessment and Review Team (START). A statutory assessment is a legal process used to understand a child or young person’s needs and decide what support they may need.

The SENDSTART team works with families, education professionals, health services and social care services. The team helps understand the needs of children and young people with SEND from birth to age 25.The child or young person is at the centre of this work. The team listens to their views and works with them and their family when making decisions.

How does the Wirral SENDSTART team work?

The SENDSTART team does not provide teaching or daily support. Instead, the team helps make sure children and young people get the support they need from the right services.

Let's look at an example.

A teacher, parent, carer or young person may feel that a child or young person needs more support than their school or college can usually provide. They can ask the local authority to consider an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment (EHCNA). This assessment looks at whether the child or young person may need extra support through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

The SENDSTART team works with education, health and social care professionals. The team also works with educational psychologists. Educational psychologists help identify how children and young people learn and what support may help them succeed.

The team gathers information from the people involved in the child or young person’s life. This helps the team understand their needs and decide what support may be needed. The team then decides whether an EHC needs assessment should take place. They also consider whether the child or young person may need support beyond what their school or college would normally provide.

If a child or young person needs a plan, the SENDSTART team works with the family and professionals to create an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). An EHCP is a legal document that describes a child or young person’s needs, the support they should receive and the outcomes they are working towards.

The team then works with schools, families and professionals to help make sure the support in the EHCP is put in place.

The EHCP team uses advice from professionals when making decisions. The team does not assess children and young people directly. Instead, they consider information from people who know the child or young person well, such as teachers, doctors and therapists. This information helps the team decide what support should be included in the EHCP.

How else does the SENDSTART team help?

The SENDSTART team also helps decide where a child or young person can receive the support set out in their EHCP. This is known as a placement or setting.

A setting might be a school, college or another place that can meet the child or young person’s needs.

The team regularly reviews EHCPs and updates them when needed. The team follows the legal requirements for EHCPs in England.

Sometimes support cannot start straight away. When this happens, the SENDSTART team works with services to identify support that may be available while longer-term arrangements are being put in place.

In Wirral, services work together to support children and young people with SEND:

Services work in partnership with families, schools, health services and other organisations. Together, they aim to understand each child or young person's needs and identify the right support.

By working together, they help children and young people make progress, achieve positive outcomes and move towards their goals.