How we can help

What we do

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Special Educational Needs Disabilities (SEND) Information Advice and Support service (SENDIASS) provides impartial information advice and support on all matters relating to children and young people with SEND.

It’s a statutory service, which means it must be provided by law. Every local authority in England has this type of service and what they provide is shaped by chapter 2 of the SEND Code of Practice and the National Minimum Standards for IAS Services.

This service is free, accessible, confidential, impartial and provided at arm’s length from the Local Authority.  

SENDIASS aims to represent the views of parents, carers, children and young people to feedback to the Local Authority to help shape local policy and practice.

Who do we support?

The Herefordshire and Worcestershire SENDIASS service supports

• Parents/ carers of children and young people between the ages of 0-25 with SEND
• Young people aged 16-25 with SEND
• Children with SEND

What support do we offer?

We offer Information, Advice and support about the law on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and related health and social care.

This support covers

• Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) assessments, reviews and funding
• Annual reviews, mediation and tribunals
• National and local policies
• The Herefordshire and Worcestershire local offers
• Your rights and choices
• Other places that you may find help and advice

We can help you understand how to get the services and support that you need, such as asking for an EHC plan needs assessment

We can also help you prepare for meetings with schools and the Local Authority such as annual reviews.

We can help you get your views across

How can we support?

Our independently trained advisors can support you in these ways:

• Over the phone, our telephone helpline is manned between the hours of 8.30am to 4.00pm Monday to Friday. You can leave a message on our 24-hour answer machine service if you are calling out of hours or if the line is busy, and we will call you back.
• Via email at sendiass@worcestershire.gov.uk or sendiass@herefordshire.gov.uk 
• Face to face, you can request a meeting with your SENDIASS advisor. Please call the helpline to arrange. 
• Attend meetings, our SENDIASS advisers are sometimes able to support you at meetings regarding the education of a child with SEND.
• Training, we offer training and information sessions for parents, young people and professionals. See our support pages for more information.   
• Resources, we provide free, easily accessible information about all aspects of SEND in a range of formats including factsheets and how to guides.
• Signposting, we can point you in the direction of other information, resources or services that may be of use to you.  
• Social Media, we post up to date and relevant information that we feel may be of interest to our service users on Facebook and Twitter.

SENDIASS Leaflet (PDF)