Introduction
To make Somerset’s SEND Local Offer easy for everyone to use, we need to help people find their way around it. We also need to remove barriers that make the website or the wider SEND system hard to navigate.
Service accessibility
Work on the SEND Strategy aims to create and share clear pathways. These are based on the lived experiences of children and young people with SEND and their families. The aim is to help people get support as early as possible, and to make sure they can get the right help to prepare for the future.
Somerset’s SEND Local Offer is the main place to find these pathways and to get more information. This includes the Autism and/or ADHD Pathway, therapies, health services, the Graduated Response and Education Health and Care plans.
Human support
In Somerset, we ask practitioners to help families learn about and use Somerset’s SEND Local Offer website. This work will continue.
We’ve made a short training course for staff and volunteers who share information with parent carers. Teams can use it for inductions and refresher training. The course helps people feel confident and clear when they use the Local Offer. It is for Contact Centre Advisors, Parent and Family Support Advisors and SENCOs. You can see Local Offer Resources for more information.
Key workers are asked to signpost families to the Local Offer and to guide them in how to use it. We want people to be able to search for, find and use services that meet their needs.
We’ve also made an offline tool for key workers. It helps them build a simple printed version of the Local Offer that is personal to the family. You can find this on the My Important Stuff page.