As part of the government’s reforms around special educational needs (SEN) and disability, and with the introduction of the new code of Practice in September 2014, local authorities are required to publish a local offer showing the support available to disabled children and young people and those with SEN and their families and carers.

Click this link to read about Gateshead Council’s local offer:

Gateshead Local Offer SEND 0 to 25 years (gateshead-localoffer.org)

Other useful information for parents and carers:

Please find above our report that outlines the support for SEN that you can expect from us at Clover Hill in our Clover Hill SEND Policy 2023

Please contact the school office on 0191 433 4056 or cloverhillprimary@gateshead.gov.uk if you wish to discuss your child’s needs prior to admission to our school.

At Clover Hill Primary School, we also work in partnership with a range of agencies to achieve the best possible outcomes for our pupils. Some of these agencies include the following:

Gateshead Psychological Service

Gateshead Psychological Service supports schools and families to ensure that all children and young people can have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. The service comprises Educational Psychologists, who are trained in how to apply psychology to child development, teaching, learning and behaviour. They work with a wide range of issues which can impact upon children and young people’s progress in school, including specific and general learning difficulties, language and communication skills, social emotional and mental health.

Referrals to the Psychological Service are made by schools, nurseries and colleges, always with the permission of parents and/or the young person. The Educational Psychologists will then help schools to investigate difficulties in more depth and help plan next steps. Their work may include observation in the classroom, talking to the children/young people, carrying out assessments, speaking to key staff and family members. They may also become involved in helping deliver interventions. Sometimes they may help in different ways including training school staff in understanding a child’s particular difficulties or the strategies needed to overcome them.

The team have close working relationships with other teams who support Gateshead schools, including the High Incidence Needs Team, the Low Incidence Needs Team, the Early Years Assessment and Intervention Team, Primary Behaviour Support etc.

Educational Psychologists also carry out work on behalf of the Gateshead Council, for example the statutory duty of providing assessment and Psychological Advice, as part of the Needs Assessment process towards an Education Health and Care Plan.

For more information see the Gateshead Psychological Service website or email enquiriesps@gateshead.gov.uk

Low Incidence Needs Team (LINT)

The Low Incidence Needs Team (LINT) includes the areas of hearing impairment, vision impairment and multi-sensory impairment. LINT provides support to pre-school and school-age children and young people in Gateshead across mainstream and special school settings. Specialist teachers and support staff hold the necessary mandatory qualifications in the areas of hearing, vision and/or multi -sensory impairment.

LINT provide services which may include home teaching for pre-school children and teaching support for school-age children/young people, information and advice on hearing/vision/multi-sensory impairment and its implications, support with hearing/vision assessments and technologies, assistance with access to specialist equipment, sign language and Braille teaching if appropriate and supporting participation in leisure and social activities outside of school.

High Incidence Needs Team (HINT)

High Incidence Needs Team (HINT) consists of teachers who are specialists in the areas of:

• Communication and Interaction
• Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN)
• Complex Social Communication (CSC)
• Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC)
  
  
• Physical and Medical Needs
• Cognition and Learning
• General learning difficulties
• Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)

The team provide assessment, advice, recommendations and support to schools and settings providing for children and young people aged 4-25 years with High Incidence Needs.

Early Years Assessment and Intervention Team (EYAIT)
The Early Years Assessment and Intervention Team (EYAIT) is a team of specialist teachers, portage workers and specialist teaching assistants. They work closely with children and families, schools and settings and with other Professionals and are skilled and experienced in working with children with special educational needs and disabilities. The team may offer assessments, interventions, support and reviews for children experiencing barriers to their development and learning, and for whom specialist intervention may be recommended.

The Early Years Assessment and Intervention Team are able to:

• offer assessment, targeted intervention, advice, coaching and modelling sessions for children from 0-4 who are experiencing significant barriers to their development and learning
• establish and develop partnerships with parents/carers in supporting children with SEN
• offer coordinated, holistic and multi-agency assessments, interventions and reviews
• develop effective strategies to enable children to access their education in an inclusive environment
• liaise with parents/carers and practitioners to develop appropriate action plans
• develop and support transition to the child’s next educational placement
• contribute to the EHC Plan process
• maintain data and carry out evaluations for the Local Authority

Emotional Wellbeing Team – Gateshead Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

The Emotional Wellbeing Team – Gateshead CAMHS is made up of practitioners in Gateshead who provide services aimed at improving the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children, young people and their families.

We work with children and young people who are aged 4-18yrs and who live in Gateshead, who are experiencing mild to moderate emotional, behavioural and psychological difficulties such as:

• Behavioural difficulties including low mood, anxiety and depression.
• Eating distress
• Sleep difficulties
• Self-Harm
• Bereavement and Loss
• Relationship difficulties
• Bullying

The Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS)

The Children and Young People’s Service provides a single service to all children and young people aged 0-18 years living in Newcastle and Gateshead who present with mental health difficulties. This includes children and young people who may have learning disabilities and those living in a range of difficult and challenging circumstances. The service is able to provide:

• Assessment, diagnosis and intervention on a range of mental health difficulties
• Intensive home based treatment for those children and young people whose mental health is causing significant concern
• An Intensive Eating Disorder Service to support children and young people on the eating disorder pathway who are at risk of an inpatient admission
• A comprehensive transition support package to those young people who are approaching their 18th birthday and may need continuing support as adults
• 24 hour access to support • Training, consultation, support and advice to front line staff working in targeted services for children and young people in special circumstances including;
• Looked After Children Services and Services for Care Leavers
• Social Care Services • Services for Children with disabilities including learning disability services, special schools and specialist education services
• Paediatric Services • Children and Young People’s Substance Misuse Services
• Youth Offending Service • Adult Services in particular AMHS, substance misuse and services supporting families in crisis
• Young Carers Services
• Services for children, young people and families from minority cultural backgrounds

Children’s Occupational Therapy Team

The service works in partnership with families and other professionals (such as school staff and health professionals) to support to children achieve their maximum level of independence in functional activities.

Occupational therapists will help children and their parents to build skills in:

• Self-care skills – dressing toileting bathing drinking feeding
  School activities – handwriting, concentration in class and participation in the school day.
  Play and leisure activities playing with toys, cycling with the family, playing outdoor games using a computer.

What you can expect from this service

Referrals are triaged and an appointment will be arranged with parents/carers to discuss their concerns and issues.

The occupational therapists will discuss strategies, programmes and interventions specific to that individual child and their family.

Observations and assessments of the child may take place in a variety of settings such as home, school, or clinic settings.

Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)

The Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) service aims to:

• Maximise the communication potential of children and young people aged 0-19 years with speech, language and communication needs.
• Provide assessment and support to families to ensure their child can maintain safe and effective eating, drinking and swallowing to ensure healthy growth and wellbeing.
• Work closely with the child/young person, their family, relevant professionals and external agencies to nurture social integration and promote independence.

There are 2 clinical teams within this service. The Community Paediatric Team work with children and young people presenting with communication disorders including speech sound difficulties, the understanding and use of spoken language, stammering, social communication and voice disorders. The Special Needs Team work across four main areas; pre-school children with additional and complex needs, Gateshead Special Schools, Hearing Impairment and also provide assessment and intervention for children with feeding/swallowing difficulties. SLTs also within the Special Needs Team work as part of Gateshead’s Child Development Team and Feeding Clinics.

What you can expect from this service?

Families will receive a letter confirming that their referral has been received. They will then be sent a further letter inviting them to contact the Department to arrange an initial assessment appointment.

The Community Paediatric team carry out initial assessments are carried out within local clinics and Health Centres, and the Special Needs Team carry out initial in the patient home or as part of a multidisciplinary assessment within the Gateshead Child Development Team.

At the end of your first assessment session the SLT will advise you of the recommended pathway of support for your child. Further appointments may be provided in a range of settings including clinics/health centres, patients homes, mainstream & special schools and early years settings. Families will receive a written report and strategies to support the child at home following assessments and periods of intervention.

Who is in the team?

The Teams are made up of qualified SLTs and Assistants. Team SLT’s have an extensive range of knowledge, skills and experience, including specialist interests in areas such as Paediatric eating and drinking difficulties, Autism, Alternative and Augmentative Communication, Developmental Language Disorder, Speech disorders, Hearing Impairment, Early Years, Dysfluency, Selective Mutism, and Voice disorders.

Additionally Resourced Maintained Schools (ARMS)

ARMS are schools which specialise in a particular area of learning need. Children in ARMS usually have an Education, Health and Care Plan and are generally taught in smaller classes with a higher level of support than a normal mainstream school but will have opportunities to mix with children in the mainstream school.

The ARMS in Gateshead are as follows:

Please contact the school office cloverhillprimary@gateshead.gov.uk  for further advice and support on any aspect of our SEND provision at Clover Hill.